My wife likes to enter known, big payments a full month in advance so she can budget for the rest of the month. Needless to say I don't want to actually pay my mortgage a full month early. So here's my question...if she selects "enter" from the screen that shows all my scheduled payments, what actually happens?
- Does it pay the bill immediately?
- Or does it merely send the transaction to the bank, and the bank holds it until the date specified and then pays it?
Is there a reason NOT to do this that I haven't considered?
My thought would be to create a generic payment as a placeholder that simply went into the register a month early...when the actual payment was made I then delete the place holder. But, if entering it early isn't a problem, then this is simply that much more unnecessary work
I generally enter payments when I receive the bill. When Q connects to the bank, the information is sent, and the bank pays them on the date I specify.
The bank holds it until the date specfied. For example, many of mine show up on the Scheduled Transaction List 7 days in advance. When I press "Enter", it is sent to the bank but doesn't get paid until the date specified. It will also show up on the Register list and reduces the amount shown in "Ending Balance". The "Online Balance" is not affected because the check hasn't yet been paid by the bank.
You can go into the Scheduled Transaction List and change the "Show in List" to 30 days before. When it comes up, hit Enter and you will accomplish what you want to do. If I were to do this, I would probably use 27 days before to accomodate Feb.
What happens depends on how you schedule the transaction, and what you use as the payment method.
Note that you can set up the scheduled transaction to automatically enter in the register or to remind you to enter into the register. So, simply scheduling a recurring transaction does NOT do anything other than creating an entry in the calendar. Nothing happens until the payment is 'entered' into the register.
Once entered, a transaction with the payment method of 'Online Payment' will show 'Send Payment' in the check number field. The payment will be processed at the time you physically 'send' it (from the online center or online update), with an 'arrival' date of the date you indicate. It has been my experience that online payments can arrive a day or so early, not much more than that. Quicken requires a few days to process an online payment, and any early payment arrivals have more to do with that window of time than with what date you use the update button.
Once entered, a transaction with the type of 'payment' simply is in the register. Nothing happens until you physically print a check, or decide to pay online.
Any 'placeholder' transactions entered will not affect you much... but it is really not necessary to use them, as the calendar will show ALL scheduled transactions, and a running balance for the account.
Scheduling payments is a wonderful way to track your cash flow. I personally have 'scheduled' amounts for weekly deposit, weekly grocery, and weekly cash withdrawal. The calendar then shows me what my account balance looks like. The register is unaffected, as I use the 'remind me' option during scheduling. When I go to the grocery store, or use the ATM, I enter the ACTUAL transaction. Quicken gives me an option to 'skip' the scheduled ones.
An online payment that generates a physical check (such as a payment to a doctor, dentist, or other individual) is cut and mailed and *CAN* arrive early. If the payee deposits it early, the bank may or may not catch the 'post' date.
And yes, there was a case or two of an online payment via EFT that has ALSO processed early.
In these cases, the money was in the account and there were no problems. If there *HAD* been an overdraft, I for sure would have fought the bank on the fees, as the payments were processed before the date on the draft.
Like I said, tho, I am not gunshy.. it was not a problem. Since the original post asked what could happen if transactions are entered early, I felt it important to point that out.
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