Quicken 2006 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Quicken 2006 for Starters: The Missing Manual

by Bonnie Biafore
Released November 2005
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596101275

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Buy on Amazon
Start your free trial

Book description

Intuit's Quicken is one of today's most popular and convenient ways to keep track of personal finances, and Quicken 2006 For Starters: The Missing Manual for Windows is the indispensable guide to using the program to simplify your finances and make the most of your money.

Whether you're new to electronic banking or just new to Quicken, this refreshingly funny and sensible book zeroes in on exactly what you need to get into Quicken fast. It teaches you how do such essential things as: balance your checkbook on your computer, keep tabs on your spending, create and manage a budget, monitor and pay bills on time, determine more ways to save and stick to your savings plan, manage loans and maximize investments, make tax preparation easier (even find hidden tax deductions!), and much more.

Financial-software writer and personal finance expert Bonnie Biafore delivers clear explanations and step-by-step instructions for the Quicken features you need, as well as relevant advice and plenty of real-world examples. Beginners will appreciate Biafore's clear guidance on how to set up Quicken to streamline their money management tasks. Power users will benefit from her insightful tips, tricks, and shortcuts for working around Quicken's idiosyncrasies and saving even more time and money.

The book is designed to help you get up to speed fast. Biafore steps you through the basics of Quicken. Then, as you become a more efficient and sophisticated Quicken user, she helps you take advantage of the program's little-known but powerful features. And throughout the book, she offers invaluable money-management principles. You'll be generating useful reports and graphs with ease; ensuring accuracy and consistency among all your accounts; and planning, saving, and controlling your finances like never before.

The book that gives you exactly what you need, Quicken 2006 For Starters: The Missing Manual helps you quickly make the most of Quicken 2006 for Windows.

