How do I add or edit renaming rules?

When you download transactions from your financial institution, the payees that you see in Quicken may not look the way you think they should. For example, if you buy breakfast at Anytown Coffeehouse, the transaction might be downloaded as ATC LLC 005 PLEASANTON. This is not ideal; the payee name is not easily recognizable, and it is not consistent with other Anytown Coffeehouses you might visit. Renaming rules can fix this.

Renaming rules tell Quicken to substitute a standardized, easily recognizable payee name when a similar payee is downloaded from your financial institution.

Note: Renaming rules don't change transactions already recorded in your register; they affect only transactions that will be downloaded in the future.

1. If necessary, choose Tools menu > Renaming Rules.
2. Click Add a Rule at the bottom of the Renaming Rules dialog.
3. In the Change payee to field, enter or edit the name you want to use for the payee. In other words, the name you want to change similar payees to.
4. In the drop-down, select Payee contains or Quicken name is to specify the type of renaming rule to create.
   • What's the difference?
     • Payee contains: When you download new transactions, Quicken searches the combined text of the downloaded Payee and Memo fields for the text you enter (in the next step). A match occurs, and the downloaded payee is renamed, if the text you enter appears in the same order, and not as a substring, somewhere within the combined fields. Examples: Parker matches Parker Supplies; Parker does not match ParkerSupplies; Parker Supplies matches Parker Supplies Company; Parker Supplies does not match Supplies by Parker Company.
     • Quicken name is: When you download new transactions, Quicken searches its own database of common merchant names for the text you enter (in the next step). A match occurs, and the downloaded payee is renamed, if the text you enter exactly matches a merchant in the database. The search is performed after all other renaming rules have been run. Examples: Parker Supplies matches Parker Supplies; Parker does not match Parker Supplies, or any other variant such as Supplies by Parker.
     • For more information, see How Quicken suggests categories and payees
5. In the text box, enter the words to search for. Comparisons are not case sensitive.
   • Example

     If Anytown Coffeehouse is the name of the renaming rule, and you select Payee containsand enter Anytown Coffee as the words to search for, then both Anytown Coffee Pleasanton, and Anytown Coffee 005 would be renamed to Anytown Coffeehouse.

6. To save the rule, click OK.

1. If necessary, choose Tools menu > Renaming Rules.
2. In the Renaming Rules dialog, click the Do-Not-Rename Rules tab.
3. Click Add a Rule at the bottom of the dialog.
4. In the drop-down, select Payee contains or Quicken name is to specify the type of Do-Not-Rename rule to create.
   • What's the difference?
     • Payee contains: When you download new transactions, Quicken searches the combined text of the downloaded Payee and Memo fields for the text you enter (in the next step). A match occurs, and the downloaded payee is renamed, if the text you enter appears in the same order, and not as a substring, somewhere within the combined fields. Examples:Parker matches Parker Supplies; Parker does not match ParkerSupplies; Parker Suppliesmatches Parker Supplies Company; Parker Supplies does not match Supplies by Parker Company.
     • Quicken name is: When you download new transactions, Quicken searches its own database of common merchant names for the text you enter (in the next step). A match occurs, and the downloaded payee is renamed, if the text you enter exactly matches a merchant in the database. The search is performed after all other renaming rules have been run. Examples: Parker Supplies matches Parker Supplies; Parker does not match Parker Supplies, or any other variant such as Supplies by Parker.
     • For more information, see How Quicken suggests categories and payees
5. In the text box, enter the words to search for. Comparisons are not case sensitive.
   • Example

     If you select Payee contains and enter anytown coffee as the words to search for, then both Anytown Coffee Pleasanton, and Anytown Coffee 005 will not be renamed. The payees will appear in your register exactly as downloaded.

6. To save the rule, click OK.

1. If necessary, choose Tools menu > Renaming Rules.
2. In the Renaming Rules dialog, select the rule you want to change.
3. Click the Edit icon (the pencil).
4. Enter the new name in the Change payee to field. All future downloaded transactions will use this payee name when the renaming rule is executed.

1. If necessary, choose Tools menu > Renaming Rules.
2. In the Renaming Rules dialog, select the name of the rule that you want to add a new "rename if" statement to.
3. Click the Add icon (the plus sign).
4. In the drop-down, select Payee contains or Quicken name is to specify the type of renaming rule to create.
   • What's the difference?
     • Payee contains: When you download new transactions, Quicken searches the combined text of the downloaded Payee and Memo fields for the text you enter (in the next step). A match occurs, and the downloaded payee is renamed, if text you enter appears in the same order, and not as a substring, somewhere within the combined fields. Examples: Parkermatches Parker Supplies; Parker does not match ParkerSupplies; Parker Supplies matches Parker Supplies Company; Parker Supplies does not match Supplies by Parker Company.
     • Quicken name is: When you download new transactions, Quicken searches its own database of common merchant names for the text you enter (in the next step). A match occurs, and the downloaded payee is renamed, if the text you enter exactly matches a merchant in the database. The search is performed after all other renaming rules have been run. Examples: Parker Supplies matches Parker Supplies; Parker does not match Parker Supplies, or any other variant such as Supplies by Parker.
     • For more information, see How Quicken suggests categories and payees
5. In the text box, enter the words to search for. Comparisons are not case sensitive.
   • Example

     If you select Payee contains and enter anytown coffee as the words to search for, then both Anytown Coffee Pleasanton, and Anytown Coffee 005 will not be renamed. The payees will appear in your register exactly as downloaded.

6. To save the rule, click OK.

1. If necessary, choose Tools menu > Renaming Rules.
2. In the Renaming Rules dialog, select the name of the renaming rule that you want to edit and expand it (click the arrow next to it) to reveal its "rename if" statements.
3. In the drop-down, select Payee contains or Quicken name is, as necessary.
4. In the text box, edit the words to search for in the downloaded payee name.
5. To save the rule, click OK.

To delete an "rename if" statement, select it and click the Delete icon (the minus sign).