A little while ago, I asked if any FMF readers had questions about Quicken since I had a Quicken expert available to answer them. Well, now we have the answers. Here is the second wave of them -- these dealing with Quicken PC.
This is Chelsea from Quicken. Thanks for the chance to help out your readers. If they want to stay connected with Quicken on the Web, they can follow me or Quicken Online on Twitter (@QuickenPRChels and @QuickenOnline), read the Quicken blog, or become a fan of Quicken or Quicken Online on Facebook. Hope these questions and answers help, and feel free to put me in touch with any readers that follow-up with you for more information. I’m going to watch the comments too so I can help out.
Raise in the Budget Function
Q. Issue 1: There's no good way to account for a raise without the budget function assuming that raise is retroactive. For example, if I receive a $1k raise in July, and update my paycheck accordingly, Quicken calculates the funds as if I had that raise during January through June, which makes it look like I have more available cash than I really do.
A. When you use “automatic update,” it changes the whole year once you update your paycheck. Instead, choose “no” and then update the months manually for the 5 to 6 months left for an accurate financial picture after your raise.
Budget Adjustments
Q. Issue 2: There's no way to account for month to month budget adjustments over the course of more than a calendar year. For example, if I adjust my personal spending budget each month, once it rolls over from December to January of the following year, I have to start overwriting my previous budget. This means I can't run a report for a greater than one year time period, because my spending in January 2007 was lower than in January 2008, and there's no way to account for that in Quicken.
A. The “My Savings Plan” feature is a possible solution for you. It is designed for month-to-month budgeting.
Product Suggestions
Q. I converted from MS Money to Quicken, but one major component of Quicken is driving me batty. When is the budget feature going to be updated in Quicken? I had Quicken 2006, and updated to 2009, and there have been ZERO improvements to the budgeting function.
Q. Why did you get rid of the ability to download QIF files? I've been using Quicken for years and my credit union doesn't do QFX. I know of a workaround for this, but only for cash accounts. Why not open it back up to all account types? Please bring QIF imports back!!!!
Q. I've noticed a /lot/ of people use a categories (like "car payment") instead of a split transaction between a loan account and the interest paid "category" , perhaps Intuit should do a tutorial on how to do loan and asset accounts properly.
Q. Why doesn't Quicken provide some options for an "envelope" based budgeting approach?
Q. When are they going to do something about the whacked out column widths on their reports and provide more of a WYSIWYG approach to report creation?
A. All of the comments above include great product suggestions and ideas. I’ve made sure the Quicken product team has seen them already, but there is a way for you to have more influence over future Quicken features too. We don’t share product roadmaps publicly, but there are other ways to give us input and learn ahead of time what might be coming. On Feb. 25 we launched the Quicken Inner Circle. Inner Circle will give you a chance to share your thoughts about current and future Quicken product features. Read more on the latest Quicken blog entry about it, and sign up here.
QIF Importing
Q. A second for QIF import. My biggest complaint is the inability to import QIF files, I have to create a cash "suspense" account, import to there, then cut and paste all the transactions into the real account. ...this is the only way to import Paypal transactions and it's a big time waster.
A. Thanks again on the QIF import suggestion. I think this is something you should definitely bring up in the Quicken Inner Circle. It’d be helpful to talk about why QIF files are important to you as a user. Quicken does support PayPal download directly into the product, so let FMF know if you’re still having trouble so I can help you more, or visit www.quickencommunity.com.
Access from Different Computers
Q. Is there a way to have multiple user access form different computers? One of the problems I have with Quicken is my wife doesn't get up-to-date information on how we're doing because it's on my computer and not on hers. Is there a way to store the Quicken data on a file share (or better yet a SQL server, then I could write my own reports and queries for her to run) and allow multiple people to access it (even if one session is read only)? I can't use Quicken online because it won't import all my eight years worth of data and it doesn't support a lot of the advanced features I use. What suggestions do you have?
A. Quicken Online is a basic personal finance service, and is 100% free and Web-based, but it won’t be the right match for every financial situation. Since it is free, some Quicken desktop users find the ability to get a quick glance at finances from any Web connection as well as text and email alerts helpful when used in addition to a desktop solution. One suggestion for accessing your account on multiple computers is to put your data file on a network drive where you can each access the file on your own computers. This is another potential product idea I’d suggest you bring up in the Quicken Inner Circle.
