Quicken Metadata in Q2009 H&B

I'm not aware that Q keeps a history of transaction changes, but don't quote me on that as I've never explored this question in particular. In other words, I don't know of any functionality that would tell you that a transaction was entered for $1.00, but then changed to $1.01 at a particular date/time. I think it just updates the transaction.

Commonly in databases, if a row (transaction) is deleted, it's not gone immediately, it's marked for deletion & can no longer be seen. It stays in that state until a "compaction" is done to actually delete the rows. You'd need special tools to see it & even then, you'd have to review it before you compact the db.

Seems like I've heard that in Q, that can sometimes be the case & that the "compaction" gets done in the File Operations>>Copy... process.

Any chance that might be what you're describing?

transactions occurring prior to a manually selected date. Often this is done to reduce the size of the company data file. The process essentially removes the details of old, closed transactions from the data file and replaces them with summary journal entries, allowing monthly financial statements to be created for old years if needed.

The ongoing data file (working file) will no longer have the details of old, closed transactions which occurred prior to the manually selected date. However, during the condensing process, the software creates a backup or archive copy of the company data file and this archive copy provides the original detailed records of each old transaction. If you do not have a complete understanding of your software's condensing feature, please contact your software provider for additional guidance before using it.

Condensed data is not acceptable for the tax year(s) under audit. However, if you choose, the company data file can be condensed (through the clean up or purge feature) for dates prior to the year(s) under audit, as long as they do not include transactions created or changed for time periods under audit, or for transactions from prior years that have an effect on the years under audit.

If the scope of an audit is expanded, the IRS may request another backup file that was created prior to the date the company file was condensed or request a copy of the archive file created during the condensing process.

My CPA said that while IRS requests for your data file are possible, they're rare.

Even if they do request it, I don't know that Q maintains a history of transaction changes. However, if you haven't already, you might ask Q Support or post into the Q community on Intuit's website.