Ask Quicken Expert Anything You Like -- Free Money Finance Call for Questions for Quicken Product Manager

In my post titled Mvelopes a Winner for a Quicken User, I made the comment that "the budgeting feature in Quicken is its weak point." That comment was read by the Quicken product manager (the guy responsible for managing the entire Quicken business.) He dropped me an email, asked what I didn't like specifically and we discussed it back and forth via email.

First of all, let me say how impressed I was that a big-time product manager was reading blogs and staying in touch with the thoughts of people who are using his product. I can't help but think it will benefit Quicken's business in the long run. Then, to take the initiative to contact me and determine the exact issue -- that's the kind of stuff that sets companies (and executives) apart from the rest.

Then, it gets even better. I asked him and he agreed to answer your questions about Quicken. So, ask away in the comments below. Wondering what's new with Quicken 2007? Interested in a certain feature Quicken has? Have a problem you'd like to be addressed? Been wanting to share a product idea for the financial software? Ask away.

I'll be running this post a few times over the next week, then will collect all the questions, add my own, and send them off to Quicken. A week or so later, we'll have the answers. Stay tuned, because at that time I'll also be announcing an exciting Quicken-related giveaway you won't want to miss.

Comments

[Big Cajun Man]

The Quicken tool at times has become a "write once" log for me, but I don't know enough, or haven't had time to use it the way it should be, which is a study of my past spending habits. Every time I use reports of previous spending the important information (spending trends, spikes in spending, etc.,) get "lost in the data", how would it be best to learn how to use the tool as it should to help control spending and to inform me more about where I stand financially?

--C8j

[Colin]

Thank you for this forum! I have been using Quicken 2007 for several months now (having upgraded from 2005) and I am very pleased with it overall. My questions are as follows:

Budgeting. I agree that the budgeting feature of Quicken is weak. First, it would be nice to have the ability to type in notes regarding a particular budgeted item. Often users will budget for a particular item and not remember the thought process that went into assigning a particular value to the budgeted category. The ability to store a note would be very useful when it comes time to tweak the categories. Second, in every budget there are categories that are difficult to predict and categories that are easy to predict. For example, fixed parking costs are easy to predict month to month. Fuel expenses are not as predictable because fuel prices cannot be controlled. Medical costs are also usually difficult to predict. I would love to see a feature that lets you assign probabilities to each budgeted category. Third, I don't like the feature in Quicken 2007 that lets you select whether to view the totals as "Monthly," "Quarterly," or "Yearly." I think the default view should show you all three views on one screen. It's annoying to have to click through each view to see the breakdowns.

Property Management. I would LOVE to see Quicken's Rental Property Manager 2.0 better integrated with Quicken. It's silly to have to enter the data twice.

529s. When will quicken be able to differentiate between 529 Plans, Roth 401(k), Education IRAs, etc. I have two 529 Plans that I am currently categorizing as IRAs.

Rollovers. I have had a lot of difficulty doing rollovers with Quicken. Do you have any plans to make this process easier?

Market Value. Why does the market value total that appears in the sidebar deduct the cash balance from the market value? For example, I have an account that has a market value of $52,684.75. Instead of listing that number in the sidebar, however, the sidebar deducts the cash balance of $11,647.59. That is the sidebar only indicates that the value of the account is worth $41,037.16 instead of $52,684.75. Any insights here?

Property & Debt. I would the ability to better track my student loans. The debt feature appears designed to most loans but student loans are not very easy to set up and track. Considering the huge percentage of the population that has student loans at some point during their life, I think fixing up this area should make the product more attractive to many people.

Thank you very much.

- Colin

[PA]

I have a basic question about the 401(k) register. I see no way of doing a split, similar to what you can do in the checking account register. My company has a basic contribution (it contributes a certain amount whether I contribute or not) and a matching contribution, these two separate from what I contribute. However, the basic and matching contributions have a vesting schedule, so I like to keep them separate. I see no way of doing this in a single register line (and assign them to different categories) so I have to make 3 entries and in the memo specify if it's my contribution, company basic or company match. However, this method does not allow me to see how much I've contributed, how much is due to company match, company basic, etc. Thanks!

-P

[Rich SLick]

My biggest question is if there are plans to add the ability for developers to add plug-ins or modules that are desperately needed in Quicken for true total money management.

