Quicken 2009: The Missing Manual

Chapter 14. Creating Reports and Graphs

Quicken comes with all kinds of ready-made reports, perfect for getting a snapshot of things like how much you spend, what you’re worth, and what you need to prepare your tax return. Just click a few buttons, and in a jiffy you’ll see what’s up (or down) with your finances. This chapter tells you about the different types of reports Quicken offers, where to find them, and how to run them and print them.

And if the built-in reports don’t suit your needs, you can customize them in lots of ways, and then save them for future use. If you’re more into graphics than numbers, you can also generate graphs of most of Quicken’s reports. This chapter teaches you everything you need to know about customizing reports.

An Introduction to Quicken’s Reports

Quicken reports come in all shapes and sizes, from quick snapshots of recent transactions to full-blown reports with lots of bells and whistles to reports that help you answer specific questions you’re likely to ask. These reports are tucked in various spots throughout the program, so the information you want is always close at hand.

Probably the biggest challenge you’ll face is figuring out which report to run. Each part of Quicken has its own built-in reports and graphs. You’ll find information about specific reports in the chapters where they help the most. For example, “Where did I spend my money during the period…?” and the Budget reports are covered in Chapter 11, “Monitoring Spending and Saving.” This ...