Tagging
Q. I've noticed a movement towards tagging in newer versions, this won't compromise the double-entry accounting (I emulate it using categories and split transactions) will it?
A. No, this will not impact the double-entry accounting. Tagging enhances the ability to filter transactions and improve reporting. Tagging is not a substitution for categories or splits.
Quicken Life
Q. I currently use Quicken 2008 Home & Business on my Mac under Parallels. What features would I lose if I upgraded to the Quicken Life version that's coming out soon?
A. Quicken Financial Life for Mac is still in beta and will ship this summer. Quicken Home & Business is geared toward both personal finances as well as business, while Quicken Financial Life for Mac will be a personal finance solution. Beta testers are still giving us great feedback and suggestions, so the final feature set is definitely subject to change. However, you can get a good basic idea of what will be included here.
Product Discontinuation
Q. I'd love some info on their "sunset" policy where they do not support older versions of the software. I've been using quicken for 10+ years now & am annoyed that I am forced to upgrade every few years to keep getting my transactions downloaded. There is nothing that is so revolutionary in account keeping that requires me to upgrade every 2-3 years and purchase their new software.
A. I understand your frustration with product discontinuation. First, thanks for sticking with Quicken for more than 10 years. Hopefully some of this additional information will help you understand more about why we do discontinue products. I recently had a conversation here (in comments) and here with a blogger about the discontinuation. In that conversation, we talked about how the company continues to research and develop new products and improve support for existing Quicken customers. Desktop products come with three years of connectivity, and users are certainly able to continue using the products without connectivity (i.e. manual entry of transactions). Even that connectivity costs the company as well.
Since you’re such a long-time user, you might have some ideas for how we might better improve Quicken products to make upgrading worth it for you.
You said above “There is nothing that is so revolutionary in account keeping that requires me to upgrade every 2-3 years and purchase their new software.” As I’ve suggested many times in this Q&A, Quicken Inner Circle is a great place to help us do something revolutionary for you. Also, if it is any consolation, you will get $20 off a new copy of Quicken if you choose to upgrade by the end of April 2009.
How old is Quicken? I started using the product in the early or mid 90's. Just curious how old it is. Unfortunately my data is only 5 years old. It would have been interesting if I kept it this whole time.
Here's a suggestion - some kind of "Smart" Quicken that can analyze your spending and give suggestions for better money management. Of course this is very complex but I think there must be a way to help. For example "...your dining expenses make up 40% of your income, it suggested this be kept at 5%". Something like that. Maybe relate debt ratios, etc.
Posted by: texashaze | March 27, 2009 at 05:42 PM
Overall nice idea, but I'd like to point out something under Product Discontinuation that has me leaning 99% towards going with MS Money this time around. $20 off a new copy to upgrade you say? It may be $20 off the original proposed price, but it's not $20 off the market price. The price that actually shows up when I click on the "upgrade" is within $5 of the price shown if I go to the site directly. I can get the software for signifnantly less from Costco, but am tempted to just move to money because the blatent lie is so ridiculous.
Posted by: Kim | March 27, 2009 at 05:43 PM
Use www.mint.com. It is much better than quicken online and it is free.
Posted by: G man | March 27, 2009 at 07:46 PM
Hi Chelsea. On the QIF import, I can't get PayPal to work with Quicken. In the past when I got it to work Paypal would think it was unauthorized access and lock me out and I'd have to answer all sorts of questions to get my Paypal account unlocked. Now it says my customer id or password was rejected by the financial institution (I'm using the same information I use to login to the website). Do a Google search for "quicken limits paypal online access" and one of the top results is from the Quicken Community, no solution has been found yet. SImply allowing QIF imports would at least let me import transactions easily until the problem is resolved. If PapPal sync would work that would be great as well. I'm using Quicken 2008 Home & Business. Thanks.
Posted by: Benjamin Bryan | March 28, 2009 at 01:45 AM
Hi, I just sent this as an email on the Quicken support site, thought I would post it here as well.
Problem: We are two users in a multiple computer household. One of us (me) has been using Quicken H&B since 2003. The other has been using Money!, and will now have to switch to Quicken. He is running basically the same data as I am, but set up to his liking. He will need to install 2010 with the Money converter, and I need just to upgrade. Do we have to buy both the upgrade and a new one for him? Is there a multiple user license that can be obtained more cheaply than buying two packages? Thank you. Mariel
Posted by: Mariel | October 14, 2009 at 10:56 PM