For example, you can enter in all your credit cards, balances, credit limits, loans, etc. Why can't you have a plug-in or module for determining your FICO score?

How about a module or plug-in for integrating with Zillow for getting up to date home values? It would be extremely helpful for Quicken to remind you to call your bank and tell them to remove your PMI after you've breached the 20% equity.

The whole stocks & options section of Quicken is extremely weak. It's gotten better but still needs work (dividend tracking, options/calls are too cumbersome to enter, etc)

I could also envision modules that integrate:
-Rental Properties (yes I know there is a Quicken Rental but it would be nice if it integrated with Quicken).

-Certificate of Deposits (impossible to track CDs in Quicken)

-Bonds (does the average Quicken user never buy a bond?)

-Precious Metals (how do I track/quote these assets in Quicken?)

-Commodities (can't track these in Quicken either)

-Currency Trading (nothing in Quicken for this - how about some quotes at least)

I could go on but you get the point - having the ability for the software community develop independent modules/plug-ins would go a long way to improving Quicken.

[Duane Gran]

Rick brings up an excellent point about the user community. Many software developers would add value to the Quicken product if they had a way to do so.

I use Quicken regularly and my only comment concerns a feature in the Windows version which I can't find in the Mac version related to creating budgets. The Windows version had a wonderful feature which would display a simple analysis of your past expenditures (in graph format) for a given category. I don't see this on the mac version and it takes me a good deal longer to decide on values to plug in for budget items.

[Lazy Man and Money]

I have used Quicken on and off for the last 7 years. I'm currently in an "off" cycle and the last time I was "on" was about a year ago.

I have a few issues that I can never seem to reconcile, due to my user error, I'm not getting what I should out of the software.

Here's an example... I have an online account set up with my bank. Every month it downloads all my transactions, including my pay check. Unfortunately, I also have my pay check set up as recurring income (after all, it is pretty dependable and this way I can add tax information and the like), so I end up with things double counted in my bank account. I suppose I need to go back and delete that online entry from my bank (or not accept it), but couldn't it realize it was doubling up (same day, two identical inputs) and ask me if I really want to do that (99% of the cases would be no).

My next issue is with regard to file formats. A year ago it seemed like only 20% had the newer format to import data. Looking at http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/rates/ (if accurate, and Flexo generally is) it seems that some of the top banking institutions don't connect directly. This made the update process a little cumbersome.

Lastly, the user interface is just way to complex. I wish I could go into this further, but I often get lost in an area trying to do something really simple and find that with all the bells and whistles, I can't get the main task accomplished. It seems odd that I feel I have more control with Excel formulas than I do with Quicken.

[Joe]

Dear Quicken PM: Wisen up and make it easier to convert from MS Money to Quicken. MS Money had a "Convert from Quicken" function...BRILLIANT!!! Every since, I am a MS Money user and it is too painful to go back. Import individual QIF files...No thank you.

When will the Mac version get the features that the Windows version has?

The Quicken for Mac is several years behind the Windows version, and is buggy. The "extra" programs like Home Inventory are even worse. I guess Quicken for Mac needs some competition.

That said, I've found the budgeting features in quicken to be poor too, and rely on it mainly as a rearview mirror on my finances.

[Mark]

I have 2 questions about Quicken.

One is with CD's. From all the boards I've searched it appears that there is no good way to track CD's in Quicken. I was hoping for a way to track interest as it is posted to my account, and then some sort of graph after I redeem the CD to show me how much interest I've earned. I wish there was a better method to tracking CD's, and based on my research, alot of people have the same problem.

My second problem that I came across is with my paycheck. I get paid every two weeks. However, every other paycheck they take out an additional $2.37 for disability. In order to do this in Quicken, I had to set up 2 separate paychecks that paid every 4 weeks each. Is this the best way to handle this situation?

[Bob]

What features and functionality make it worth the money? I have a nice little system setup with Excel that works for me, checking and overall finances. I would have a hard time justifying spending money on software when the alternative solutions are free and flexible.

Maybe that is a question more for a Quicken sales person?

[SteveK]

I have been a user of Quicken since 1994 (the DOS days), and have tracked literally every transaction (about 12,000) I've made since then, when I started my post-college career. (Okay, I have my share of "fudge-factor" transactions to make everything balance out, but those are pretty rare.) As you might have guessed, I'm pretty "set in my ways" as to how I go about using Quicken, and have probably failed to use a lot of the new functionality that has been incorporated into the tool. But that's another story...

