Dissecting a paycheck in Quicken

I'm able to change/modify the paycheck in the register (after it's been entered) just fine with Q2005D.

Ok, I do see how you do that. But that wasn't really the point. I need a more efficient way of entering a paycheck rather than having to manually type in each of the different parts of the paycheck. What I'm trying to understand is how the granular information is maintained inside Quicken. Which parts are meaningful and get propagated to other parts of Quicken, such as tax planning, and which parts are just collapsed into a subtotal somewhere. And once I understand that, can these same entries be simulated by parsing the paycheck into a QIF file and importing via QIF?

Thanks.

You'd probably waste a hellofa lot less time simply typing in each different part of the paycheck!

When the paycheck varies, it's hard to think of any other way of inputting it but manually adjusting the "preset" numbers.

Well, this is the point. Imagine...base pay is the only number that stays put. Then, there's commission, ESPP, 401K, federal tax, state tax, etc. These numbers all change based on the total gross amount, which is affected by the commission. I can easily parse out the PDF file into a QIF file, if someone could just help me understand all the components that need to be in the QIF to be equivalent to what I get when I do a paycheck as a scheduled transaction.

Does anyone know the answer to my question...where does Quicken put all the information that I enter in a paycheck scheduled transaction? I know that the net amount goes into my checking acount. It looks like the ESPP and 401K go to investments, and the taxes probably go in taxes. Can all of these things be reproduced by importing from QIF? Are there any surprises - does Quicken do anything with my paycheck that might not be obvious?

I'm certain that once I know this information, it will be a 5-minute exercise to programatically parse my paycheck PDF file from ADP into a QIF file, if I can just be sure that I'm accounting for all the components of the paycheck.

Thanks.

At its heart, Quicken is a simple accounting program. That is, it takes the dollars associated with a balanced entry (you've probably heard the terms "double entry accounting" and "debits have to equal credits") and puts these amounts into Accounts (assets and liabilities) and Categories (income and expense). I'm 99.999% certain

- without having examined the code behind Quicken - that any sort of information you pull out of Quicken - Planning, Tax, Reports, etc., etc. - looks at the numbers in the relevant Accounts and Categories. That's certainly been my experience having dealt with dozens of various accounting programs over the years.

A Scheduled Transaction looks to be similar to what an Accountant would call a Standard Journal Entry. That is, you know that periodically you'll be making a routine entry debiting and crediting the same accounts/categories each time, though the dollar figures probably will be different each time you make the entry. So, you have a stack of your Standard Journal Entry all printed up, accounts and categories all listed out, but with the dollar figures blank. When it comes time to make the entry you grab one of your pre-printed sheets, fill in the numbers, and then post the Journal to the General Ledger.

If you want to use a QIF file to input information into Quicken, this QIF file eliminates the need to use the Scheduled Transaction at all. That is, the QIF file "knows" what accounts/categories need to be affected and "knows" the amounts of each entry. So, if you really want to do this, find one of your paychecks that's most "comprehensive" in terms of its entries. That is, find the paycheck that affects the *most* accounts/categories, even the oddball, once-in- a-blue-moon entry and use that to set up the QIF with your extraction program filling in the amounts (even $0) from the PDF of your paycheck.

always work very well and, frankly, it's easier and keeps you closer to what's going on to simply memorize a paycheck and change the numbers each time you get paid.

Tom Young

To see what your paycheck should look like in a QIF file: export one day's worth of transactions, from the account where you deposit your paycheck, to a QIF file ... using a single date on which one of your paychecks was deposited ... ideally a date on which no other transaction is recorded in that account in Quicken.

Open the QIF file in Notepad.

OR.. save your self the work of using the QIF file and set up a split deposit where all categories are included, but all amounts are zero. Memorize. Then use memorized transaction - which can be scheduled with reminders - and fill in the half dozen or so fields you may have to use.

When I worked I had a salary instead of commissions, but things worked out that every other gross pay was off by a penny from the scheduled transaction, so I had to adjust accordingly. You mentioned 401K's and other stuff, I had categories for Salary, Federal Tax, FICA tax, State Tax, 401K, Life Insurance, Medicare Tax, Local Tax, Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, Flex Insurance and Stock Option Plan

Now it's a one-line pension entry. Not bad, growing old.

Jay ..