tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:/discussions/switching-from-another-personal-finance-program/11811-should-account-names-be-in-the-categories-listInfinite Kind: Discussion 2019-03-15T02:40:22Ztag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-12T01:15:54Z2018-12-12T01:15:55ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>I am migrating from Quicken and I thought I was doing well, but now I see there are many account names in the categories list. That doesn't make sense to me. Categories are generally income or expenses items, an account in the categories list doesn't' make sense to me.</p>
<p>A wild guess is that somehow this happened during the migration from Quicken, Perhaps Moneydance didn't recognize a transfer destination account and automatically created a category for that unrecognized account name. Just guessing.</p>
<p>In any case, I think I should delete those names from the category list, but it warns me that it may delete associated transactions. Although I don't see an easy way to identify those transactions.</p>
<p>Maybe I'm totally confused...can somebody straighten me out?</p>
<p>Thanks.<br>
Frank</p></div>franktag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-12T02:52:23Z2018-12-12T02:52:23ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>I think MD treats accounts as a special category</p></div>mhoggietag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-12T04:15:43Z2018-12-12T04:15:43ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>I'm a fellow user.</p>
<p>QIF files can be rather ambiguous in their contents, this is not a surprise given the intention of these files is to use them to load data into an existing structure. So using them to try and define the structure is not always a success.</p>
<p>Many have found that the best approach is to process the files in two passes. In the first pass you select the Account Info only option, process the file and then check the structure it creates. At this stage you can delete any ones that are in the wrong area and redefine them in the correct one (using the exact same spelling etc) You then do a second pass deselecting the Account Info only option. With accounts/categories already defined the data will be loaded into what already exists, only if no match is found will anything be created.</p></div>dwgtag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-12T16:31:54Z2018-12-12T16:31:55ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>Actually, I did the QIF import in two phases similar to what DWG suggested, except In the second phase I individually, one at a time, imported each account "data" only. I think I noticed account names in the Categories list, but I didn't think it was a problem since my Accounts seemed to be correctly defined.</p>
<p>At this point I'm not sure what to do. I guess I'll delete the account names from the Categories list and see if it causes a lot of damage.</p>
<p>BTW, most of these "bogus" categories are defined as income, not sure if that clears up anything.</p>
<p>Thank you to all for your comments. If any other comments come to mind please post them.<br>
Much appreciated,<br>
Frank</p></div>franktag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-12T16:59:49Z2018-12-12T16:59:49ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>I am not support staff, just a user.</p>
<p>Since I transferred from MS Money back in 2016 I have accounts listed in categories. Make sure they are set to inactive and forget them. Over two years and they have never created an issue for me.</p>
<p>Hope this helps</p></div>derekkent23tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-12T18:46:40Z2018-12-12T18:46:43ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>Thank you derekkent23 , that's good to know.<br>
frank</p></div>franktag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-13T21:33:42Z2018-12-13T21:33:42ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>just a user,</p>
<p>Be aware that if you delete the account categories, you will also be deleting any transactions that relate to this account like payments from your checking. That's why you only want to make old unused accounts "inactive" so you won't get your checking and other registers out of wack. Also once you get immersed in the MD way of accounting for things, you will want to check out the "Find and Replace" Extension. It is a really good tool for updating categories on existing transactions and finding all sorts of odd things to fix in your transactions.</p></div>mhoggietag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/466530482018-12-14T02:33:51Z2018-12-14T02:33:52ZShould Account Names be in the categories list <div><p>Thanks, mhoggie,</p>
<p>I kinda thought that was the case. I will definitely look at the "Find and replace" extension once I get more immersed.</p>
<p>Frank</p></div>frank