If I were request one enhancement, it would be in the paycheck setup section. Instead of storing the deductions from gross pay by percentages, it would be good if you could specify which deductions are a percentage, and which ones are fixed (i.e. health/dental, insurance, Flexible Spending, etc.). Even better, have it calculate federal, state, SS, and Medicare withholdings using actual IRS/state formulas instead of a straight percentage.

[Kate S. Smith]

I am using Quicken 2007. I am trying to print a monthly report (preferably broken down by week) that will show my Cash Flow with an account balance and all of the scheduled bills. Even if you try and print the Cash Flow detail report, there is no way to follow how the items are grouped (ie: I have a scheduled weekly payment and it showed up under two different headings in the Cash Flow detail report I did print out.) Also, there are no totals or balances shown on the report.

I thought the purpose of Quicken was to help you manage your monthly finances. I have gone through all the trouble of entering in all of the scheduled payments, and I cannot find a way to print out the financial data I need.

I need a report showing my ongoing bank balance so I will know what the balance is and how much money will need to be transferred into the account to cover all of the scheduled bills on a weekly basis.

[jason]

I know everyone is posting questions, but I have also noticed a trend in the companies that want to get a leg up. Robert Stevens, founder of Geek Squad, scans the internet for customers who post about a pc issue at Best Buy (he is now on the Board for BBY) he read a My Space blog that said they were missing their broken pc, and he looked it up and told them what was going on and posted to the blog!

[Tom Atwood]

Savings Bonds should be easier to track (vs. using Savings Bond Wizard and importing)

Also, I called support once to get pros/cons on tracking an art collection as investments vs. assets. This seems to enable you to track current value better. But they discouraged this and said to track it as an asset. Not sure why...

[don lafferty]

It seems strange that Intiut who portrays itself as the leader in personal finance software doesn't support Roth 401ks that have been out for a while. Their product support just indicates not supported. There isn't any information on when quicken will support these or even how to setup so the information in quicken will accurately project forward and migrate easily when quicken chooses to support them.

Also, Quicken doesn't really support conversion of a 401k to a IRA as can happen when you just take your 401k and convert to ira within same company/investments.

[Dana Winslow]

I am a long time user of Quicken, and have recently noticed that I can no longer create new Asset and Liability Categories in the current version of Quicken. I can still see and use Asset and Liability categories created in previous versions (now called Transfers and Payments), but have no way to add new ones. Why was this change made, and how should I be tracking payments against newly acquired hard assets such as new cars, etc.?

[Steve Welsh]

The Checking account balance in the net worth report does not match reconciled balance in check register. I made kind of adjustment (obviously incorrectly) long time and the two balances that used to match consistently do not any longer.

[Alicia Williams]

I have a small home business and normally my money received matches my invoices. However, some of my clients gave me money for Christmas and I just deposited all. Is there a way to take the extra and transfer it as a gift to my personal account without it looking like income?

[Eric]

I have had a Roth IRA at Putnam for several years. When I purchase funds, I purchase B class shares. If I hold onto those funds for 5 years, they convert to A shares. I have not found an easy way to represent this in Quicken. It's not a spin off because only those shares held for 5 years convert to A shares. It's basically a rolling conversion. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, it would be nice if my employer's 401(k) match could be send to a different account than my contribution. My 401(k) is divided into general funds and a company stock fund. My contribution goes into the general funds, but the employer's match goes into the company stock fund. I'd like to keep the two separate. In fact, when I download from my 401(k) company, they keep them separate as well. Why can't I specify a different location for the match?

[Bruce Applegate]

Certificate of Deposit - we have several CDs and I was shocked and dismayed to learn that Quicken does not have a simple method of adding and tracking CDs. The amount purchased, the rate and APY contracted, the interest payment interval, and the length of term should be easy to enter. Payment due dates (interest payments) should be treated like Scheduled Transactions and entry of interest payments should be easily accomplished. Users should also be able to enter the Maturity Date of each CD as a Scheduled Transaction.

[Ted Treibick]

Also a long time Quicken/QB user (since the DOS days). Biggest issue for me is (and always has been) tech support. Can't seem to get past the non-tech tech support folks to speak with someone who actually knows the software (and I'm willing to pay for the privilege!). I've run across what I believe a few bugs in the software and receive no replies to my emails.

