Are you having issues with your register or accounts?
You may want to look at this support article. You can also contact support directly.
In Quicken, the register is your list of transactions. When money is spent, deposited, transferred, or otherwise adjusted, it is reflected in your account register.
You can navigate to your register using your account bar by clicking either All Transactions or a specific account.
Outline the row you are working on in the register
If you would like to see the transaction you have selected more clearly by outlining it, you can turn on Outline using the register preferences.
- Open your register by selecting any spending account on the sidebar.
- Click the gear icon
on the upper right corner of your register screen. - Hover over Selected Row Style.
- Select Outline.
Note: If you wish to return to a shaded row, select Shaded.
How do I print the account register?
To print the register
- Press Ctrl+P or select Print Transactions from the gear menu in the upper right corner of the register screen
. - From the Print Register screen, you can enter your own title for the printout, as well as choose whether to Print all split transactions (transactions with multiple categories.)
Note that the date range will show on the Print Register screen, but to change it you need to change the date range in the register itself.
- Once you have verified the information, select Print.
My account balance isn't what I expected, what do I do?
For accounts that are accessed online, the issue with balances is often that you have transactions that have not been accepted.
Enter a Spending Transaction
Most of the time you'll update your spending accounts by downloading transactions and balances directly from your bank. Sometimes you'll need to enter transactions manually into your account register.
- Open the account you want to use.
- In the account register, find the new transaction line. Or you can go there directly by typing CTRL+N.
If you sort the register by a descending order of date, the latest transaction will appear on the top of the register. If you sort the register by an ascending order of date, the latest transaction will appear at the bottom of the register.
- Change the date if necessary.
- If this is a check, enter the check number in the Check # field.
- In the Payee field, indicate who receives this payment or gives you this deposit.
- In the Payment field or Deposit field, enter an amount.
- Assign a category to the transaction.
- In the Tag field, tag the transaction. (Optional)
- In the Memo field, enter a note. (Optional)
- Click the Exp field to identify this transaction as a reimbursable expense. (Optional)
- Click Save.
Notes
Tell me more about downloading transactions
To learn more how you can automate much of your transaction entry, see Tell me about updating transactions and balances from my financial institutions.
Tell me more about what I see in the register
- Reconciled and cleared transactions are dimmed.
- Future transactions are displayed below a blue line (if the register is sorted by date).
- The transaction that you're currently working with has a pale blue background.
- As you work in a Quicken register, a number of different icons can appear in the Status column. See Status column icons to learn what they mean.
Tell me more about entering dates
- You don't have to type the slashes or the year, because Quicken has already entered the current year.
- To enter a date quickly, click the pop-up calendar at the right of the Date field, and then click a date.
Can I customize the Check # field?
The Check # field has several predefined transaction types; you can add customized types as well. To add a new type:
- Click the drop-down arrow icon on the right side of the column cell.
- Click Edit List.
- Click New. Enter a name, click OK and Done.
- To delete an item, select the item and click Delete.
My payee list is long and cluttered...what can I do?
If your payee drop-down list contains payees that you no longer need, delete them from the Memorized Payee List.
Tell me how to use the pop-up calculator to enter an amount
Click the calculator icon in any field in which you enter an amount; Quicken displays a pop-up calculator. Use the calculator buttons (or use the number keys in the top row of your keyboard) to calculate amounts, and then click Enter to place the amount in the field.
Tell me more about entering categories
The category drop-down list is divided into several groups such as Personal income, Personal expenses, Transfers, All Categories, and so on. Choose the group you want to work with, and then select the specific category.
Depending on your payee information, Quicken may suggest a category.
To enter a transaction with multiple categories, click the Split button.
Can I transfer money between Quicken accounts?
Yes you can. When you transfer money between accounts, one account balance increases and the other account balance decreases—but your net worth remains the same. Quicken records a transfer in your "transfer from" account register and creates a parallel transaction in the "transfer to" account. For more information, see Transfer money between accounts.
Can I customize my account register?
