Confirm Imported Transactions
Mike Knox
via web
After transactions are imported they show in the register with a
blue dot and must be "confirmed". During the confirmation process,
one can make changes to the transaction in the register and these
changes seem to be reflected in the top option in the confirmation
pane. But when you click "Confirm" the transaction in the register
reverts to its original state from the import. For example, if I
have deleted all the gobbledy-gook from the memo section and
inserted the memo comment that I prefer, when I hit the "Confirm"
button, my corrections disappear and the gobbledy-gook is back in
the memo. So then I have to go back and make the same change all
over again in the register. One of the support staff suggested that
I could just go through and confirm all transactions first, then
make changes in the register. That makes sense on one level, but
why not make the program better and fix the bug? Or better still
(perhaps) why not eliminate the confirmation process altogether? I
imagine there must be reasons that I have not grasped for having
the confirmation process. But it would be wonderful if the
confirmation process could at least be upgraded so that the
modified transaction in the register will be preserved when the
"confirm" button is clicked. Thanks!
(By the way, while reading other threads, I learned that the QIF
format isn't the best one to use with Moneydance. Like so many
others, I have been using it out of habit. I will try a different
format for my next import to see if this will address the issue I'm
writing about here.)
2 Posted by -Kevin N. on 24 Jan, 2012 02:21 PM
Hi Mike,
I can not reproduce the behavior that you are describing.
When I edit a txn and confirm it using the 'Current Transaction' confirmation option, any changes to the txn are preserved.
Is it possible that you are using an older version of MD? The current version is MD2011r2 (build 803)
To assist the Moneydance Support Staff in helping you, provide the following:
Version of Moneydance
Operating system and version
Version of Java installed
You should be able to glean this information from the first few lines of text displayed in the Console Window listed under Moneydance's Help menu. Just copy and paste the information into your next post.
HTH -Kevin N.
Support Staff 3 Posted by Tom Freeman on 24 Jan, 2012 08:33 PM
Mike
While qif download leaves a lot to be desired, once the transactions are in moneydance you should be able to edit and reconcile with no problems.
If you could as Kevin suggests provide the following: Version of Moneydance
Operating system and version Version of Java installed it would help us in diagnosing the problem.
4 Posted by Mike Knox on 24 Jan, 2012 10:53 PM
I am using MD2011r2, build 803
Java version 1.6.0_29
Mac OS 10.7.2
Support Staff 5 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 30 Jan, 2012 11:36 PM
Mike,
Are you making the changes in the confirmation sidebar, or in the register while the sidebar is open? I'm not able to re-create the behavior you're describing, but we'll keep working on it. Screenshots of the process you're going through where you experience the issue would be especially helpful.
Angie Rauscher
Moneydance Support
6 Posted by Mike Knox on 31 Jan, 2012 04:32 AM
Hi Angie,
I'm making the changes in the register while the sidebar is open. And, if I remember right, I've also made changes in the register before opening the confirmation sidebar. When it comes time to confirm, the transaction in the sidebar looks right (seems to reflect what's in the register), but when I click on it, the junk in the memo section (for example) re-appears despite the fact that I had just deleted it. I just downloaded some more transactions and I'll import them tomorrow morning, paying careful attention to what's happening and taking some screenshots. Thanks for your help!
Mike
7 Posted by james f on 31 Jan, 2012 01:24 PM
Try using the "Merge" method as opposed to the "Confirm" method.
With the "Merge" method, if you already have something written in the "Memo" field, it will stay intact during the "Merge" process.
See my attached screenshots.
Pay attention to my entry for Walgreens. The "Memo" field was not altered upon Merging.