[Robert Gilbert]

How do I persuade Quicken 4 windows to use 2000 and up?

[Darren Overby]

I'm seeing a lot of users report a Quicken bug where previously reconciled transactions become somehow unreconciled. See http://www.quickenforums.com/thread.jspa?forumID=1028&threadID=700000006&messageID=700001078#700001078

As many people know, this can create a nightmare of the reconciliation process.

I'm having the same problem now and have found Quicken Tech Support to be totally unhelpful for me. I don't understand their grammar and they don't understand mine. Frequently, it seems like they have never used Quicken and are just looking things up in the knowledge base. Sometimes I feel like I'm educating them on how Quicken works!

Can anyone at intuit help me with this?

[John David]

Q: Does Intuit have any plans to offer Quicken for Linux? I have been using Quicken for six years and it is the only program I really miss since switching to Linux. Quicken 2002 runs in WINE, but it has some quirks and I would be more than happy to pay $30 for a Linux version. Judging from the comments around the web, I'm not alone.

[Colin]

There is a major flaw in Quicken that I would like discussed: it's handling of rollover IRAs. Let's say you have a 401(k) that you want to rollover. Or let's say you have a traditional IRA that you want to rollover. Or let's say that you have a rollover IRA that you want to rollover again to another brokerage. Quicken doesn't seem to be able to handle those transactions--transactions that a HUGE number of people have to record. The problem is that when you sell the shares, say, in your 401(k) and try to transfer the cash into the rollover IRA, Quicken treats the cash transfer as a taxable event and asks for the user to specify the year in which the contribution is being made. In other words, Quicken doesn't seem to be able to handle rollovers. It treats every transfer into an IRA as a contribution. By doing so, it screws up the tax schedule reports. Am I missing how to do this properly in Quicken? If so, it is WAY too difficult to figure this out. Quicken should make rollovers MUCH easier.

[Bill]

How do I sell a fund and buy another with the proceeds in Quicken 2006, and retain the original fund status for tax purposes if needed? These are retirement accounts

Thank-You
-Bill

[Tom]

I LOVE MY QUICKEN! I use it a lot.

The major, major, major frustration for me is I'm having place holder issues in my stock and mutual funds. I don't know how to fix them and I can never get things to match my records. I download my information every day and I still end up getting them. Also, I can't cut and pastes these transactions and when I delete one transaction I have to scroll through the whole thing to get back to the date I was working on. A this is a huge pain. There has to be an easier way to enter the correct "place holder" entries. These errors shouldn't occur in the first place.

I think adding a way to track CD's would be great! Also, when I purchased my home, there was no real way to enter in the 1st and 2nd loan.

Also, in the transaction of home purchase there were a lot fees, pre-paid taxes, etc. I wish there was a way to place the monthly escrow accounts into my payment. I'm doing them now with splits, but it's really hard to make things work. I'm still working out the kinks with principal and interest splits. Also, when I get a rent check from a tenant, I never know if I should place the funds I receive in the asset of the property or into the checking account.

If any of you have any suggestions, please e-mail me.

Tom
HuberTom at A O L . C O M

[FMF]

FYI -- We are no longer accepting questions for the Quicken product manager.

[Ted]

I use Quicken 2007. Why won't it export data files in a format that will import into checking?

[Bryant]

There is probably an easy fix for this, but I can't figure out what it is. I'm a proficient user of Quicken 2008 Home and Business. I use the Accounts Receivable function to track invoices for 1099 income. I would like to set it up so that every time I have an invoice paid, that it will register a 25% accounts payable for withholding taxes. None of my invoices require sales tax.

[Al Wengerhoff]

I am one of Quicken's original users - all without any problems. Now, I can't print a budget report nor can I print checks. I can print anything else and other things in Quicken. How can that be and how do I solve this.

[Joan]

I use Quicken 2007 and am pretty much a beginner. My question is how do I categorize equity line of credit loans (transferred to accounts to cover bills, etc.)? They show up as income on my reports. So, my reports show my income almost quadrupled what it actually is. Is there some other category I should be using? HELP!

[Susan Robison]

How do I enter IRA accounts into Quicken and also how do I show distribution?