Reconciliation Issue with American Express

John Robinson · February 24

Having an issue with my American Express Gold account, but not my Blue account or any other credit card or download account. Transactions download with no issue. When I go to reconcile it says that the statement balance is zero and tries to do an adjustment to zero out my entire balance, that is real. To clarify - The online balance is shown as $0.00 and the Ending balance (which is correct) shows a different number.

Verified the starting/opening balance is correct - as this is a known bug - and that is not the issue. I also reset the account, which did not work. I then Deactivated online access and then re-authorized it. No luck. I also went through and did the validate/repair file just in case. Also, pending transactions are not shown or included - as that is said to be a possible issue online. Nothing corrected the issue.

Not sure if it is a Quicken issue with this specific account, or if it is an American Express/Quicken issue - or how to correct it so I can reconcile.

Quicken Laura · February 24

Hi @John Robinson,

Thank you for sharing the issue with us and for outlining the steps you’ve already taken. I’m happy to help you troubleshoot further.

To better understand what may be causing the problem, I have a few quick questions:

When did you first notice the issue?
Are you using different login credentials for each account?
Are your American Express accounts business, personal, or a mix of both?
Are you receiving any specific error messages when updating the accounts? If so, could you please provide the exact message or error code?
Where is your Quicken data file located? To check, open Quicken and go to File. At the bottom under Recent Files, the file with the check mark next to it is the one currently open. Please share the full file path shown there.

As you mentioned, pending transactions do not download into Quicken. Does your balance on the American Express website ever show $0 at any point (for example, if pending transactions were included in the total)?

Your answers will be very helpful. I look forward to your response!

John Robinson · February 24

Hi Laura - to answer your questions:

Noticed the issue late last week. Thought it might be a glitch that would remedy, but it has not.
Same login credentials for both American Express accounts. The Gold has the issue and the Blue does not.
The Gold is my business card and the Blue is personal.
No error code. It appears to think everything is fine, just that the Gold balance should be zero.
Path is C:\Users\Owner\OneDrive\Documents\Quicken\J&L2018-R-65.17
American Express website balance shows a balance of $4,840.00 which is the same as my Ending balance on Quicken. The Quicken Online Balance shows $0.00

Thank you!

Quicken Laura · February 24

Hi @John Robinson,

Thank you for answering all the questions, that's very helpful.

To continue troubleshooting, we’ll first want to ensure your Quicken file isn’t syncing with OneDrive. While that may not be the direct cause of this issue, storing the file in a cloud-synced folder can lead to corruption over time. I recommend moving it to the default and recommended location:

C:\Users\username\Documents\Quicken

Steps to change the file location:

Close Quicken if it is open.
Open File Explorer and locate your current Quicken data file (.QDF).
Right-click the file and select Copy (or Cut, if you prefer to move it).
Navigate to C:\Users\username\Documents\Quicken.
Right-click inside the folder and select Paste.
Once copied, double-click the file from this new location to open it in Quicken.

After opening the file in the new location, please validate the file:

Go to File.
Click Validate and Repair File.
Select Validate file.
Click OK.

Once validation is complete, try updating your accounts again and check whether the correct online balance comes through.

If the issue persists, the next step would be to deactivate and then reactivate both accounts to ensure they reconnect properly from this new file location.

Please let me know how it goes!

John Robinson · February 24

Followed your directions and saved/opened the file to the new location. Opened it. Validated the file - No QDF, or QEL errors found. All internal consistency checks passed. All security references are within the normal range.

Updated accounts - No change. Online balance still showing as zero. Website balance is $4,840.00

Deactivated and reactivated. When activating the Activation window on Quicken shows a zero balance even before linking. Again, the website shows the actual balance.

After activating - same issue. Seems to be a communication issue of some sort between American Express and Quicken

Quicken Laura · February 25

Hi @John Robinson,

Thank you for working through all of the previous steps. I really appreciate your time and patience.

At this point, it appears to be a connectivity issue. I recommend contacting Quicken Support directly for further assistance. They can walk you through additional troubleshooting in real time and escalate the case if needed, since they have access to account-level tools that we don’t have here in the Community.

You can find the Quicken Support phone number at the link provided. Phone support is available Monday through Friday, from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm PT.

I apologize that I’m not able to resolve this with you here, but if you have any other questions, I’m happy to help!

John Robinson · February 25

Hi Laura - Support was able to help after escalating it. They had me deactivate online services again and then add an account through the Tools Menu. This time they had me enter the bank as "American Express - Delegate". Apparently it is a different server with Amex for business accounts - as it didn't show the personal Blue account at all. Then link that to the current account. It pulled about 15 "supplemental account" as well as the one I needed. Had to tell it not to download those, and just checked the one I needed. It pulled across the correct online balance correctly and fixed the issue.

Thanks again for your assistance. Just updating what worked so anyone else with the issue can find a solution.

Quicken Laura · February 25

Hi @John Robinson,

I’m glad to hear the issue has been resolved! Thank you as well for taking the time to share the troubleshooting steps you used. That information will be very helpful to others who may encounter the same problem.

Much appreciated!

Reconciliation Issue with American Express

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