Downloading Credit Card Purchases

First of all, don't apologize. This group exists, IMNSHO, to provide a place for these questions. You just have to accept that occasionally you will get flamed for asking a question that has been asked and answered multiple times.

In the future just do a quick search of the newsgroup and use Google to look for an answer.You'll be surprised at how often that gets you what you want. My measure is 5 - 10 minutes. If I haven't found an answer after that, then I post it to a news group....

As to the actual question, "it depends". Each version of Q has tried to improve on the ability to automatically assign categories to downloaded transactions. Each iteration has, to me, improved it. However, it is a loooooong way from being more than slightly useful. It does, in some cases, learn, but I've found that you just have to go through the account and make updates. In general, it defaults to the wrong category and you end up doing a lot of editing.... In some cases using the search function you can make batch changes, but it's not been of much use to me...

What I do is download, then accept all the transactions (assuming you do). Then I look at what Quicken has done concerning categories. If the vendor is new to me, then I'll have to assign a category and/or subcategory to it, then memorize (right click and select memorize) the transaction. Once memorized, every time that vendor pops up again, it'll automatically be assigned the memorized category. That can be edited, of course.

You also can do split categories if you need to, but I wouldn't memorize them unless the bill is a recurring one... like my Road Runner bill, where so much goes to Road Runner and so much goes to Cablevision.... EVERY month.

Following up on this post - I do essentially as described [except I accept each individual transaction] and a bit more. After memorizing a new payee/transaction, I then go to the memorized transaction list and edit the transaction - set the amount to zero [unless it's a fixed amount] and then 'Lock' the transaction. I also have 'Automatic Memorization' turned off so that my list does not get cluttered.

The OP doesn't say what version of QW being used. QW05 has a renaming function which works well for me. For example, if I buy gas from different branches of Exxon/Mobil, the downloaded payee includes a branch code number. I'm not interested in this bit of info so I have a renaming rule that rename all to just Exxon/Mobil. The memorized transaction has the appropriate category:sub-category.

I take a different approach. We enter credit card transactions within a day or two of when they actually occur. Then download at whatever interval is convenient and when I receive a monthly statement.

That process would identify any transactions which I did not expect (and occasionally one I forgot to enter). It also identifies transactions that are different from what I expected (occasionally a restaurant) or that were never processed by a vendor. Also gives us a continuous picture of where things stand. Sounds like it doesn't take any more work than you're doing now while providing better checks and controls.

Bernie

By the way, no one seemed to notice that the OP said "...and dropped the smmaries into a split purchase line in Quicken 2004"

He needs to become aware that all the posts that have occured offering him advice use the method of a SINGLE entry per transaction, whether manually adding it (my recommendation as Bernie articulated), or relying on the downloads from the FI.

The OP needs to know his old method of 'bunching' transactions is not the best way of doing things and is likely to change...

-------------------------------- Regards -

- Andrew