Yes. Each time you record a transaction, Quicken sorts it in the register—the default is to first sort by date and then by check number. You can also sort a register by clicking on a column heading. You can also change the appearance and behavior of a spending account register by changing register options, register preferences, and QuickFill preferences.
Are there any columns I can't edit?
- Leave the Clr field blank. (This refers to whether the transaction has cleared during reconciliation.)
- You can't edit the Amount or Balance columns. Quicken calculates them automatically.
What do the Status column icons mean?
As you work in a Quicken register, a number of different icons can appear in the Status column. See Status column icons to learn what they mean.
Can I print my register?
You can print transactions from any of Quicken's registers for a specified range of dates. You can also choose whether to print details for split transactions. Transactions will print in the order in which you see them in the register. You can display them in a different sort order before printing.
What's the largest amount I can enter?
Amounts for single transactions are limited to $99,999,999.99. Amounts for printed checks are limited to about $14,000,000.00.
How are the inflow and outflow columns labeled in different types of registers?
| Type of account | Inflow column | Outflow column |
|---|---|---|
| Checking accounts | Deposit | Payment |
| Credit card accounts | Payment (paying off your balance decreases the amount you owe) | Charge (charging items to your credit card increase the amount you owe) |
| Loan and other liability accounts | Decrease (diminishes the liability) | Increase (increases the amount you owe) |
| Asset accounts | Increase (add to the asset. value) | Decrease (diminishes the asset ) |
Can I copy transactions into other applications, such as Microsoft Word or Excel?
Yes. You can copy transactions from your spending account registers by holding down the Shift key, selecting a range of transactions to copy, and then choosing Edit menu > Transaction > Copy Transaction(s). Then you can switch to the other application and choose Edit menu > Paste. Note: Quicken split transaction information is not copied.
Change a spending transaction
If you make a mistake when entering a transaction, it's easy to enter edits and corrections.
- Open the account that contains the transaction you need to edit.
- In the account register, select the transaction you want to change.
- Click in the fields you want to change and type or select new information.
- Click Save to record the changes.
If you leave a transaction, change column sizes, or do other file operations before clicking Save, Quicken asks you to confirm any changes you made and then saves them. You can turn this reminder off by clearing the Before changing existing transactions check box in the Notify Preferences dialog.
Notes
Is there any part of an account register that I can't edit?
- You can't edit the Balance or Amount columns.
- If you need to change the balance during reconciliation, you must add a payment or deposit to make up the difference or have Quicken adjust the difference for you.
- Certain restrictions also apply to editing online payments that have been sent for processing.
What if I need to restore a register transaction back to the way it was before I made my edit?
- In the account register, select the transaction you want to change.
- Either choose Edit menu > Transaction > Restore Transaction, or press the Esc key.
What should I keep in mind when editing a transaction?
Changing a reconciled transaction affects future reconciliations. Quicken lets you know if you're about to change a reconciled transaction and asks you to confirm the change.
To protect your data from accidental or unauthorized changes, you can set up two kinds of passwords. You can require a password before opening a file or before changing transactions entered before a certain date.
What if I want to edit a transfer that is part of a split transaction?
If the transaction you're changing is a transfer that was part of a split transaction, you can't change it from the account that received the transfer (the transfer to account). You need to go to the other account (the transfer from account) to make the edit.
Find out if a transaction has cleared
Each spending account register has a Clr column (between the Payment and Deposit amount columns). This column can be marked c, R, or it can be empty. It is possible to change these markings manually, but this is not recommended. In general:
A c in this column means:
- You downloaded this transaction into Quicken from your financial institution and accepted it into your register (it was marked as cleared on your financial institution website).
- You started to reconcile this account, and during the Reconcile process, you marked this transaction as cleared by matching it against your statement.
An R in this column means that Quicken has reconciled the transaction (after you reconcile your account, the transactions marked as cleared have an R in the Clr column). Reconcile means that you have verified that the transactions recorded in your Quicken register agree with the transactions recorded at your bank, or any other records you might have.
