importing

GWB gwb at 2realms.com
Mon Oct 9 01:04:55 EDT 2017


Hello, Frank,

I am very sorry to hear that, and yes, it is very frustrating.  I'm
not a "guru" for .qif importing or anything else for that matter, but
I did some experimentation with .QIF files some weeks ago.  But just
off the top of my head, I would suggest:

-Are you sure your version of Quicken does not export a .QFX file?  If
so, you may find that to be far easier to import a .QFX file into
GnuCash.  Both .QFX and .OFX have a unique transaction identifier for
each transaction.  .QIF files do not.  That means you are far less
likely to have duplicate transactions when importing .QFX and .OFX.

-So I would first see if your Quicken program can export a .QFX or
.OFX file, and then try to import that into GnuCash.  If it does, then
from within GnuCash go to File>Import>Import OFX/QFX.  It's the
selection right below "Import QIF".

As you have discovered, importing .QIF is quite a bit of time and
effort.  I have had a similar experience, with many duplicates.  So if
you can export OFX/QFX then import, try that.

-One caveat with the "Generic Import Transaction Matcher" window: if
you press the "Cancel" button on the bottom right, nothing will be
saved into your GnuCash file.  If the program crashes, that may the
equivalent of pressing the "Cancel" button.  I have also spent much
time matching transactions, only to mistakenly press the "Cancel"
button to wipe it all out.

-If you can export and import by date periods, do that.  Export 1 to 3
months (i.e.,01/01/2016 to 01/31/2016, or 01/01/2016 to 03/31/2016),
then try to import it.  Try 1 month at first, see if you can get that
to work, then try longer periods.  I do not try to import more than 1
quarters worth of transactions, and in some cases, a lot less.

This is a cumbersome process, but I sometimes import all the
transactions into a "holder category", like "Expenses:Unknown" (or you
can create one call "Imported-Only").  I check the first box to the
left of each transaction, and assign the receiving account to
"Unknown".  After every transaction is marked to import, I then check
the "OK" button, or whatever version and system type of gnucash you
are using (whatever is not "cancel").

The last time I imported a .QIF file, I had lots of duplicates, and I
had to go through all of them after importing them into "Unknown".
After deleting one of the duplicates, I then assign the remaining
transaction to the correct receiving category.  To delete the
duplicate, I select the top line of the transaction, and then
selecting the "Delect Transaction" option from the "Transaction" menu.
The same amount, same date, same memo, usually means a duplicate, and
they are usually right next to each other in the transaction register.
I go to the "View" menu and select "Transaction Journal", and that way
I can see several lines of the transaction, and if the memo is also
identical.

Many (most?) financial institutions will let you download transaction
(or activity) files directly on to your computer, in formats like QFX,
OFX, QIF, CSV, IIS.  I download all the formats, and try to import OFX
first, then QFX, then QIF.  I also look at the CSV file in a
spreadsheet to see if it has any additional data.

I think you will have better luck if you can use OFX or QFX files to
export and import.

