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Quicken 2007 Revisited: A Little Better But Far From Perfect

by Flexo on December 5, 2006

in Software

A few months ago, after using the software for some time, I came to the conclusion that Quicken 2007 Home & Business was horrible. There were too many bugs distracting me from using the software the way it was intended.

Downloading transactions through Direct Connect for my 401(k) no longer works… Quicken 2007 introduced a new feature called “Express Web Connect…” Forget it, it only works for me about half of the time… In 2007, during “background” updates, dialog boxes continue to pop up and disappear during the connection, stealing the focus, and making it impossible to work in the program at the same time… Quicken creates a new empty “Checking” account, on its own, without any input from me.

Quicken Home & BusinessVery soon after I published my bug list, Intuit released a patch to fix some concerns. Many of these problems have been fixed. However, there are still some annoying issues. Keep in mind that I am running the software on Windows XP.

This is still a bug left over from the first release of Quicken 2007. “Background” updates still don’t allow you to move freely throughout the software. When you enter a transaction, hitting the “Enter” key should save your entry, but both the Tab and the Enter key seem to lose functionality when updates are taking place in the background.

The other bugs I mentioned seem to have been fixed, though I still have problems using “Express Web Connect” with some banks. My remaining comments are just annoyances.

There is no way to edit the “memo” line of a transaction while the register is in the “One-line display” view, which I prefer. I can’t change the columns in view or change the width of the columns like most Windows applications allow. I’d also like to see monthly summary reports, Microsoft Money’s only feature above and beyond Quicken. In some my investment accounts, cost basis isn’t calculated correctly.

I tried the new version of Microsoft Money 2007 Home & Business as well, but I wasn’t convinced to switch. I used Microsoft Money until 2004, but switched to Quicken because, now ironically, it was more compatible with my 401(k) account.

Update: Quicken’s latest update (”Release 4″) seems to fix many of these problems.

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About the Author

Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • I'm using Microsoft Money 2005 because it's free (came with the computer) and has a free Pocket PC download. Quicken charges an extra $40 for that, which I find ridiculous.
  • jon
    I would like to hear about some of the other reasons you switched. I too use ms money but am open other options.
  • Matt
    In terms of software solutions, it seems that Microsoft Money and Quicken are the only two choices, and they are both horrible for the average user that is mostly interested in just tracking their own finances. There are some web based solutions that I have heard good things about, but when it comes to dealing with my finances I admit I am more comfortable with a stand alone application than with a web based product (although I bank online, etc.).

    I feel that if a new financial management software was built and introduced with people like US in mind, it would blow everything else out of the water.
  • I'm hoping that Intuit will get fixes for most of these problems soon because I want to upgrade from the 2004 version in the near future...just waiting on a deal before I make a move.
  • Beth
    I recently got Quicken 2007 Deluxe. I have been using spreadsheets for my financial records for years and finally decided to take the plunge into financial software. I was astounded to find that Quicken does not allow customized budget categories. For this reason alone, I will return it. I have multiple income sources and also want to do more detailed tracking of expenses. Am I missing something??? Thanks!
  • Beth: You can edit Quicken's categories to match however you are used to accounting for your expenses. You can merge their categories or create all new ones, and it will automatically reassign any existing transactions. Take a look at the Category List within Quicken.
  • I've been meaning to try out Quicken Deluxe. I've been using an Excel based spreadsheet and so far it has worked well for me. I'll probably pick it up for free after rebate when I buy TurboTax next year.
  • Jim
    I have 2006 Basic and use it for invest data. I found several bugs that Tech Support couldn't help with and Customer Service that doesn't answer emails. First, I backed up my data and tried to restore but the backup lost ALL security cost and values. Second, the software also doesn't handle stock split and mergers correctly. Third, though not a bug, it doesn't have the most basic of all features - a backout function. Completely disgusted.
  • zen
    I've been using Quicken for about two months now - it's a strange new beast to me, and I've yet to figure it out totally. I gave up using the auto-connect - too many errors - so I just download the Quicken file from the various institutions now.

    Have any Quicken tips for new users?
  • Bandit
    I've been using Quicken for nearly two decades. I currently have the 2008 Premier edition. Every time Intuit releases a new version I send the same request: "Fix the register calculator", yet every release continues to have the same issue. The Register Calculator does not perform calculations in the mathematically standard priority sequence of Parenthetical, Exponential, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction operations. Using the Register Calculator, the key strokes "2+3*3+5*3" are evaluated as "(((2 + 3) * 3) + 5) * 3" resulting in 60 (the wrong answer) instead of "2 + (3 * 3) + (3 * 5)" which results in the right answer of 26. Anyone accustomed to using any standard (non RPN) calculator will experience this error. To avoid this error, it’s necessary to add repetitive values individually when using the Register Calculator (“2+3+3+3+5+5+5” = 26). Of course, they could just rename it to "Register Adding Machine" which would at least alert the user that it doesn't function as a 'Calculator'.
    Maybe you have a stronger voice.
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