Publisher resources

View/Submit Errata

Table of contents

  1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  2. The Missing Credits
    1. About the Author
    2. About the Creative Team
    3. Acknowledgements
    4. The Missing Manual Series
  3. Introduction
    1. Personal Finance and Quicken
      1. What Quicken Does
      2. What Quicken Doesn’t Do
      3. Quicken and Accounting
        1. Accounts versus categories
        2. Following the money
        3. Equity
      4. Choosing the Right Quicken Edition
    2. What’s New in Quicken 2006
    3. About This Book
    4. About the Outline
    5. The Very Basics
      1. About → These → Arrows
    6. About MissingManuals.com
      1. Safari® Enabled
  4. 1. Setting Up Your Quicken Environment
    1. 1.1. Launching Quicken
    2. 1.2. Setting Up Your Quicken Data File
      1. 1.2.1. I Am New to Quicken
      2. 1.2.2. I Am Already a Quicken User
    3. 1.3. Opening a Quicken File
    4. 1.4. The Quicken Guided Setup
      1. 1.4.1. What You Need for Setup
      2. 1.4.2. Tell Quicken about Yourself
      3. 1.4.3. Set Your Goals
      4. 1.4.4. Add Accounts
        1. 1.4.4.1. Setting up cash flow accounts
        2. 1.4.4.2. Setting up investment accounts
        3. 1.4.4.3. Setting up accounts for what you own and what you owe
        4. 1.4.4.4. Setting up your paycheck
        5. 1.4.4.5. Setting up bills to pay
      5. 1.4.5. Finishing Up the Guided Setup
    5. 1.5. A Quick Guide to Quicken Preferences
      1. 1.5.1. Startup
      2. 1.5.2. Setup
        1. 1.5.2.1. Turn on Quicken sounds
        2. 1.5.2.2. Account Bar display
        3. 1.5.2.3. Keyboard mappings
      3. 1.5.3. Calendar and Currency
      4. 1.5.4. Backup
      5. 1.5.5. Investment Transactions
      6. 1.5.6. Register
      7. 1.5.7. QuickFill
      8. 1.5.8. Notify
      9. 1.5.9. Write Checks
      10. 1.5.10. Downloaded Transactions
      11. 1.5.11. Reminders
      12. 1.5.12. Reports and Graphs
      13. 1.5.13. Reports Only
  5. 2. Accounts and Categories
    1. 2.1. How Accounts and Categories Work
    2. 2.2. Types of Accounts
      1. 2.2.1. Cash Flow Accounts
      2. 2.2.2. Investing Accounts
      3. 2.2.3. Property & Debt Accounts
    3. 2.3. Creating Cash Flow Accounts
      1. 2.3.1. Creating a Banking Account: Step by Step
    4. 2.4. Editing Account Information
    5. 2.5. Hiding Closed Accounts
    6. 2.6. Categories
      1. 2.6.1. The Category List Window
    7. 2.7. Customizing Categories
      1. 2.7.1. Removing Categories
      2. 2.7.2. Adding Quicken Categories
      3. 2.7.3. Creating Categories
      4. 2.7.4. Modifying Categories
  6. 3. Backing Up Your Financial Information
    1. 3.1. Backing Up Data Files
      1. 3.1.1. Manual Backups
      2. 3.1.2. Backup Reminders
      3. 3.1.3. Automatic Backups
    2. 3.2. Restoring Quicken Backups
  7. 4. Banking, Credit Cards, and Cash
    1. 4.1. Transaction Basics
      1. 4.1.1. Getting to the Register
      2. 4.1.2. Navigating a Transaction
    2. 4.2. Quicken’s Quicker with QuickFill
    3. 4.3. Recording Checks
      1. 4.3.1. Recording a Check in the Register
      2. 4.3.2. Recording Printed Checks
        1. 4.3.2.1. Choose the checking account
        2. 4.3.2.2. Filling in check fields
        3. 4.3.2.3. Mailing addresses
        4. 4.3.2.4. Reviewing the checks to print
      3. 4.3.3. Printing Checks
        1. 4.3.3.1. Setting up Quicken to print checks
        2. 4.3.3.2. Printing to preprinted checks
    4. 4.4. Recording Deposits
    5. 4.5. Paying with a Credit Card
      1. 4.5.1. How to Track Credit Card Charges
      2. 4.5.2. Recording Credit Card Transactions
    6. 4.6. Paying with Cash
      1. 4.6.1. Cash Tracking for Photographic Memories
      2. 4.6.2. When Your Memory Is Like a Sieve
    7. 4.7. Splitting Transactions
      1. 4.7.1. Adding Multiple Categories to a Transaction
      2. 4.7.2. Editing Splits
      3. 4.7.3. Handling Remaining Amounts
    8. 4.8. Transferring Money Between Accounts
      1. 4.8.1. Recording a Transfer Between Accounts
      2. 4.8.2. Seeing the Other Side of a Transfer
      3. 4.8.3. Transfers Masquerading as Checks
    9. 4.9. Editing Transactions
      1. 4.9.1. Editing a Field in a Transaction
      2. 4.9.2. Recategorizing Transactions
    10. 4.10. Voiding Transactions
    11. 4.11. Searching for Transactions
      1. 4.11.1. Finding Recent Transactions with One Click
      2. 4.11.2. Finding All Transactions
      3. 4.11.3. Finding Transactions
      4. 4.11.4. Finding and Replacing Values
    12. 4.12. The Transaction Edit Menu
    13. 4.13. Managing Memorized Payees
      1. 4.13.1. Removing Payees from the Memorized Payee List
        1. 4.13.1.1. Limiting the length of Quicken’s memory
        2. 4.13.1.2. Turning off automatic memorization
        3. 4.13.1.3. Deleting memorized payees
      2. 4.13.2. Locking a Memorized Payee
    14. 4.14. Scheduling Transactions
      1. 4.14.1. Setting Up a Scheduled Transaction
        1. 4.14.1.1. Transaction values
        2. 4.14.1.2. Scheduled transaction frequency
      2. 4.14.2. Paying and Skipping Scheduled Transactions
    15. 4.15. Automating Your Paycheck in Quicken
      1. 4.15.1. Basic Paycheck Fields
      2. 4.15.2. Setting Up Paycheck Details
        1. 4.15.2.1. Account and scheduling
        2. 4.15.2.2. Adding and editing paycheck items
      3. 4.15.3. Entering a Paycheck Transaction
      4. 4.15.4. Managing Your Paychecks
  8. 5. Property and Debt
    1. 5.1. Understanding Property & Debt in Quicken
    2. 5.2. Setting Up Asset and Liability Accounts
      1. 5.2.1. Types of Accounts
      2. 5.2.2. Creating an Asset Account
      3. 5.2.3. Creating a Liability Account
