To adhere to technical guidelines established by Apple, the Mac App Store version of Quicken Essentials does not support the conversion of Quicken for Mac data files. If you are converting data from Quicken for Mac, please note that Quicken Essentials converts data from Quicken for Mac 2007, 2006, and 2005 only.
I am trying to export all my PC programs into my new Mac. In the PC Quicken I exported a QIF file for all accounts. I then tried to import the QIF into my Mac running Quicken for Mac. I got LOTS of errors, many of which said that the type of transaction I was trying to import was not allowed for an investment account. It did not identify which transaction it was trying to import, nor the type of transaction it was rejecting. Has anyone ran into this type of error before?
Has anyone had a flawless transfer? I am trying to export all my PC programs into my new Mac. In the PC Quicken I exported a QIF file for all accounts. I then tried to import the QIF into my Mac running Quicken for Mac.
I got LOTS of errors, many of which said that the type of transaction I was trying to import was not allowed for an investment account. It did not identify which transaction it was trying to import, nor the type of transaction it was rejecting. Has anyone ran into this type of error before? Has anyone had a flawless transfer? I am trying to export all my PC programs into my new Mac. In the PC Quicken I exported a QIF file for all accounts. I then tried to import the QIF into my Mac running Quicken for Mac.
I got LOTS of errors, many of which said that the type of transaction I was trying to import was not allowed for an investment account. It did not identify which transaction it was trying to import, nor the type of transaction it was rejecting.
Has anyone ran into this type of error before? Has anyone had a flawless transfer? Click to expand.I have no knowledge about Quicken for Mac.
I could start from the bottom up, or the top down. I'm taking a shot that the top down has a chance of being a shorter route. If Quicken for Mac has a limit on the length of account names that is shorter than Quicken for Windows allows, you might - depending on your Quicken account names - have unwittingly caused Quicken for Mac to be unable to create a new investment account when it wanted to, then to try to import investment account transactions for that account into a non-investment account with a similar name. Example (VERY simplified): you have Quicken for Windows accounts named 'ABC Checking' and 'ABC Brokerage'.
If Quicken for Mac limited account names to no more than 3 characters, the import would only be able to create a checking account named 'ABC' (the checking account is probably the first account the import would encounter), and might (later in the import process) attempt to import transactions for ABC Brokerage into the Quicken for Mac 'checking' account named ABC. Test the theory by attempting to create a new account in a Quicken for Mac file where you make the account name as long as Quicken for Mac will allow. If that name is short enough to make two of your Quicken for Windows account names appear to be the same, you can fix that part of your 'conversion' problem by shortening all your Quicken for Windows account names to the max allowed by Quicken for Mac, before you try the export/import. I agree with the previous poster that it is probably a good idea to create one file for each exported Quicken account, so you can import them individually into Quicken for Mac.
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There may be a devil or two in the details; so if the above suggestion doesn't help and if you need more info, post back. Click to expand.Gary, you might wish to reconsider your decision to move from Q for PC to Q for Mac and continue to run the PC version under Parallels, VMware or Wine. The Mac version of Quicken is generally considered to be a pale imitation of the PC version. Furthermore, the most resent version 2007 is the last of its form. Quicken announced during the January 2008 WWDC that they were going to discontinue Quicken Mac 200X and introduce 'Quicken Financial Life for Mac'. Intuit have told users that this new program with have less functionality then at present. Since this statement in January, Intuit has been silent on any further developments here.
Your difficulty in transitioning your data from PC to Mac is not unusual and perhaps typical. Quicken is virtually alone in presenting this difficulty to users.
So, while it might not be the advise you wish to hear now, it might actually be wisest to reman where you are. If you are convinced that you wish to make the conversion you probably ought to check out the discussion formums over at Intuit. There is an entire section devoted to this topic. I tried this operation and ended up running the Windows version in PArallels desktop with out any problems. Some of the problems I encountered making the transition are that no special characters, INCLUDING SPACES, are allowed for account or category names. So in the previous example, 'ABC Brokerage' must be renamed 'ABCBrokerage' for Quicken for Mac to recognize it. As well, there is a limit to how many characters the Mac version recognizes (somewhere between 15 and 20, if memory serves correctly) Once I had everything moved over, I found all the investment functions, all the way down to quote downloads, to be vastly inferior to the prior Quicken for Windows version I had been using.
I can't think of anything that the Mac version did better. I also believe there were some tutorials on the web (text-based instructions, only) that will confirm the specific limits on account and category names. It was a very disappointing experience. Of course, running Parallels desktop has simplified things greatly.
