Quick Start Guide

Overview

Whether you’re using Quicken Simplifi to manage your personal finances or Quicken Business & Personal to manage both your business & personal finances, setup only takes a few minutes and once you’re connected, you’ll see your full financial picture in one place.

Before You Begin, Gather Your Information

Having your financial details ready will make setup faster and smoother.

What you’ll need:

Online banking usernames and passwords
A list of regular bills (rent, subscriptions, utilities)
Knowledge of your pay schedule

Quicken Business & Personal users

Business name (exactly as it appears on tax forms)
Industry type (Legal, Retail, Consulting, Construction, Healthcare, etc.)
Business structure (Sole Proprietor, LLC, S-Corp, Partnership, Corporation, etc.)
Business email address (for invoicing and official communications)your business checking or merchant account information

💡 Tip: If you don’t have everything handy, you can still get started. You can always add and update information later.

Step 1: Add Your Accounts

Since Quicken is designed to give you a consolidated view, the first step is connecting your financial accounts.
You can add both connected (automatically updated) and manual accounts.

Follow the prompts to connect your financial institutions using your secure online credentials.
Choose whether each account is Personal or Business (Business & Personal users).
Review the list of accounts added — if you missed one, you can add it anytime later from Settings > Accounts.

Once connected, Quicken will securely download your balances and transactions so your dashboard reflects your real-time finances.

Step 2: Confirm Your Bills and Income

After your accounts are added, Quicken will review your recent transactions and suggest recurring bills and income.
You can accept, remove, or add new items as needed.

This step helps Quicken build your Spending Plan and Projected Cash Flow, so you can see what’s coming in, what’s going out, and what’s left each month.

If you miss something here, don’t worry — you can always manage your recurring transactions anytime from Settings > Recurring Transactions.

🪄 Why it matters: When Quicken knows what to expect, it can help you predict future balances and keep your finances report- and tax-ready.

Step 3: Explore the Dashboard and Key Features

Once setup is complete, you’ll land on your Dashboard — your financial home base.
Here’s a quick overview of what you can explore next:

Core Areas (for all users)

Dashboard: Your at-a-glance overview of accounts, balances, goals, and spending.
Transactions: Review and categorize your personal and business transactions.
Bills & Income: See what’s due soon and what’s coming in.
Spending Plan: View planned expenses and what’s left to spend this month.
Savings Goals: Track your progress toward future purchases or savings milestones.
Reports: Generate insights into your income, expenses, and cash flow.

Business Tools (Quicken Business & Personal only)

Clients & Projects: Manage clients, projects, and services.
Sales & Billing: Create invoices, estimates, and track client payments.
Mileage: Track miles to maximize deductions.
Tax Planner: Estimate quarterly taxes and set reminders.

Planning & Settings (for all users)

Planning Tools: Check your credit score or plan for retirement.
Settings: Manage your accounts, categories, recurring items, and notifications.
Help Center: Access online support, articles, and Quicken Coaches anytime.

💡 Tip: You can always return to your Dashboard by selecting Dashboard in the left menu.

Step 4: Next Steps

Once setup is complete, you’re ready to dive deeper:

Learn how to track and manage income → Track and Manage Income
Automate and organize spending and expenses → Manage Spending and Expenses
Turn your data into insights → Running Reports

🎉 Congratulations! You’ve finished the Quick Setup Guide. Your accounts are connected, your bills and income are organized, and your finances are ready for tracking and reporting — all in one place.