Quicken is the granddaddy of, and it’s the product users love to hate. I’ve been a Quicken user since 1992 — now over 26 years. I used to track every one of my 60-plus accounts with Quicken. I had every bank account, credit card, asset, retirement, investment and liability linked to the software. So to say I’m a power-user of this product would be an understatement. In case you missed it, Quicken is no longer owned by Inuit, which.
Quicken is a personal finance management program created by Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks. Whereas QuickBooks was developed for businesses who wanted handle the bulk of their accounting in-house, Quicken was designed for the home-based or small business user who wants to manage their finances using a feature-rich, intuitive accounting program that's simple to use. Memorized transactions reduce mistakes, keep better tabs of cash in bank and increase accuracy: A memorized transaction could be bills that show up in the same amount every month, like your Web-hosting payment, or obligations that change regularly, like your utility bill.
Long term, I’m not sure what to make of this news or what it means for the future of Quicken. However, in the two years since the sales, there have been a number of improvements made to Quicken. At one time, this software was the only game in town.
Today, that is no longer the case, and you have many to choose from. Today, it’s possible to store your financial information completely online using services like, which we recommend as the best personal finance service,. However, these financial aggregation services tend to be read-only and are better suited for alerts or reporting your finances. Reconciliation and online bill pay aren’t available with these types of services. To be fair, most banks offer online bill pay via their websites or mobile apps, so the need for online bill pay with your personal finance software has waned.
For individuals who prefer to stay with a locally installed program, there’s. Or if you’re looking for a native Macintosh software application, there’s, as well. But none of these applications come close to Quicken in terms of market share or the comprehensive personal finance features that still make Quicken for Windows the industry leader. So that brings us to reviewing the latest version of Quicken.
Quicken for Windows Features. Testing Quicken 2019 For this review, Quicken supplied a copy of Quicken Premier 2019 for Windows, and I converted from my previous test installation of Quicken 2018. This test was conducted over a two-week period and used most parts of the application. To be fully transparent to our readers, I no longer use Quicken on a daily basis and have. So with Quicken 2019, I imported what I could from the old version but also set up new accounts missing from the previous testing. I specifically tested all accounts that had online synchronization, since that appears to be a common problem area among Quicken users. Now an Annual Subscription Last year, Quicken 2018 made headlines by going subscription-only.
Before, you had up to three years to use the software. However, now you must subscribe and pay on an annual basis.
After your subscription period ends, the online services will no longer work. Overall, this change makes sense for Quicken, since before it had to support at least three versions of the old software, which was a maintenance and tech support nightmare.
This change gets the entire user base on the same version at all times. This version of Quicken seems to try to follow the company’s pledge to constantly update and fix bugs. During my testing, Quicken was updated at least four times. I see many comments balking at the new pricing, but at least in my opinion, that’s way overblown. Right now, a one-year subscription to the highest tier, Home & Business, costs just $89.99. Premier, which has fewer bells and whistles for the entrepreneur, is just $67.49. That works out to $5.62 per month.
It’s especially worthwhile when you consider that YNAB — which has much less functionality — charges $6.99 per month. Also keep in mind that if you used Quicken Bill Pay, it is now included in the price. Since it’s a $119 value, this effectively further reduces your cost of using the latest version of Quicken. However, when compared to a free service that can do most of what Quicken can do (e.g., Personal Capital), it becomes a much harder sell. In addition, many banks now offer features that were once exclusive to Quicken (such as bill pay), further reducing the need to pay for this software.
Of course, your milage may vary. But for individuals with complex financial lives, Quicken can greatly help them better organize and save time. However, I do think some comments about poor customer service experiences and a lack of major new features on a yearly basis are valid issues. Our overall rating and criteria scores are lower for Quicken for these reasons.
Bill Alerts In keeping up with Mint.com, Quicken’s latest version can now display your bills and allow you to pay them within the software. This feature is very useful. However, in my specific case, many of my payments are already automatically paid directly though my checking account or via a credit card. (I must rack up those credit card rewards.) You can get upcoming bill alerts via the app and email so you are never late making a payment.
Less Support of Online Synchronization Surprisingly, Quicken didn’t support as much online synchronization when compared to Personal Capital. There were quite a few accounts that worked flawlessly with Personal Capital that didn’t with Quicken. With Quicken, either I had to download transactions manually and import them into Quicken, or the transactions weren’t supported within Quicken at all. This was a huge disappointment and does decrease the usefulness of Quicken if more manual work is needed to keep your information in sync. What’s New for Quicken 2019?
Last year, the big buzz was Quicken’s adoption of the subscription model. This year, the big headline is Quicken’s introduction of a web-based platform. This is something Quicken users have been asking for for a while.
With the web platform, you can now access your data along with many features of the software from wherever you have internet access. The data is stored in the cloud and will sync with what’s on your desktop app. However, the web platform is still just a companion to the desktop version. You still need to download and set up a desktop account. The web platform is best for quick check-ins with your Quicken account, while still doing most of the heavy lifting with the original software.