The only problem is that you will need to buy a version of Windows to install in the Parallels Desktop application. Hurry, while you can hopefully still get a basic stripped-down version of XP, and avoid Vista!
With expected any day now (predictions were Thursday, July 14), it's time to get serious about the fact that the new operating system version is not expected to support older programs compiled for PowerPC processors. Root of the Problem When Apple switched from PowerPC (PPC) processors to Intel processors in 2006, then Intel version of OS X included a utility called Rosetta, which translates the PPC code into Intel-friendly code, enabling users of Intel Macs to run older applications.
Reports from developers with pre-release copies of Lion are unanimous that Rosetta is no longer included. The result is that those older applications won't run after users upgrade to the new OS. In, I showed how to check whether you're running any applications that are dependent on Rosetta.
In my case, there were several. An older version of is easily updated to an Intel-friendly version, but my older version of Intuit's Quicken financial management software proved to be more of an issue.
The Problem with Quicken I've been running a copy of Quicken 2005 that was originally bundled with a G5 iMac; I've transferred it, along with my financial data, from Mac to Mac ever since. I haven't bothered upgrading it, since it ran fine on my aluminum MacBook running today's, and I haven't needed more than a few of even this older version's features. Intuit has had an on-again/off-again relationship with Mac users, with long periods where it hasn't bothered to release Mac versions of its programs, Quicken, QuickBooks, TurboTax, and more. It has a current Mac version of Quicken, Quicken Essentials 2010, but that has been criticized for being less powerful than its current Windows version. In fact, Intuit recently Mac users: 'This option using Quicken Essentials is ideal if you do not track investment transactions and history, use online bill pay or rely on specific reports that might not be present in Quicken Essentials for Mac.' And while there's a US version of Quicken Essentials, there's no Canadian version - meaning no support for Canadian financial institutions, Canadian tax codes, etc., even though Intuit Canada has released a localized version of its Windows Quicken. Intuit Canada's advice for Mac users: Install Windows on your Mac (perhaps using virtualization software like VMware Fusion) to run the Windows version of Quicken or sign on with Intuit's online service.
Sorry, I'm not prepared to do either. If I wanted to run the Windows version of Quicken, I would be doing that on a Windows system.
Migrating to Quicken Essentials Intuit notes that it will not 'maintain your transaction history'. Instead, I got a copy of the US version of Quicken Essentials 2010 for Mac - I haven't needed the financial institution or tax code support anyway. (Some good news - Intuit is currently offering Quicken Essentials for - $24.99 instead of $49.99.) However, importing the data from my old version of Quicken wasn't particularly straightforward - and there's an issue that any user of an older Mac Quicken version needs to be aware of prior to upgrading to Lion. Quicken Essentials 2010 includes Quicken File Exchange to convert data exported by Windows Quicken or older Mac Quicken versions. However, it doesn't support my 2005 version - the only older Mac version supported is Quicken 2007.
Here's the process I had to go through (if you don't have Quicken 2005, your process will be somewhat different):. Open Quicken 2005 and Export your account data (it will have a.qdfm file extension). Delete your old version of Quicken. (I archived it first so I could get it back if needed).
Install Quicken 2007 and import the qdfm file. Export it again. The 2007 Quicken will produce a file with a.qdfx extension.
Install your copy of Quicken Essentials 2010. It will let you import the qdfx file, and you should be in business. But you have to do all this before upgrading to Lion. While Quicken Essentials 2010 is written in Intel-friendly code that will run under Lion, Quicken 2007 needs Rosetta. And to make matters worse, Quicken Essentials' Quicken File Exchange Utility - while presumably a current version - is also a PowerPC application, and since it requires Rosetta, it also won't run under Lion.
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The result - whether running Quicken 2005 like I was, or even Quicken 2007 (the last full-featured Mac Quicken version), or wanting to move Windows Quicken data to your Mac, you're going to have to convert your data files to Quicken Essentials 2010's format before upgrading your system to Lion. Maybe Intuit will help us with this. It shouldn't be all that much work to create an Intel-friendly version of Quicken File Exchange. But the company hasn't shown much interest in supporting Mac users (despite claiming, 'We are committed to supporting Apple products and our Mac customers'), so I'm not going to hold my breath. I do have my financial data running in Quicken's current version so, with luck, I'll be ready to upgrade to Lion when it's released.
Hopefully Lion won't catch any other users of older Mac Quicken versions unaware. Join us on, follow us on or, or subscribe to our Alan Zisman is Mac-using teacher and technology writer based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Many of his articles are available on his website,. If you find Alan's articles helpful, Today's Links. Mac of the Day:, introduced 1993.02.10.
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