8 Posted by Mike Knox on 03 Feb, 2012 03:49 PM
Hi Everybody,
Okay, I have a better handle on exactly what's going on. During the confirmation process for downloaded transactions, any changes to the transaction where new text is inserted into the transaction are preserved after clicking "confirm." The "bug" is that if the text in the downloaded transaction is deleted (such as in the Description or the Memo), and no new text is inserted to replace the deleted text, once you click "confirm", the transaction will revert back to the downloaded text. I tried typing only a "space" so as to trick the program into thinking there is text in the window, but it didn't work. It still reverted back to the downloaded text upon clicking "confirm." It appears that unless actual text is inserted into the Description and Memo sections of the transaction, clicking "confirm" will cause the register to revert to the downloaded version of the transaction--even if the user had previously deleted the contents of those boxes, leaving them blank. There are times when I prefer to leave one or both of those boxes (Description and/or Memo) completely blank. But the only way I've found to do it is by first confirming the transactions and then going back and manually clicking on the windows in the newly confirmed transactions to delete the downloaded contents of the Description and/or Memo boxes. It would be much smoother and efficient to change the Moneydance program so as to allow the user to make all changes desired in the confirmation process--including leaving some boxes empty--so that we don't have to waste time going through the register a second time to fix the reverted entries.
By the way, one person suggested using the Merge feature as a potential solution to what I was reporting. This is a great feature if the user has already entered transactions into the register and now wants to merge them with downloaded ones. But oftentimes I don't enter the transaction at all--I just download them and then make editorial changes to the downloaded version. The Merge feature doesn't help in this situation.
Here is a detailed description, with supporting screenshots.
Screen Shot 1 shows the register immediately after importing downloaded transactions. Pay attention to the entry that says "Purchse Heladeria Pops".
Screen Shot 2 shows the screen immediately after I click the blue dot in the transaction "Purchse Heladeria Pops". The confirmation window opens on the right side of the screen, with only one option to confirm.
Now I click in the register itself, making the following changes to the transaction:
a. replace the text in the Description box to read "Pops"
b. insert the category label "Dining" in the Category box.
c. delete the contents of the Memo box
I hit the <return> key and hear the cha-ching sound indicating that the modified transaction has been recorded in the register. Now, in the Confirmation Window, there are two options: the first one is "Current Transaction", reflecting (supposedly) the changes I made to the register; the second option is "Transaction As Downloaded".
Screen Shot 3 shows how the screen looks at this point. Note that in the register, the Memo box is blank.
I click the "Confirm" button in the Confirmation Window under the first option: "Current Transaction".
Screen Shot 4 shows what happens: The newly confirmed transaction in the register reflects changes "a" and "b", but not "c". That is to say, the Memo box reverts to the downloaded version of the transaction.
The Confirmation window has now advanced to the next transaction in the register: "Purchse Hospmetropolitlaboratorio"
So this time I go through the same process of modifying the transaction in the register. But instead of leaving the Memo box blank, I type in the text, "Rikki's bloodwork".
After I hit <return> and hear the cha-ching sound, I now have the same two options in the Confirmation window as with the previous transaction: "Current Transaction", and "Transaction As Downloaded".
Screen Shot 5 shows this.
I click the "Confirm" button in the Confirmation Window under the first option: "Current Transaction".
Screen Shot 6 shows that all my changes are preserved in the register. Even the Memo box now reflects the changes I made to the transaction in the register.
Thus, my suggestion (and plea) to Moneydance is that you change the program such that any/all changes (including deletions) made to the transaction in the midst of the confirmation process will be preserved when the user chooses to confirm the "Current Transaction" in the confirmation window.
Thanks for all your help. I am happy to be able to have this conversation with the makers of the Moneydance program. As a customer, it feels good to know that I'm dealing with a company that cares about its product and customer service. Also, in a spirit of good-will, I'm happy to contribute in a small way to helping you improve your product. A better product means better sales, which is good for you. Intuit got too big for its britches and is now losing customers like me to companies like you. I know you guys are going to grow by leaps and bounds because you have a great product here and you're working to make it better. I will recommend Moneydance to anyone who asks. As long as you don't become the next Intuit, you've got me for life!
Mike Knox
Support Staff 9 Posted by Jessica Little on 09 Feb, 2012 07:23 PM
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your detailed explanation of the problem. The memo un-deleting itself is definitely a bug in Moneydance, and I've filed a ticket for it so that we can fix it in the future. I've attached the ticket to this conversation, and we'll let you know once it's been fixed.
Jessica Little
Moneydance Support