Features Introduced in Quicken 2018. Online Bills — Access to 11,000-plus online billers, with Adobe Acrobat PDF downloads. Custom Reporting — Custom report layout options and direct Excel export. Free Updates — Get the latest features for the term of your software license (up to 27 months with special promotions) without having to upgrade. Free Online Backups — 5 GB of secure online backup of Quicken with Dropbox. Archive Investments — Move and archive investment transactions for Quicken Deluxe and higher. Investment Performance Analysis — Better analysis with buy-and-hold comparison for Premier and above.
Free Quicken Bill Pay — Use Bill Pay 15 months for free with Premier and higher (a $149.25 value). Invoice Customization — Custom logo, color and payment links with Home, Business & Rental Property. E-mail Reminders — With Home, Business & Rental Property, notify tenants of rent due and send payment receipts. Features Introduced in Quicken 2017. Improved Mobile App — A more powerful mobile app, now with investment tracking (excludes Starter Edition), offline use and enhanced search. Redesigned User Interface — Easier-to-use interface with a new look and feel.
Automatic Home Value Assessment — By using Zillow, Quicken will automatically determine the value of your house. Features Introduced in Quicken 2016. See, Track, and Pay Your Bills All in One Place — Link your bills and Quicken will automatically track the due date and amount due. Free Phone Support — Phone support is available Monday to Friday, 5 AM to 5 PM Pacific Time, and you can use the online chat support 24/7. Easier Upgrades — Moving from Windows to Mac is easier for older versions of Quicken (2010 and greater). Better Reliability of Bank Downloads — Ability to eliminate duplicate transactions. Features Introduced in Quicken 2015.
Portfolio X-Ray — Available with Premier and higher, you can get about your investment portfolio. Free Credit Score — This is something Intuit also added to its Mint.com service. Mobile Improvements — You can create spending graphs, and syncing occurs faster. Improved Options Trades — Ability to better handle options trades. Features Introduced in Quicken 2014. Store and Save Receipts — You can take pictures of your receipts and store them within Quicken for later retrieval.
Memorized Transactions Show Up in Register — This is perhaps the new feature I like best. Previously you had to enter memorized transactions, but this feature will display future events within the register before entering the transaction. Overall Speed Improvements — While I did not conduct exact performance tests, it seems Quicken 2014 was much more responsive. Mobile Synchronization Improvements — Many users complained how Quicken’s mobile synchronization was broken in 2013. Intuit claims this feature has been improved, and my testing thus far confirms it. Budget Improvements — Users also complained about the budget changes in 2013’s edition.
Quicken added two options that should satisfy users who want their budget displayed while including and excluding specific transactions. More Connectivity Resolutions — Quicken 2014 makes it even easier to fix connectivity issues with your financial institution. Features Introduced in Quicken 2013.
Quicken Mobile — First version of Quicken Mobile app for Apple and Android devices. Synchronization Improvements — Gave a step-by-step process to help with bank synchronization problems. New Budgeting Functionality — But many users complained about this new functionality, and it was improved in 2014. Which Quicken Edition? Not including the Macintosh version, Quicken currently has four versions of its product. Yes, it can be confusing as to which product to purchase.
We created a quick summary of each edition and what functionality is available in each. Get Up to 27 Months of Quicken From Amazon. Note: Amazon frequently changes its prices. The prices listed below are updated hourly.
Confused on which one to pick? I recommend Quicken Premier 2019 for its investment features. Starter Deluxe Premier Home, Business & Rental Property Spending Yes Yes Yes Yes Budgeting Yes Yes Yes Investing Yes Yes Business Yes Real Estate Yes Retail Price $39.99 $79.99 $54.99 $104.99 Sale Price $39.99 $64.99 $45.00 $84.99 Technical Requirements Quicken’s requirements have always been on the middle to low end of new computers. The specs listed below shouldn’t be an issue if your hardware is less than three years old. These are similar specs needed to run Quicken 2012–2018. I would recommend a slightly more powerful machine than listed.
Note that Quicken 2018 does not support Windows XP or Vista.
Click to expand.If the downloaded transaction already has a category in it, there may not be much you can do about it but speak with your financial institution. Categories for downloaded transactions are assigned in order according to the following rules: 1. The imported QIF, WebEntry, QuickEntry, or Pocket Quicken transaction has a category associated with it as part of the file import. A transaction exists in the memorized transaction list with a matching Payee name with the category. The financial institution has associated a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code with this transaction.
Auto Categorization is enabled. Per rule 2: if you have a 'memorized' transaction for that specific payee with the correct category in it, and you have your Quickfill options set (via Edit Options Register Quickfill) correctly to 'Complete fields using previous entries' and 'Recall memorized transactions', you should get the correct category assigned.