User Feedback - Bank Transactions

[Roger]

I've been using BGP side by side with Quicken Deluxe 98 for a few weeks now and there are a couple of operations where I find BGP slower to use:
1. In screen BS421S03 I always use the same date for 'Transactions' and 'Bank' and find it a nuisance having to take my hand from the keyboard, use the mouse to press the 'Same' button and then back to the keyboard, for every transaction. 

Is there a way round this?

2. In the Transaction Elements, I tend to enter a 'Spent on' note for most transactions, so I have to tab to the 'Edit' button or double click on the line to add a note in BS421S11, again breaking the flow. 

It would be a great improvement if 'Spent on' had it's own dedicated window in BS421S03. (In Quicken you type directly into a transaction page like BS421S01 so there is no going backwards and forwards between screens).

What are other users thoughts on these?

[ideasguy]

Thanks for posting your feedback Roger.

Heres the tips I promised
(1)
Transaction Dates and Bank Dates
Under the Setup tab, In Preferences BS498, you have checkboxes with options. This one applies to this discussion item:
I need to use both Transaction Dates and Bank Dates
1(a) Set to OFF
In screen BS421S03 you now only have ONE date data entry field - the Transaction Date
1(b) Set to OFF
In screen BS421S03 you now only have TWO date data entry fields - to record both the Transaction Date and the Bank Date for the transaction.
By default, when you are adding a transaction, todays date appears in the Transaction date field.
The Bank date takes its "offset" from the transaction date by looking at how you set up the Bank Account in BS403.
Start BS403 and look at an account.
http://www.bankgenie.net/UserGuide/403/bs403s01.gif
Select an account and click Edit
Look for the Days to clear field.
You can see it in this screenshot
http://www.bankgenie.net/UserGuide/403/BS403S02/bs403s02-dateprotect.gif

Heres the User Guide topic on this:
http://www.bankgenie.net/UserGuide/403/BS403S02/bs403s02.html#DaysToClear

Reading that, you can have some accounts with 0 days for Days to clear.
If you do that, the Bank Date will have no offset in screen BS421S03 when you enter the screen initially to add a new transaction - it will be the same as the Transaction Date.
You can set up each account and its Days to Clear value individually.

2)
The Spent On entry
No shortcut at present in BS421S03 + Edit taking you to BS421S11.
Ive headed that off in Bank Genie 4 - it uses one single screen for all data fields (as you would like it to be). Bank Genie Pro with all features set to ON in preferences has a LOT more activity on each screen, and currently has a sub screen for advanced features e.g. Tags, Linking to Invoices etc.
However!
Try this feature in the program Transaction Analyser BS408
Start BS408 (thats where you analyse all your data and get a wide range of reports).
RIGHT click on a transaction.
A shortcut menu appears. Click on the option View Memo.
That takes you directly to the screen BS421S11, and you can edit quickly and easily.

Does that help?

[Roger]

Well that was easy - one box unchecked and problem solved. Many thanks!

[ideasguy]

Excellent, Roger! That's the news I like to hear

Not a problem as such - you've switched off a feature.
Hopefully some users will find that feature useful. I developed it initially for my own needs.
The double dates are useful for things like cheques - the date you wrote the cheque, and the date you expect it to be cleared in the bank. I wrote a cheque on Thursday, the first for ages. Most things are paid for by card and cash from ATM nowadays.
MS Money and Quicken don't offer that (double dates) feature and customers coming from that environment find it unusual. Mind you, if I didn't have it, I'm sure it would be requested at some stage. Better having it than not in that case, and it is easily enabled or disabled in preferences.

[Eric Hardy]

Just tuned in to this. I have just learnt something and have unchecked my box too  . Thanks Roger for raising this, I don't need this double date feature either although I imagine it is very useful for some BG Pro 4 users.

Eric

[LeeStoddart]

starting from much the same position as Roger, I'm not sure that I need the dual date feature, but I have not turned it off (yet).

When you enter BS421S03 the transaction date defaults to today and the Bank date defaults to a number of days in the future (according to the clearance days set for this account. One thing that does annoy me is that when I change the transaction date (to yesterday or last Wednesday say, the bank date is not recalculated - I have to click the Auto button to have it do that.  It would seem to me that it would be better if the bank date was recalculated when the Transaction date is changed.  (Keeping the ability to manually change the bank date if for example the cheque cleared more quickly or more slowly than expected.

[ideasguy]

Hi Lee

Thank your for your comments on that feature, and I have to say I gave that very case you have quoted a lot of thought. Its final form is also a result of my own personal experience in using it for many years.

In the end, my logic was - if a user HAS set a correct date in the Bank date field, it would cause great confusion and possible errors (not to mention complaints!) if the program were to change it automatically.
Consider this:
Its not unusual to have to go into a transaction and change the Transaction date. In such a case, you don't want the program changing the Bank date on you, which was already correct (and not the usual "days to clear" difference).
To compensate the cases where you DO need to change the Bank Date, Ive provided those Same, -, Auto and + buttons.

If you don't need it, I would certainly recommend switching the feature off, Lee. Its a lot easier.

As explained above, I do need it. I also use the Bank Date order in screen BS421S01.
When the transactions are listed in Bank Date order they align in the correct sequence to my hard copy Bank Statements.

[LeeStoddart]

Well perhaps my gripe is more relevant when ADDING a transaction rather than when UPDATING an existing transaction.  So perhaps during the time when a transaction is not yet saved adjustment of the transaction date could automatically recalculate the bank date.

[ideasguy]

I agree, the conditions are indeed different when adding a transaction Lee.

The argument would be that the user may have already set the Bank date to the date required.
If I were to allow Bank Genie to change that date, then I'd have to display a warning message where the user would have to click OK.
An alternative would be to display a prompt message which would allow the user to respond with a Yes or No to allow Bank Genie to change the date.
Both could be annoying to the user. I prefer to leave it as is.

[ContraOboe]

I have just turned this feature off so I was glad to find this post.

Question: If one turns it back on at a later date will it affect reconciled statements?  as far as I recall (without checking) BGP will not let you reconcile a statement if it finds a mismatch between statement date a bank date.

[ideasguy]

No, it wont affect reconciled statement Colin.

I like to think the Bank Genie rules for reconciling are quite logical.
When a statement is issued by your Bank with a Statement date specified, then it will not include any transactions which haven't cleared in the Bank by that date..
Bank Genie merely keeps you right by warning if you have any transactions which are later than Statement date.

When you turn the feature off, Bank Genie goes into "auto" mode.
Behind the scenes, it automatically fills the Bank Date for you, with the Transaction date.
Thus, you can turn it off or on at will.