Gordon

On Sun, Oct 8, 2017 at 8:27 PM, frank raney <frankraney130 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Just finished 6 hours correcting all the data i imported and before I could save it, the program crashed. All I have is the unchanged imported data file........When it crashed, the file was lost but there is a log file......what it is I don't know.....  Guess I have to start all over?
>
>
> Frankie Raney
> 12454 Auberry Rd.
> Clovis, Ca.
> 559.297.8577 H
> 559.304.1751 C
> On 10/7/2017 7:15:37 PM, David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Frank,
>
>
> I did not mean to imply that it worked better then, but it may have worked differently in older releases.  In any case, if you went that far back, there are some file compatibility issues to be concerned with.  I do recall being irritated with the fact that the QIF importer failed to import memos in split transactions, and I think that has been fixed.
>
>
> The main thing is that neither David T nor I recall having a significant problem avoiding the potential duplicate transactions that could arise if the user does not know the best procedure (as you have seen).
>
>
> David C
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 7, 2017 at 6:55 PM, frank raney <frankraney130 at gmail.com [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com]> wrote:
>
>
>
> Frankie Raney
> If it worked good in 2.2, then maybe I can get that version, try it and if it works good, then upgrade.
> On 10/7/2017 4:45:51 PM, David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com [mailto:david.carlson.417 at gmail.com]> wrote:
> Frank and David T,
>
> I believe that the QIF importer may not work exactly the same way that it did back in the 2.2 series or the 2.4 series  or even the 2.6 series before release 2.6.18.
>
> If that is the c as e  then we really do need someone who is familiar with the way it works now to jump in and help.
>
> David C
>
> On Oct 7, 2017 3:18 PM, "frank raney" <frankraney130 at gmail.com [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com]> wrote:
>
> I did import all at once......don't know yet how to export individual accounts from Quicken..
>
>
> Frankie Raney
>
>
> On 10/7/2017 7:46:05 AM, David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com [mailto:sunfish62 at yahoo.com]> wrote:
> Frank,
>
> The *other* David suggested importing each account separately; I was suggesting importing all at once. In my (admittedly ancient) experience, I worked to get the Quicken data just so, and when I imported everything, I had little to no duplicates.
>
> David (T.)
>
>
> On Oct 7, 2017, at 7:17 PM, Frankie Raney <frankraney130 at gmail.com [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com] [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com]]> wrote:
>
> You are right as to what is being done.... When I import, it sees the duplicates, but there are hundreds....it would take forever to Mark them....I do not know how to export just one account at a time....I could try to figure it out and try that way I guess.
>
> On Oct 6, 2017 8:34 PM, "D" <sunfish62 at yahoo.com [mailto:sunfish62 at yahoo.com] [mailto:sunfish62 at yahoo.com [mailto:sunfish62 at yahoo.com]]> wrote:
>
> Frank,
> Like the other David, on the other thread, it has been a while since I imported from Quicken. When I did, I was able to bring in everything in one huge pass. Gnucash properly created the many accounts and captured most of the transfers as well.
> Are you exporting each account from Quicken separately? It sounds as if you are getting both sides of your transactions, i.e., the transfer payment from checking to your credit card is being processed once for the checking and once for the credit card. If this is what is happening for you, then there are two solutions: either match the second version to the first during the import process, or don't import the second transaction.
> I seem to recall that I didn't have to do much manual massage to my large quicken file when I imported way back when, so I believe that exporting the whole file (accounts, categories and transactions for it all) will catch those duplications. But I've been known to be wrong before.
> David T.
> On October 7, 2017, at 6:24 AM, frank raney <frankraney130 at gmail.com [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com] [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com [mailto:frankraney130 at gmail.com]]> wrote:
>>I thought I had the importing figured out, but no...............
>>I exported my quicken data to qif format.  When I import it into GC I get a lot of double entries.  Quicken uses catagories, GC uses accounts... How do I import my cash accounts without getting all the duplicates.
>>My checking account imports as do all my categories to the same accounts in GC.  I am given a list of possible duplicates, but it will take days to go through this.  Isn't there a way import without sorting through the list?  If I do not go through the list (just import everything as is, I end up with every account with double entries, double money.
>>I am trying to get away from quicken because of all the troubles they are having, but now I wonder if it is worth it.  I am always for programs like GC, but sometimes they are very cumbersome, like this appears to be.  What am I missing?
>>Frankie Raney
>
>>12454 Auberry Rd [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd&entry=gmail&source=g]. [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd.+%3EClovis,+Ca&entry=gmail&source=g [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd.+%3EClovis,+Ca&amp;entry=gmail&amp;source=g]]
> [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd.+%3EClovis,+Ca&entry=gmail&source=g [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd.+%3EClovis,+Ca&amp;entry=gmail&amp;source=g]]>Clovis, Ca [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd.+%3EClovis,+Ca&entry=gmail&source=g [https://maps.google.com/?q=12454+Auberry+Rd.+%3EClovis,+Ca&amp;entry=gmail&amp;source=g]].
>
>>559.297.8577 [tel:559.297.8577] [tel:(559)%20297-8577] H
>>559.304.1751 [tel:559.304.1751] [tel:(559)%20304-1751] C
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