Notes
If you use online payment, you can check the status of a payment while it is being processed.
The Opening Balance transaction that Quicken creates when you set up an account is also marked with an R because it represents the last reconciled balance of the account on the day you started it in Quicken.
Get insight about recent spending for a category or payee
About minireports
Minireports provide instant insights into your spending. Quicken provides two types of payee minireports and one type of category minireport. The payee minireport types differ only with regard to date range and grouping; see the notes below for a description of each type of report.
Minireports are not available from investment account transaction lists.
- Open the account register that contains transactions with the payee or category you want to report on.
- Depending on the type of minireport you want to run, select either the Payee or Category field in the transaction you want to work with.
- Click the minireport buttonto the right of the selected field.
- Click the down arrow to select a date range from the predefined list. (Optional)
- Where they are available, click the blue hyperlink(s) to examine specific transactions included in the report.
- Click the Show Report button to view additional detail or to customize the report display. (Optiona)
The Show Report button is not available for minireports that are accessed from graphs.
Notes
More about payee minireports
Quicken looks in all accounts for transactions that match the selected payee and time period. Quicken displays a minireport for the smallest time interval (last 30 days, last 60 days, last 90 days, and so on) that contains at least six matching transactions.
If fewer than six transactions are found, Quicken displays a three-year minireport, itemized by date.
If the current category is a transfer, Quicken includes only transactions from the current ("transfer from") account that match the selected payee and time period.
Payee minireports are available as flyovers from some locations in Quicken. For example, in any checking account register, a minireport shows the average of the last few payments for the selected payee.
More about category minireports
In the category minireport, Quicken displays the activity (payments and deposits) for the selected category over the time interval that you specify (last 30 days, last 60 days, last 90 days, and so on). For time intervals of 90 days or less, the minireport is subtotaled by payee. Otherwise, it is subtotaled by date.
How can I use minireports?
Use the information provided in payee and category minireports to answer questions such as the ones listed below.
- Did I already pay ...? (for example, my garbage bill)
- How much have I already spent this month for...? (for example, dining out)
- How much do I typically spend for...? (for example, a specific payee or category such as Megamart or grocery shopping)
What's the difference between the average and monthly average amounts?
- Average is the average of the total number of transactions shown in the report.
- Monthly average is the total divided by the number of months included in the report.
How do I clean up my data so that my minireports are more useful?
For redundant categories, use the merge and recategorize tools. Read the overview of Managing the way transactions are categorized if you need help determining when to recategorize and when to merge.
For redundant payees in existing transactions, use Find All. If you use online payment from within Quicken, either through Quicken Bill Pay or through the bill pay service of a financial institution, you won't be able to change the names of online payees (since that's how that payee is identified).
To standardize payee names in future downloaded transactions, use renaming rules.
Create a register report
You can create a number of reports directly from the register of any spending account. Click If you do not see the reports below, be sure you've followed Step 2.
and then choose More reports.
Customize my register
You can change many aspects of the Quicken register to suit your own way of working. For example, you can change which columns are shown, the font that is used, and the way transactions are sorted.
Change the way my register works
- Choose Edit menu > Preferences.
- In the left pane, click Register, Data Entry and QuickFill, Notify, Write Checks, Downloaded transactions, or Transfer Detection.
- In the right pane, make the changes you want. If you need additional assistance understanding the available choices, see the register preferences topic.
- Click OK to save your changes.
Notes
These settings don't work for investment accounts (an investment account transaction list works differently than a register).
Change the font and font size used in registers
- Choose Edit menu > Preferences.
- In the left pane, click Register.
- In the right pane, click Fonts.
- Select the font family and size you want to use in your registers and lists.
Notes
- Preview an example of the font at the bottom of the dialog.
- Choose Reset to return to the default Quicken font setting.
- These settings won't work for investment accounts (an investment account transaction list works differently than a register).
- If you want the majority of text in Quicken to be larger, choose View menu > Use Large Fonts. The minimum recommended display resolution for large fonts is 1280x1024 for Quicken Home, Business & Rental Property, or 1280x800 for all other versions of Quicken.
