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Downloading transactions from Wells Fargo

• Edit

abellewrn

15 May, 2012 06:07 PM

I use MoneyDance 2011r2 (803), and my Mac is OS 10.6.8, with Java 1.6.0_31.
I have had accounts with Wells Fargo and used online banking software since 1999. I was using Quicken,
but too many bugs and just poor software IMO. I really like MoneyDance, but alas, I'm just an average housewife/
Registered Nurse, with no ability to debug software on my own.

I currently pay Wells Fargo a monthly fee for Direct Connect, but I have been working on this exact problem
for well over a year now, and they told me Direct Connect would be the answer. It is not.

Wells Fargo lists all of my transactions accurately on their website. The checks and automatic payments that I record
in MoneyDance are always accurate. But when I download from Wells Fargo, somewhere along the line, the transactions
are altered. Some are skipped entirely. Some are recorded twice. Some are checks but are overwritten by other transactions
because they are the same amount. Some checks are cleared, but instead of marking them cleared, they are recorded as
an entirely different transaction with the same amount. The errors are also recorded well before the last time I reconciled, so
I can't even start from the date I last balanced my checkbook, the mistakes may go back several months.

I am reduced to printing out several months of my check register and then printing several months of Wells Fargo transactions,
reconciling them by hand with a highlighter. There are always multiple mistakes that I have to go back in and fix. Using
MoneyDance has slowed me down so much that going back to an old paper register and doing this by hand in pencil would
might actually take a little more time, but would be much less frustrating.

I can't believe I'm the only Mac MoneyDance user with Wells Fargo. Do I have some defaults or preferences, or some other settings
that I don't have right, that would correct this? I've gone round and round with Wells Fargo, several times on the phone, and nothing
changes. Of course I can't tell them that I use MoneyDance, they think it's Quicken because that is all they will support. Shouldn't matter
as it's the same QFX files being downloaded.

Please Help.

1. 1 Posted by frankrader on 15 May, 2012 06:44 PM

   

   I download from Wells with no known issues. I do not pay a fee because I am grandfathered with Wachovia before Wells had Wachovia for lunch.

   I do not know if what I do is called Direct Connect, but it is Moneydance downloading from Wells.

   I suggest a test. Set up a fresh Moneydance with no transactions in it. Set it up to download your Wells account and see what you get.

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2. 2 Posted by Scott Meehan on 16 May, 2012 06:12 PM

   

   Hi abellewrn,

   Along with Frank's suggestion (which would probably be the best start to try and trace the problem), I would try manually downloading the QFX files from Wells Fargo (not through Direct Connect) and seeing if you have the same experience with them. If neither of these work, please let us know and we'll continue to try and debug the problem.

   Scott Meehan
   Moneydance Support

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3. 3 Posted by abellewrn on 16 May, 2012 06:38 PM

   

   Thanks for responding.

   I've already tried the manual QFX file download, and I continue to have problems. I even agreed to pay Wells Fargo their $5/month fee, as I thought it would be worth it so I didn't go bald tearing my hair out over this every single time I balance my checkbook.

   I don't see the point in doing this test for 3 reasons....First, I'm too afraid to set up a "fresh Moneydance" as I don't know how to do it without losing my original Moneydance accounts. I'm not savvy enough to be able to do that on my own.

   Second, as soon as I download the transactions from Wells Fargo, they are marked as downloaded (so they don't download multiple times). Then I would be screw myself because I would have to manually enter them into my actual checking account, just for the sake of tesing the fake "fresh Moneydance."

   And third, the problem I'm having is mixing existing transactions that I've already recorded in Moneydance with the same transactions as they clear Wells Fargo. I don't see how putting them into a "fresh Moneydance" is going to address that problem, as this new "fresh Moneydance" would be blank. ??

   Moneydance renames my transactions, even deletes the check number sometimes. Why can't it take a transaction straight from Wells without renaming it, deleting the check number, or assigning it to a past transaction that has already cleared? Moneydance can't handle transactions that are the same amount. The mistakes I uncover are ALWAYS a cash ATM withdrawal for $100 or a check that is a common amount, like $25 or $40 that happens to match another transaction. Wells Fargo has never made a mistake, that register is always correct. When I have to go back in to fix it by hand comparing registers, it's always the Moneydance side.

   As I go through and have to accept each transaction, there is a "current transaction" field, and a "transaction as downloaded" field, and they are often totally different. Moneydance has renamed both of them so that they are incorrect, and I don't know how to fix this!! I just want what Wells Fargo has listed!! That is the root of my problem.

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4. 4 Posted by frankrader on 16 May, 2012 09:54 PM

   

   If you wish to work the problem:
   (1) Set your register view in the order you prefer it. For most people that is date of transaction order. I prefer Check # order, but you pick what is logic for you. (2) Do a download to clear from Wells downloads. (3) Look for duplicate check numbers. Examine each pair (or more). One may be keyboard entered "Duke Energy", the other will auto name "Check" regardless, the check number will be the same. (4) delete the unwanted. This will not fix it, but your description of what you see and do will help.

   I am suspecting the sorting will help.

   If you do not wish to work the problem, send your database to Moneydance.

   I have a self inflicted problem because I keyboard entry, then later download. The keyboard says one ting, the download another and I have duplicates.

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5. 5 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 17 May, 2012 01:56 AM

   

   abellewrn,

   Another common cause of this issue could be if you are having Moneydance automatically merge transactions, as the default merge suggestion can sometimes be incorrect. Could you please check the following for me? Under the Moneydance menu open Preferences. Click the network tab and see if the "Automatically Merge Downloaded Transactions" box is checked. If it is, uncheck the box. If the download issues stop occurring then this was the cause. Let me know how the preference check goes and we'll move on from there,

   Angie Rauscher
   Moneydance Support

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6. 6 Posted by james f on 17 May, 2012 04:38 AM

   

   It sounds to be a Network Preferences setup issue.

   Go to File > Preferences > Network.

   Make sure your Network Preferences look just like the attached screenshot.

   Once you do the above, download transactions from WF, through Direct Connect,. Once the downloads ar complete, click on any of the downloaded transactions. They will have a blue dot in them. You will then be prompted to choose from the following:

   1. Current Transaction

   2. Merge Choices

   3. Similar Payee

   You always want to choose Merge Choices. Sometimes the first Merge Choice is not correct, thus you go thru the list of Merge Choices available.

   By doing it this way, transactions already in your ledger will not be overwritten, check numbers will stay intact, and all the rest of the issues will go away.

   Look at the attached screenshots.

   • NetworkPreferences.png 136 KB
   • 04.png 153 KB
   • 18.png 256 KB
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7. Scott Meehan closed this discussion on 15 Jun, 2012 04:26 PM.