Could you check a tag function in 2012?

"Mr.Jan" wrote

I am using Q Deluxe 2011. My partner and I keep a joint checking account for household expenses. Because we deposit at different times and amounts it is not always an equal split so I am using TAGS to keep our separate balances.

Could someone do a quick check and see if you can add a tag to the checking account(s) that receive the net deposit on a paycheck in

2012? You can't assign a tag in 2011 to this function.

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I don't see any difference in the options for paychecks in Q2012 and Q2011.

You can't ever assign a tag to a register transaction that is a split; only to individual split lines. And in the case of a Quicken paycheck transaction, some of the split lines don't allow for tags either.

It sounds like what you really want to do is to tag the "transfer" from the paycheck transaction to the joint account; and that's not possible for a Quicken paycheck transaction.

Two approaches I can think of.

1.) Have the paycheck transfer the household expense funds to an intermediate account, then transfer the funds from that intermediate account to the joint account. You can then tag that transfer into the joint account.

2.) Create your own plain split paycheck transaction (don't use the one created by the paycheck wizard). You could do that two ways: view the existing paycheck wizard transaction in a transaction report with splits displayed and use that as a template to manually create a scheduled split transaction; or Memorize an existing paycheck wizard transaction, then enter a temporary paycheck transaction for that memorized payee so Quicken will QuickFill the desired splits, edit the temporary transaction according to your needs including tagging the transfer, schedule that temporary paycheck transaction, then delete the temporary transaction from whatever register you entered it in.

[In a plain split transaction, you should be able to tag any of the split lines, including any transfer to another account.]

I have ANOTHER suggestion. Lose the obsession that you have to track each other's deposits: in a TRUE JOINT relationship ALL income is combined into a common pot and ALL expenses are paid out of that common pot. Marriage SHOULD be a total financial, legal, sexual, and personal UNION.

SHARX: I had thought you dropped out after you upgraded to the latest version of Quicken!

Remember, this is my partner and not my spouse. Plus, I tried the everything joint approach once and found that one person in any relationship is much more likely abdicate tracking finances. If you keep them even somewhat separate, each side has to bear responsibility.

Regardless, this is a bookkeeping question and not a moral one.

JOHN: Thanks, for some reason I did not think of setting this up outside the wizard. I do think I will use the intermediate account approach though. Both excellent suggestions. I had just hoped the tag thing had made the cut for improvements.

Thanks

Somebody's not taking his meds.

No, no...I've been here all along, just lurking. My Quicken 2011 has been acceptable. 99% of the price downloads have been okay, the

1% is okay--hell, for $49.95 what should one expect? I still don't do any transaction downloads--I'd rather just do it manually, when the monthly statements come in, or, if I have all the data earlier, then. Too much grief as witnessed by the complaints in this newsgroup about accuracy, timeliness, and cost.

As far as your problem about isolating which partner paid what, I would just use the "split" function. Takes more work but that has to be expected when one wants more information from the software.

ta-da

I agree the split is the only way to do it. I have been recording splits for a couple of years now. It is a pain and can be inaccurate as I have no way to see if I remembered to split every transaction. There is no option for showing non splits only when using two accounts. I am starting to use tags for this in the joint checking account. It may actually give me more functionality.