Upgrade from Q'99 to which version?

I am a longtime Quicken user, since DOS days (and through a Mac phase). I currently use Quicken Deluxe '99 on a Vista machine. Also, I used to post to this group years ago (although I cannot remember what my user name was then LOL) when it was on the usenet and happy to see John Pollard is still active here.

I do not, and have no interest in downloading financial transactions, etc, so the online features are of no interest to me. I appreciate Q'99 for it's small footprint and speed. However, there are a few things I would like to improve upon. I am looking for the most trouble free version of Quicken to which to upgrade that would add the following functionality, without introducing new problems:

1. Would like stock splits, spin offs and renames to calculate the proper original basis. This was a big topic of discussion several years ago, and there was agreement that Q did not do this. Has this been fixed and if so, in which version?

1. Would like to be able to track reconciliations by group. I use the accounts to track weekly reimbursement from my employer for business expenses, and would like to be able to go back and match up with which reimbursement check I reconciled a particular expense. This is probably my primary reason for upgrading. Q '99 does not keep historical data on reconciliation sessions.

2. If possible (I know this is a long shot), I would like multiple Quicken Accounts to work together. Currently, I maintain one quicken file for my personal finances, and another quicken file for a joint business. When I put money into or take money out of the business, I end up having to enter those transactions twice - once in my file for my personal finances, and once in the file for the business. Using classes won't help as the business uses classes and subclasses, and I don't really want the files together. However, I sure would like to not have to double enter all those transactions. I'm not sure if the Home & Business version would support this.

Any recommendation on which version and year of Quicken I should upgrade to?

Thanks in advance.

I'm sorry you haven't gotten an answer to this. But I have to say that I find the idea of recommending a product too difficult to try. There can be many differences from year-to-year, and it's hard to remember them all ... and sometimes I don't even notice some of them until long after I've had the product. And people's desires are all over the map: a couple of people got irate! over the Q2007 color scheme. I can't imagine becoming angry over a color scheme; I would never have thought to *warn* someone that the color teal was used extensively in some version of Quicken.

I think that the newer versions of Quicken (starting with at least Q2005) have improved the handling of corporate spinoffs, and I think they work reasonably well for most. But I think there may still be a bug in the process somewhere having to do with spinoffs from companies that have had stock splits, though I don't know whether it is clear that the bug is in the spinoff or in the way Quicken handles splits. If that bug hits, you can still enter the spinoff transactions manually.

In addition to the aforementioned bug, when Quicken does a spinoff, it uses Buy transactions to "acquire" the lots of the new company ... and the buy transactions are dated on the date the shares of the company doing the spinoff were purchased ... making it seem as if you have owned the spinoff as long as you've owed the company doing the spinoff. You can correct that "problem" manually, but it does take some extra effort.

I never knew there were any problems with "renaming" a security, so I can't tell you if they are fixed.

I think there is still at least one problem with splits, but the problem I am thinking of is, I think, either a user error or an fi error. If you enter a split transaction with a transaction date different than the real-world split date, and you download prices, the result can produce an incorrect number of shares ... like having two splits in your account. This problem is corrected by making sure any split transactions are dated on the same date they occurred in the real-world (or the same date that the suppliers of Quicken quotes and historical quotes have the split occurring).

I know of no way to track historical reconciliations, other than to print your reconciliation reports, as you do them, to a tab delimited file for import to Excel.

I don't think you need H&B to run a business, unless you need to do invoicing.

I don't understand your reason for not wanting to put your business and personal data in the same Quicken file. It's not that I recommend it, but that is just about the only way you can avoid the double-entry. H&B doesn't offer any advantages in this area.

One possible alternative to putting all the accounts in one file: When you are transferring this money from business to personal accounts (or vice versa), if you are moving money from one real-world bank account to another to accomplish this, and if all the bank accounts involved offer Quicken downloads, I'm guessing the downloaded transactions would achieve the end you seek. You may also be able to use Scheduled or Memorized transactions - stand alone, or in conjunction with downloading - to minimize the work.

I have used Q2002 and Q2005 fairly extensively, and I like(d) both. Q2006 (and Q2007) have the best reporting of any versions I've used, by far (with the exception of a bug relating to split investment account transactions and certain reports). The ability to expand or collapse each and every category independently - down to the transaction level - was a feature I had long wanted. And I find the saved-reports area much improved.

Q2006 and Q2007 (Deluxe and above) also offer the ability to attach images to transactions and accounts.

Starting with at least Q2004, Deluxe, and above, versions of Quicken offer a specific account type for 401k's.

But there are just way too many differences to begin to cover them all; and I would personally hesitate to recommend any product. Luckily there is not a large cost involved in the trial-and-error method to discover for yourself. Older Quicken versions are available on eBay very inexpensively, and Quicken comes with a 60 day unconditional money back guarantee from date of initial purchase, so you could try Q2007 for 60 days.