    3. 5.3. Setting Up a Loan
      1. 5.3.1. Creating a Loan
      2. 5.3.2. Setting Up a Loan Payment
      3. 5.3.3. Linking an Asset and a Loan
    4. 5.4. Making a Loan Payment
      1. 5.4.1. Making a Regular Payment
      2. 5.4.2. Paying Ahead of Time
      3. 5.4.3. Making an Extra Payment
    5. 5.5. Editing a Loan
      1. 5.5.1. Changing Loan Details
      2. 5.5.2. Changing Payment Details
      3. 5.5.3. Adjusting the Interest Rate
    6. 5.6. Refinancing a Loan
  9. 6. Online Banking
    1. 6.1. What Quicken Can Do Online
    2. 6.2. Connecting Quicken to the Internet
    3. 6.3. Setting Up an Account for Online Services
      1. 6.3.1. Finding a Participating Institution
      2. 6.3.2. Applying for Online Services
      3. 6.3.3. Activating Online Services for Your Quicken Account
    4. 6.4. Updating All Accounts with One Step
    5. 6.5. Downloading Transactions
      1. 6.5.1. Downloading Transactions via a Direct Connection
      2. 6.5.2. Downloading Statements with Web Connect
    6. 6.6. Reviewing and Incorporating Downloaded Transactions
      1. 6.6.1. Accepting Transactions
      2. 6.6.2. When Quicken Doesn’t Match Transactions Correctly
      3. 6.6.3. Matching Transactions When Quicken Can’t
      4. 6.6.4. Completing the Incorporation of Downloaded Transactions
    7. 6.7. Renaming Payees
    8. 6.8. Setting Up Online Payees
    9. 6.9. Paying Bills Online
      1. 6.9.1. Setting Up Online Bill Payments
      2. 6.9.2. Sending Online Payments
      3. 6.9.3. Setting Up a Repeating Online Payment
        1. 6.9.3.1. Setting up repeating online payments
        2. 6.9.3.2. Setting up a repeating online payment for an amortized loan
    10. 6.10. Setting Up Online Transfers
    11. 6.11. Canceling an Online Payment
  10. 7. Reconciling Accounts
    1. 7.1. Your First Reconciliation
    2. 7.2. Preparing for a Reconciliation
    3. 7.3. Starting to Reconcile
    4. 7.4. Reconciling Transactions
    5. 7.5. Modifying Transactions During Reconciliation
    6. 7.6. Stopping and Restarting a Reconciliation
    7. 7.7. When Your Records Don’t Agree with Your Bank’s
  11. 8. Budgeting
    1. 8.1. Ways to Build Budgets
    2. 8.2. Creating a Budget Automatically
    3. 8.3. Copying the Current Budget
    4. 8.4. Creating a Budget Manually
    5. 8.5. Filling In Budget Values
      1. 8.5.1. Average Budget Values
      2. 8.5.2. Detailed Budget Values
    6. 8.6. Making a Budget Current
    7. 8.7. Choosing Budget Categories
      1. 8.7.1. Adding Income and Expense Categories
      2. 8.7.2. Setting Up Transfers in a Budget
    8. 8.8. Saving or Restoring a Budget
    9. 8.9. Comparing Your Performance to Your Budget
  12. 9. Investments and Planning
    1. 9.1. Why Track Investments in Quicken?
    2. 9.2. Choosing the Right Type of Account
    3. 9.3. Creating an Investment Account
      1. 9.3.1. Creating a 401(k) or 403(b) Account
      2. 9.3.2. Creating a Brokerage Account
      3. 9.3.3. Creating an IRA Account
    4. 9.4. Setting Up a Security
      1. 9.4.1. The Security List
      2. 9.4.2. The Security Detail View
      3. 9.4.3. Adding a Security
      4. 9.4.4. Editing a Security
      5. 9.4.5. Categorizing Investments
    5. 9.5. Recording Investment Transactions
    6. 9.6. Purchasing a Security
    7. 9.7. Selling a Security
    8. 9.8. Recording and Reinvesting Income
    9. 9.9. Recording a Stock Split
    10. 9.10. Placeholder Entries
      1. 9.10.1. Enter Missing Transaction
      2. 9.10.2. Estimate Average Cost
    11. 9.11. Evaluating Your Portfolio
      1. 9.11.1. The Portfolio View
      2. 9.11.2. Performance and Analysis
        1. 9.11.2.1. Overall portfolio
        2. 9.11.2.2. Individual accounts
      3. 9.11.3. Evaluating Asset Allocation
      4. 9.11.4. Capital Gains Estimator
      5. 9.11.5. Portfolio Analyzer
    12. 9.12. A Quick Tour of Quicken Planning Tools
      1. 9.12.1. Quicken Planning Wizards
      2. 9.12.2. Planning Resources
      3. 9.12.3. Financial Calculators
  13. 10. Reports and Graphs
    1. 10.1. Running Reports
      1. 10.1.1. Finding and Customizing Reports
      2. 10.1.2. Generating a Report or Graph
      3. 10.1.3. Managing Reports
    2. 10.2. A Quick Guide to Quicken Reports
      1. 10.2.1. Banking
      2. 10.2.2. Spending
      3. 10.2.3. Comparison
      4. 10.2.4. Investing
      5. 10.2.5. Tax
        1. 10.2.5.1. Tax reports
        2. 10.2.5.2. Exporting tax data to Turbo Tax
      6. 10.2.6. Net Worth & Balances
    3. 10.3. A Review of Report Preferences
      1. 10.3.1. Reports and Graphs Preferences
      2. 10.3.2. Reports Only
    4. 10.4. Printing Reports and Graphs
      1. 10.4.1. Printing a Report
      2. 10.4.2. Saving a Report as a PDF File
      3. 10.4.3. Saving a Report to a File
    5. 10.5. Customizing Reports
      1. 10.5.1. Date Ranges
      2. 10.5.2. Subtotals
      3. 10.5.3. Adding and Removing Columns in Reports
      4. 10.5.4. Customizing Other Report Content
      5. 10.5.5. Sorting Reports
    6. 10.6. Saving a Report
  14. A. Keyboard Shortcuts
    1. A.1. Task Shortcuts
    2. A.2. Working with Transactions
    3. A.3. Dates
    4. A.4. Moving Around in Quicken Windows
  15. B. Quicken Help
    1. B.1. Quicken Help
    2. B.2. Task-Specific Quicken Help
    3. B.3. Quicken Product and Customer Support
    4. B.4. The Quicken Forums
    5. B.5. Other Quicken Resources
  16. Index
  17. About the Author
  18. Colophon
  19. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Quicken 2006 for Starters: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s): Bonnie Biafore
  • Release date: November 2005
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596101275