I am seeing some unrecognized Categories in my data file

cjim
cjim Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭
edited 3:43PM in Errors and Troubleshooting (Windows)

I ran Validate and Repair (validate file option) simply because I had not run it in a very long time and I got a few errors about a category named ACCT_14a4. However the log file also said everything was corrected and no mention of deleting anything.

I then ran Validate and Repair (validate file option) again and got a completely clean result.

I then looked at my Category List and I see the ACCT_14a4 category at the top of the list.

And if I look at the categories that you can select in the Categories tab of a Transaction report I see these 3 categories in the list of all categories:

  • ACCT_14a4
  • Unspecified Bill Presentment Account
  • Tax Impact of 401(k) Accounts

But if I run the Transaction report on just those 3 categories for all dates in the data file the report comes up empty.

Anyone know what is going on and what I need to do to fix this issue ?

Here a copy of the log file reflecting the ACCT_14a4 category errors:

QDF:
Validating your data.
Quicken repaired damaged transaction index. No action required.
Quicken found an invalid transaction record and removed it. "ACCT_14a4" 0/ 0/1900
Quicken repaired some transaction information. No action required.
"ACCT_14a4" 0/ 0/1900

Summary:
Quicken repaired 1 accounts. No action required.

QEL:
No read errors.

QEL:
All internal consistency checks passed.

[Tue Jan 13 15:42:13 2026]
Maximum security reference: 492, number of securities: 492.
Correcting invalid category type for category: ACCT_14a4
Invalid category type corrected
Analyzing securities.
All security references are within the normal range.

Validation has completed.

Tagged:

Answers

  • UKR
    UKR Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    You can delete any category named ACCT_… or TEMP_…
    There was a time several years ago when a bug in Quicken caused temporary accounts, created during One Step Update, to be left behind. Validate made this left-over category entry deletable.
    I sure hope that this particular bug hasn't come back.

    Leave the other two categories alone. AFAIK, they're use internally by Quicken and should not normally be visible.
    Maybe a Community moderator can explain better …

  • Quicken Kristina
    Quicken Kristina Quicken Windows Subscription Moderator mod

    Hello @cjim,

    Thank you for reaching out! As @UKR said, categories with ACCT_ or TEMP_ may have been created by a bug a few years back.

    Quicken does have some mandatory categories that it shouldn't let you delete. For more information, see this help article: https://info.quicken.com/win/how-do-i-edit-change-or-delete-a-category-or-subca#HowdoIedit,change,ordeleteacategoryorsubcategory?-Note

    Unspecified Bill Presentment account & Tax Impact of 401(k) Accounts both look like categories Quicken may use behind the scenes. If the categories aren't already hidden, you may want to make them hidden categories and leave them alone. For information on hiding a category, please see this help article: https://info.quicken.com/win/how-do-i-hide-a-category

    I hope this helps!

    Quicken Kristina

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