importing QIF question

[DK]

I just learned that I can download a QIF file from my credit card
company into my Quicken 2000 credit card register. I ran a test run a
fake account and it worked great. What I realized, however, is that when
I do it manually I specify a category. This is useful for budgeting,
reviewing expenses, etc... When I downloaded the QIF file, of course,
the category is absent.

Are there any solutions to utilizing the convenience of QIF files to
avoid manually inputting data, but also desiring that transactions be
categorized?

[Some Body]

I'm using Quicken 2000 Deluxe and both Discover Card (straight download
into Quicken) and Bell Atlantic by Chase (qif file import).

I just learned about this also, and there is no solution to your
problem: the CC company cannot know which categories are applied to each
of your charges.

But at least you are saved entering date and payee for each charge.
Unfortunately, all of the payee info is in all caps. Haven't they heard
of lowercase?

[Han Broekman]

It is said that Q2001 will do a compare like with straight downloads.
You'll have to wait for a user to answer this, since I'm still on Q2K
...
--
Best regards
Han Broekman
(Please answer to the newsgroup)

[Stan]

They say Money talks. I guess Quicken SHOUTS.

:)

Stan

On Wed, 25 Oct 2000 22:24:20 -0400, Some Body <some...@somewhere.com>
wrote:

[AvW]

In article <39F72D19...@primenet.com>,

dka...@primenet.com wrote:
> I just learned that I can download a QIF file from my credit card
> company into my Quicken 2000 credit card register. I ran a test run a
> fake account and it worked great. What I realized, however, is that
when
> I do it manually I specify a category. This is useful for budgeting,
> reviewing expenses, etc... When I downloaded the QIF file, of course,
> the category is absent.
>
> Are there any solutions to utilizing the convenience of QIF files to
> avoid manually inputting data, but also desiring that transactions be
> categorized?
>

Here's how I add categories to a QIF file (before importing it into
Quicken):
1. Open the file in Word97 (the QIF file is ASCII text)
2. Run a Word97 Macro to add a Category line after each description
3. Import the resulting QIF file into Quicken

Examples of transactions with category added:

D31/08/00
T220.35
PCredit Interest
LInterest <==== This line added by Macro
^^
D30/08/00
T795.56
PAcme Salary
LEmployment:Salary & Wages <==== This line added by Macro
^^
The second example shows a Category & subcategory, separated by ":"
The Word97 Macro adds the extra Category line, based on the transaction
description in the original QIF file. Category lines start with "L".
The Macro is tailored to the descriptions used by my bank.

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[Some Body]

Why is this method any better than manually adding the category in
Quicken after you import it? You've added three extra steps (importing
into Word, running a macro, and then exporting from Word). And how does
your macro know which category to add? (It would have to match YOUR
categories - others would need to modify it to match theirs.)

Could you post the macro here for our edification?

[The Z Man]

"Some Body" <some...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:39FC36E9...@somewhere.com...

>
> Why is this method any better than manually adding the category in
> Quicken after you import it? You've added three extra steps (importing
> into Word, running a macro, and then exporting from Word). And how does
> your macro know which category to add? (It would have to match YOUR
> categories - others would need to modify it to match theirs.)

I read the original post, and I also cannot figure out how this would be
easier. I import about seventy Citibank entries per month and manually code
the categories, which takes about ten minutes, if not less. It takes so
little time because after a while, most entries in a personal checkbook are
of a recurring nature. The Word macro solution, although more 'high-tech'
than my manual method, would take a lot longer and would be more error
prone.

I understand that some financial institutions may include the SIC code,
which would at least provide a method of consistent classification, but
Citibank doesn't do so. In any event, it still might not conform to one's
own categorization scheme.

[AvW]

In article <39FC36E9...@somewhere.com>,

For QIF files with only a small number of transactions, it will
probably be quicker to enter the categories manually. However, If your
QIF files have a larger number of transactions, you might find it
useful to automate the process.

Here is the Word97 Macro code. Naturally, you need to adjust the
Find/Replace bits to suit your own QIF files.

'Adds categories to QIF file for XYZ A/c
Option Explicit
Dim sFind As String
Dim sCat As String
Public Sub AddCats2QIF()
'****Change the variables to suit your own purposes****
'In the original QIF file, lines beginning with "P" are transaction
descriptions
s_AddCat "PFinance Salary", "LEmployment:Salary & wages"
s_AddCat "PCredit Interest", "LInt Inc:Portman"
s_AddCat "PAcme Limited", "LInvestment:Dividends"
s_AddCat "PTransaction Fee", "LBank charges"
s_AddCat "PAmerican Express", "LAMEX"
s_AddCat "PAGL", "LUtilities"
s_AddCat "PTelecomCo", "LTelephone"
s_AddCat "PATM Withdrawal", "LATM withdrawal"
s_AddCat "PGovernment Debits Tax", "LTaxes:Debits Tax"
s_AddCat "PCheque Number", "LCHEQUE"
End Sub

Private Sub s_AddCat(sFind As String, sCat As String)
'After each para that contains sFind, add a paragraph with sCat
Selection.HomeKey unit:=wdStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = sFind
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute
While Selection.Find.Found
Selection.MoveEnd unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1
Selection.MoveEnd unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=-1
Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd
Selection.TypeParagraph
Selection.TypeText Text:=sCat
Selection.Find.Execute
Wend
End Sub

[Ralph Mayer]

In Quicken 2001 it is possible to have the transactions assigned
automatically. You have to manually memorize previously transactions before
doing the QIF import, but it then matches new imported transactions with the
payees that were memorized. Basically the same as for credit cards like
Discover or the Quicken one that do the downloads directly. In my opinion,
the major benefit of upgrading from 2000 to 2001.

RJM

[James Lavery]

I have written a utility to read, fix, convert, and auto-categorise QIF
files.

It can currently do the following:

1. Convert to/from QIF and comma/tab separated files.
2. Auto-categorise QIF files (using an exported list of categories from
Quicken) ready for import
3. Invert transaction values (useful when your bank/credit card company
have different ideas to Quicken as to what is a debit/credit).

In the pipeline are:
1. Conversion to/from OFX format

For more info go to www.monthtwosys.co.uk/tffc.htm, which has more
details, including screenshots and download information.

In article <39F72D19...@primenet.com>,

dka...@primenet.com wrote:
> I just learned that I can download a QIF file from my credit card
> company into my Quicken 2000 credit card register. I ran a test run a
> fake account and it worked great. What I realized, however, is that
when
> I do it manually I specify a category. This is useful for budgeting,
> reviewing expenses, etc... When I downloaded the QIF file, of course,
> the category is absent.
>
> Are there any solutions to utilizing the convenience of QIF files to
> avoid manually inputting data, but also desiring that transactions be
> categorized?
>
>