[struggling]

I've scoured this site and not come up with any reference to Quicken. The "official" Quicken community forums website is just as useless as it was several years ago when I tried to use it. About all I can find there is complaints from people who have tried to use it.

Even if Quicken has not been addressed on this site, is there anyone who has found a place to go for good information on issues related to Quicken?

[Goku]

Hello Struggling. Please post your problem here and we will try our best to sort you out. If no one else has posted any question on the application, you can give us a start.

-- Goku

[struggling]

Ok, problem:

I have successfully reconciled my VISA account for years now at the end of each month and at the end of the year.

In November I requested a more convenient due date -- a few days later than the existing one. Unfortunately, the new due date of the 29th kicked the end of the cycle to the 6th of the next month.

So now, instead of posting transactions through the end of December, my statement posts them through January 5.

This creates an out-of-balance figure that precisely reflects the total amount of transactions occuring after the last day of December.

I can't close out 2008 and start a new file for 2009 because I can't properly reconcile my register with the bank. I can't figure out how to come up with a correct beginning balance for 2009. Outstanding transactions from 2008 further complicate it.

There may be a very obvious solution here that I just can't see. I need a more Quicken-educated mind than mine to sort this out.

[Goku]

Lol turns out I bit off more than I can chew.

Frankly speaking, I barely have experience with Microsoft Office products, let alone this Quicken software you speak for. I will try to search a solution for you but I can promise nothing.

However, someone more experienced will be soon coming along to sort you out so keep hope.

-- Goku

[BeeCeeBee]

I knew it would not be long be before you managed a stumper Jane!!

I used to use Quickbooks a few years ago and know that if i changed my fiscal year I could also change reporting dates etc.

Hopefully we will have some genuine Quicken users.

[Goku]

OK Jane, I have got some information, that is most probably useless to you.

Getting started with tracking Quicken accounts on Quicken.com

Perhaps, you might want to update your accounts to Quicken.com as that might be the only form of synchronization available.

I will keep looking for you though.

-- Goku

[DavidW]

I have used Quicken 2001 (UK version) for some time, but I reconcile bank & credit cards manually, so am not an expert in Quicken's automatic reconciliations, however I have a vague memory from something I tried to do a few years ago that Quicken doesn't like specified dates of 29th/30th/31st for regular routine monthly functions, because it causes a wobbly in February. Do you have a recent backup from before you changed the date that you could roll forward from, leaving the date as it was, or is that not practical?

I think that if to try to un-reconcile the Jan transactions for 2008 year end purposes, Quicken will permanently disable the reconciliation facilty on that account, so beware!

Apologies if this advice is not helpful!

[Goku]

Thanks for the contribution David; we all sincerely appreciate it.

And it is not useless in any form. I have learned something new thank to you.

-- Goku

[struggling]

Thank you for the input, DavidW.

{{{{Quicken doesn't like specified dates of 29th/30th/31st for regular routine monthly functions, because it causes a wobbly in February. Do you have a recent backup from before you changed the date that you could roll forward from, leaving the date as it was, or is that not practical?}}}}

I've always used the last day of the month (instead of the one supplied by Quicken) and it has never seemed to produce a "wobbly" in February. I've used the program for about 8 years.

{{{{I think that if to try to un-reconcile the Jan transactions for 2008 year end purposes, Quicken will permanently disable the reconciliation facilty on that account, so beware!}}}}

At this point I have completed reconciliations only through November, 2008. Haven't clicked the "Finished" button yet because I'm out of balance, due to the January transactions posted on the bank's statement.

Whew, this is a tough one! Quicken: Either love it or hate it. Sometimes both.

I'm considering rolling 2008 over into 2009. I've always preferred keeping separate files for individual years, but this may be the only solution. I need to look up how to do that.

Meantime, I'll wait to see if any additional gems of wisdom pop up here.

(P.S. Sorry about the sloppy manual quoting of DavidW's statements. I wasn't about to retype this a third time. Don't get upset with me, beeceebee ,-- I'll get back to it. I have a Quicken-fried brain at the moment.)

[BeeCeeBee]

Me upset, Never!!!

https://www.redfcu.org/eServices/quicken_faqs.htm

[struggling]

Thanks for the link, Wolfey. Been there, done that. Info is in regard to downloading transactions, which I don't do. Prefer manual. It also links to technical support, which does not address my issue. But thanks for trying to help.

I have always found both Quick Books and Quicken to be user-unfriendly, pain-in-the-rear programs. I'm currently checking out other financial software on about.com. If I ultimately discard Quicken and start fresh with something more satisfactory I'll be sure to let everyone here know how that experience goes.

Meantime, while I'm scoping out these others, I'm still open to anyone who might come along with a brilliant flash of insight to solve the year end reconciliation problem.

[struggling]

Ok, the sun's shining, it's 70 degrees and I squandered the whole day working on this. Time to wrap it up. Here's my work-around:

YEAR END ACTION:

I chose Archive, which copies the previous year to a separate file. Current file still contains all last year's stuff.

I did not choose Start New Year, which saves a copy of curent files and new file is started that contains only new year's data.

GAVE UP HAVING MY DUCKS IN A ROW

Decided not to insist on all accounts being reconciled on the last day of the month. (That notion comes from early bookkeeping training) One account will just have to cycle on the 6th of the month.

It turns out that Archive is much easier to work with, because one year flows into the next. I hope this may help someone else who's struggling with Wicked Quicken.

Thanks, fellow members, for your interest and help.