- Created by John Hewitt on Oct 20, 2021
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Setting up your subscription
If you need help setting up or activating your subscription to Quicken, please read the support article Quicken Subscription Membership FAQs.
As a new or returning Quicken user, you will need to set up your accounts.
Next Steps
After Quicken downloads your transactions, you can review the transactions before entering them in your register in a matching process called Compare to Register.
Compare to Register gives you the opportunity to choose what to do with each downloaded transaction. For example, is it a new transaction? Or should it match a transaction that has already been entered into the register? Compare to Register helps keep your registers accurate. If you don't want this level of control, Quicken has a great new time-saving feature called Automatic Transaction Entry.
- Open the account you want to work with.
- Click the Downloaded Transactions tab. If you'd like, you can click the column headings to sort the transactions.
- Quicken assigns a Status to each downloaded transaction:
- For transactions marked New
A status of New means that Quicken did not find a match for the downloaded transaction in the register.
- To enter the downloaded transaction in the register, click Accept.
- If the downloaded transaction should be matched to a register transaction, click the Edit button, and then choose Match Manually. Quicken opens a window to allow you to select one or more transactions to match the transaction with. If you select more than one transaction, Quicken enters a split transaction in your account register with a single line for each selected transaction and a line for the difference in amounts, if any.
- For transactions marked Match
A status of Match means that Quicken has found a match for the downloaded transaction in the register. This happens when you enter a transaction in advance of it being downloaded. For example, if you use Quicken Bill Pay or Quicken Reminders.
- If the downloaded transaction is correctly matched to a register transaction, click Accept.
- If the downloaded transaction should not be matched to any register transaction, click the Edit button, and then choose Make New. Quicken changes the transaction's status to New.
- If the downloaded transaction is matched to the wrong register transaction, click the Edit button and then choose Unmatch. Quicken attempts to match the transaction again. If no transactions are close enough, Quicken changes the transaction's status to New.
- For transactions marked Updated
A status of Updated means that your bill pay provider has changed your payment request in some way. For example, you may have requested that a payment be processed on a certain date, but it was processed slightly earlier because the requested date did not fall on a business day for your bill pay service provider.
- To update the transaction information in your register, click Accept. If you prefer not to update the transaction, click Ignore instead.
- For transactions marked Canceled, Failed, or No Funds
- For transactions marked Canceled, Failed, or No Funds, click Accept. Quicken voids the transaction in your register.
- For transactions marked New
You can delete one or more transactions if they do not match. Select your transaction(s), then delete them using the Delete key, CTRL+D, right-click Delete Transactions, or the Delete button. You will be asked to confirm the deletion.
- When you've finished accepting transactions, click Done.
Can I undo accepting a transaction?
You can undo only the action of accepting multiple transactions (for example, if you clicked Accept All but later changed your mind). To do this: on the Downloaded Transactions tab, click Undo Accept All. Undo Accept All is available until you close Quicken or until you next update the account in question. You cannot undo transactions that have been accepted individually. Transactions having multiple attachments, receipts or Notes would be lost if you Undo Accepted/Reviewed transactions from other Quicken Products. You will have to Accept or Mark the transactions as reviewed and upload the attachments again.
Can I accept all transactions at once?
Yes. If everything appears correct in your downloaded transactions list, you can click Accept All to accept all transactions into your Quicken register.
Can I accept transactions automatically?
Yes you can. Quicken has a great new time-saving feature called Automatic Transaction Entry. Check it out!
Can I remove transactions from the list as I accept them?
What about accepting investment transactions?
Why can't I find the Downloaded Transactions tab?
The Downloaded Transactions tab normally appears just below your Quicken register. If you don't see it, click here for more information.
Creating a budget in Quicken helps you organize your finances by setting spending limits and tracking your expenses. With a budget, you can allocate funds to specific categories, compare actual spending to your plan, and make adjustments as needed. This guide explains how to create, customize, and manage a budget in Quicken.
Quick steps to create a budget
Follow these steps to set up your budget:
- Open the budget tool:
- Go to the Planning tab. If tabs are hidden, enable them via View menu > Show Tabs.
- Click Budgets.
- Start your budget:
- If this is your first budget, click Get Started.
- To create a new budget, select Budget Actions > Create New Budget.
- Name your budget: Enter a name to help identify it (e.g., "2024 Budget").
- Select the year:
- Budgets default to the current year. Use Advanced Budget Settings to adjust this if needed.
- Choose categories:
- Quicken can automatically include recurring categories, or you can select categories manually. Both options allow changes later.
- Complete setup: Click Next to generate your budget.
Once the budget is created, you can start tracking your spending and make changes as needed.
How Quicken creates your budget
When you create a budget, Quicken uses your transaction history to provide a starting point. The program analyzes prior spending patterns and organizes the data into budget categories.
- Categories included:
- Recurring personal expense categories (e.g., groceries, utilities).
- Transfers, income, and special categories like
_401Contribare excluded by default.
- Transaction data used:
- Quicken looks at transactions from the past 12 months. If less data is available, it uses as few as three months.
- Budgeting method:
- Quicken uses actual spending for past months and averages for current and future months.
- Rounding: Amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
- Accounts included:
- Quicken includes personal expense transactions but excludes Invoice and Sales Tax accounts (Quicken Home & Business only).
This process gives you a baseline budget that you can customize to better reflect your financial needs.
Customizing your budget
After creating a budget, you can adjust it to better fit your financial situation. Customization allows you to focus on specific spending areas and make updates as your needs change.
Adding or removing categories
- Click Select Categories to Budget at the bottom of the Budget window.
- Add categories that are relevant to your spending or remove those that aren’t.
Adjusting amounts
- Click a category in the Budget window.
- Enter a new monthly budget amount as needed.
Customizing your budget ensures it aligns with your spending patterns and goals.
Extending your budget to a new year
Quicken can copy your existing budget into a new year. This allows you to maintain consistency while making adjustments for any changes in your expenses or income.
Extending your budget:
- Use the date control at the top of the Budget window to select the new year.
- Choose one of the following options:
- Copy budget categories and values: Retain the same categories and amounts.
- Copy categories and actuals: Use spending data from the prior year as the new budget values.
- Copy categories only: Carry over categories without preset amounts.
- Click OK to create the new budget.
This approach simplifies the process of updating your budget annually.
Advanced budgeting options
Quicken includes features for planning ahead or reviewing past budgets. These tools can help you analyze trends and prepare for future financial changes.
- Planning future budgets: Use the date control to create a budget for an upcoming year before it begins.
- Analyzing past budgets: Create budgets for prior years to examine historical spending patterns.
- Tracking actuals: Budgets automatically reflect income and expense actuals based on transactions for the selected year.
These features provide additional flexibility for organizing your financial data.
Notes about budgeting in Quicken
- Updating budgets: Quicken recalculates budget values automatically based on spending trends.
- Editing budgets: Changes to a current budget won’t affect previous budgets.
- Filtering categories: Use the Customize > Advanced tab to exclude non-budgeted categories.
- Integrating with reports: Budgets can be used to generate detailed financial reports.
Summary
Budgets in Quicken help you organize your expenses and track progress over time. By setting spending limits and comparing actual spending to planned amounts, you can make informed decisions about where to adjust. Creating, customizing, and maintaining a budget is straightforward and helps you stay organized financially.
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