Transactions are imported from QIF with wrong dates
I'm am evaluating Moneydance as a possible replacement for my very old version of Quicken. (Quicken 99 Basic - yes, pre-millenium!). The first thing I did was export my Quicken data to a QIF going back seven years (to 01/01/2002). When I imported the data into Moneydance the first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of transactions with dates in the future (into 2011). When I started to investigate further I discovered that a lot of the dates for the transactions were wrong, with no rhyme or reason (that I could see) for how the transactions were dated at the time of import. Some of the transactions have the correct dates, however.
I can't even say that all the split transactions are mis-dated or all of the transferred transactions are mis-dated. A few examples: a transaction I made on 31/05/07 was imported as 05/07/09; 31/08/07 came in as 08/07/09, one made in 03/01/02 came in as 01/03/02. I can see patterns here, but then there are others that seem to have no pattern: 17/07/09 came in as 07/05/2010.
I live in Ireland and use dd/MM/yyyy date format. I don't see a way of customising this in Quicken itself so I assume it picks up the date format from Windows' regional settings (I'm using XP). I tried exporting smaller QIFs (with fewer years' transactions or fewer accounts), but the problem is always the same and the wrong dates appear the same and in the same transactions.
At this rate, I would have to go through each account, transaction by transaction in order to correct the problem. Any advice or assistance would be appreciated.
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1 Posted by Ben Spencer on 18 Jul, 2009 04:52 PM
Hi Kevin
When you import the QIF file you have to tell Moneydance which format the dates are stored in the file. This import QIF window has a "Date Format" selector, see attached screenshot. Please try importing your qif into a new file using a different date format.
Sincerely
Ben Spencer
2 Posted by Kevin on 18 Jul, 2009 07:05 PM
Hi, Ben,
Thanks for your response. I was aware of that when I imported. As in your screenshot example, I had the date format set to DDMMYY, which is the same format that I use, and that my Windows Regional settings is set to. But regardless, I have had the problem with how the dates are being imported. As I said in my first email some of the transaction dates are correct, but most are not, and it's not simple a matter of month and date being switched.
Do you think that I should try changing my Regional Settings to MMDDYYYY format and then try again? (I'm assuming that Quicken gets its date formats from that). But if I do this, will I be able to change it back once the transactions are imported into Moneydance, as DDMMYYYY is the normal way for us here in Ireland to record dates.
Thanks.
3 Posted by Ben Spencer on 18 Jul, 2009 07:23 PM
Hi KevinYou are correct, Quicken uses the windows regional settings to determine the date format. I would expect all the transactions exported from quicken to have the date formatted in the same way. Are you certain that some transactions have the correct data? With this type of date miss match some transactions might well have a date in a reasonable range but not the correct date. Although i could imagine date such as june 6th would look correct.
I do not think there would be any harm in changing the regional settings in windows. You could revet back with out any trouble. Moneydance does not rely on the regional setting of the host operating system. The Moneydance date format is handled internally and changed under File->Preferences
If I were you I would try importing with each of the three available date format options Moneydance provides for, and see if one of them produces the correct result. If that fails change the windows regional settings and then export your QIF file again.
Perhaps one day the world will settle on a reasonable standard for recording dates.
Sincerely
Ben Spencer
4 Posted by Kevin on 18 Jul, 2009 07:30 PM
Okay, I'll try that and let you know what happens. It'll probably be tomorrow as it's late here now. Some of the dates are definitely correct and the ones that aren't don't follow any pattern of being incorrect. As for standardising dates. . .I still want the 11 days back we lost when we switched from Julian to Gregorian :-)
5 Posted by Kevin on 19 Jul, 2009 03:40 PM
Just a follow up. I reimported the transactions from the QIF and selected a MMDDYYYY format for the dates. Everything came in properly (even though I'm using DDMMYYYY). My suspicion is that the dates are actually stored in Quicken in MMDDYYYY format and that it just uses the Windows Regional settings for visual format on screen. At any rate it's solved. Thanks Ben for you assistance.
6 Posted by Ben Spencer on 20 Jul, 2009 04:53 PM
You are welcome. I'm glad the problem resolved.
Ben
7 Posted by Paul on 02 Feb, 2011 11:49 AM
Had exactly the same problem when importing from Quicken
Very glad to have found the solution here
Would be sensible if the User Guide, in the section on importing from Quicken, told you that you must specify MMDDYY
8 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 02 Feb, 2011 02:49 PM
Paul,
That's a great suggestion, and I've just added this to the soon to be updated User Guide.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance,
Angie Rauscher
Moneydance Support
Angie Rauscher closed this discussion on 02 Feb, 2011 02:49 PM.