Change the columns that display in the register
- Display the register that you want to change.
- At the top of the register scrollbar, click the icon.
- Select the columns that you want to display in the register.
Notes
- This feature is available in non-investment registers only.
- Each non-investment register can have its own column settings.
- The columns available to choose from change based on account type, and one- or two-line display status.
- Learn more about changing the columns that display in a register.
Change the name that appears at the top of the register
This is the account name. You can change it by editing the account.
Change the sort order of transactions in the register
Columns in the register are sortable.
- Click a column heading to sort by that column.
- Up and down arrows indicate the current sort order.
- For example, click the Date column heading to sort by Date/Amount. Transactions are sorted by the entry in their Date fields. If two or more transactions have the same date entry, the deposits appear before the payments. Or click the Clr column heading to list all reconciled (R) transactions first, then transactions you've attempted to reconcile (c), and then all remaining transactions.
- Move the mouse over the column headings for additional information (flyover help).
- Other sort options, such as by Order Entered, are also available. From the account register, click (the Account Actions icon), and then choose Sorting options.
Show transactions on one or two lines
- Click (the Account Actions icon).
- Select (or deselect) Two-line display to change the setting.
Notes
- Switching to two-line display doesn't affect your data; it only changes the way the data is viewed.
- With two-line display off, twice as many transactions display on the screen. Click the gear icon () at the top of the register scrollbar to select the data that displays in one- or two-line mode.
- Two-line display of investment accounts is covered in a separate topic.
Change the colors used in registers
- Choose Edit menu > Preferences.
- In the left pane, click Register.
- In the right pane, click Colors.
- Select the colors you want to use in your registers. To return to the default Quicken color setting, choose Restore Defaults.
Notes
In the default settings:
- Reconciled and cleared transactions appear slightly dimmed.
- Future transactions are shaded blue.
- The selected transaction (that is, the transaction you're currently editing) is more distinct and obvious.
You can't customize colors for investment accounts (an investment account transaction list works differently than a register).
Expand or collapse the download transactions panel
You can expand or collapse the download transactions panel in your spending and savings account registers. Simply click the expand (plus) icon or the collapse (minus) icon on the upper left side of the panel.
Work with multiple registers at the same time (pop-up registers)
- Choose Edit menu > Preferences.
- In the left pane, click Register.
- In the right pane, select Use pop-up registers.
Notes
When you select this option, your registers will appear in their own windows, so you can view and work with more than one at the same time.
Status column icons
As you work in a Quicken register, a number of different icons can appear in the Status column. Here is a list of the icons and what they mean:
Downloaded transaction icons
You may see these icons if you download your transactions.
| Long Icon | Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
|
| All transactions that were recently downloaded and are not reviewed or reconciled are marked as "New." This transaction has not been reconciled. |
|
| A transaction is a "New Match" after it has been compared to, and accepted as a match to a downloaded transaction or a manually entered transaction. This transaction has not been reconciled. |
|
| A transaction that has not been reviewed and cleared. |
Bill Payment icons
You may see these icons if you pay your bills online.
| Long Icon | Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
|
| A bill is marked "To Send" when it is ready to be sent for payment in the next One Step Update. To send it, or postpone payment, click the icon for options. |
|
| A bill is marked "On Hold" when you have postponed payment. When you are ready to send payment, click the icon for options. |
|
| A bill is marked "Sent" once payment has been sent to the payee. |
|
| A bill is marked "Canceled" if you have canceled the payment. |
Reminder icons
You may see these icons if you work with reminders in a register.
| Icon | Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
|
| A reminder is "upcoming" when the number of days until its due date exceeds the "Remind me [n] days in advance" setting. Click the icon for options. |
|
| A reminder is "due" when the number of days until its due date falls within the "Remind me [n] days in advance" setting. Click the icon for options. |
|
| A reminder is "overdue" when its due date has past. Click the icon for options. |
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