Re: Ability to change "Downloaded Payee"?

On 05/25/24 8:00 AM, Andrew Schmidt wrote:
> I had two checks written within a few weeks of each other for the same 
> amount.  One cleared, and I accepted the transaction.  The other did a 
> few weeks later, but I noticed that Quicken matched the wrong 
> transaction with the first check during the first download....so I had 
> to accept this second transaction for the wrong payee the second time 
> (via a manual match).
> 
> Net effect is, of course, the same. Both checks are now cleared.  But 
> the "Downloaded Payee" field in the register shows 'Check 2120' where 
> 'Check 2019' should be and visa-versa.
> 
> Long explanation of why I'm asking if that is something that can be 
> manually edited so the fields are correct.  I can't find anyway to do 
> that, and really, perhaps it shouldn't be allowed to in reality.  Being 
> anal, it just bothers me (but I'd get over it).


None of the "Downloaded ...." fields can be changed - and for good reason.

They are intended as a permanent record of what was in the download; 
changing them would destroy that record ... and achieve no useful 
purpose. You should consider all the "Downloaded ...." fields as already 
"correct.

In your specific case, you created the "problem" when you accepted 
Quicken's mismatch of the first downloaded check transaction. Quicken 
does not always get the matches correct (though it usually does for 
downloaded check transactions). So the user has to be on guard for 
Quicken mismatches.

When you say, "But the "Downloaded Payee" field in the register shows 
'Check 2120' where 'Check 2019' should be and visa-versa", it sounds 
like you have it backwards.

The transaction that has "Check 2120" in the "Downloaded Reference" 
field, should have check# 2120 in the Quicken Check# field and the payee 
name for check# 2120 in the Payee field. The same logic for Check# 2019. 
Looked at another way: instead of changing the "Downloaded Payee", 
change the Quicken register payee.

{You could also effectively undo the "match" by using "Cut 
transaction(s)"/"Paste transaction(s)" to remove, then re-add, the same 
transaction to the account. The result will be to remove all the 
"Downloaded ...." fields  from each transaction. See footnote below.]

I think it's unlikely that there will be any problem if you leave things 
as they are, but there is at least one possible problem that might arise.

One of the "Downloaded ...." fields is "Downloaded ID", which is a 
unique transaction ID (assigned by the financial institution - or 
Intuit) which identifies a specific transaction. Quicken uses that 
unique ID to filter out any possible duplicate downloaded transactions - 
that is, any downloaded transaction with a "Downloaded ID" that is the 
same as the Downloaded ID for an existing Quicken transaction in the 
same account, will be ignored by Quicken.

Also your Quicken transaction "Posting Date" may cause you problems if 
the two checks cleared in different Statement Periods. See footnote below.


[ (*) Before doing the Cut/Paste transaction, you might want to manually 
record the "Downloaded Posting Date" for each of the 2 transactions. 
Once the transactions have been Pasted (and lost their "Downloaded ..." 
values), you can tell Quicken what the Posting Date was for each 
transaction by: right-clicking the transaction, holding down CTRL while 
left-clicking "Copy transaction(s)", and entering the manually saved 
"Downloaded Posting Date" in the Quicken "Posting Date" field (which is 
NOT the same as the Downloaded Posting Date). Quicken uses the "Posting 
Date" for reconciles; and the Posting Date is automatically updated with 
the value of "Downloaded Posting Date" when a downloaded transaction is 
Accepted.]