Quicken Windows Help

How do I find out how I'm spending my money?

These reports track your money based on who's paying you or whom you're paying (payee) as well as what you're buying (category). Among other things, you can compare current spending with average spending, see whether you're keeping to your budget, and spot other spending trends.

These reports and graphs get down to the smallest details of your income and expenses, which makes them useful for a detailed analysis of your finances. Remember you can customize them to include only the accounts, categories, payees, time periods, and transaction types you want to see.

You can create a number of reports to find out how you're spending your money.

Itemized Categories report

This report lists income and expense transactions from all your accounts, grouped and subtotaled by category. Because it includes transactions, it is more detailed than the Income and Expense by Category report or graph, which is a summary, or the Spending by Category report or graph, which lists expenses but not income.

Quicken lists income transactions first. If no income transactions occurred during the report date range, Quicken lists expense transactions, followed by transfers between accounts.

This report includes the corresponding subcategories, which you can see for a specific category by clicking the plus sign to the left of it, or for all categories by clicking Expand All in the upper-left corner of the report.

This report also includes one-click trend graphs, so you can quickly see your average monthly spending for each expense category for the past year.

Itemized Payees report

This report lists transactions from all your accounts, grouped and subtotaled by payee. Because it includes transactions, it is more detailed than the Income and Expense by Payee report or graph, which is a summary, or the Spending by Payee report or graph, which lists expenses but not income.

Quicken lists income transactions first. If no income transactions occurred during the report date range, Quicken lists expense transactions, followed by transfers between accounts.

This report also includes one-click trend graphs, so you can quickly see your average monthly spending for each payee for the past year.

Itemized Tags report

This report lists transactions from all your accounts, grouped and subtotaled by tag.

Quicken lists income transactions first. If no income transactions occurred during the report date range, Quicken lists expense transactions, followed by transfers between accounts.

This report also includes one-click trend graphs, so you can quickly see your average monthly spending for each tag for the past year.

Spending by Category report or graph

This report or graph provides a summary of spending grouped by expense category. Because it includes only expenses and not income, it may help you focus on the areas where you're spending your money more quickly than either the Itemized Categories report or the Income and Expense by Category report or graph.

The full report includes the corresponding subcategories, which you can see for a specific category by clicking the plus sign to the left of it, or for all categories by clicking Expand All in the upper-left corner of the report.

To help you quickly see your average monthly spending for each expense category for the past year, this report also includes one-click trend graphs.

Spending by Payee report or graph

This report or graph provides a summary of spending grouped by payee. Because it includes only expenses and not income, it may help you focus on the areas where you're spending your money more quickly than either the Itemized Payees report or the Income and Expense by Payee report or graph.

To help you quickly see your average monthly spending for each payee for the past year, the full report also includes one-click trend graphs.

Current Spending vs. Average Spending by Category report or graph

This report or graph compares current expenses from one time period with the average spending for another time period, grouped by category. It includes the corresponding subcategories. This report can help identify whether your spending in those areas has steadily increased or decreased over time, or whether a one-time occurrence (such as party supplies for a celebration) caused the change.

You can spot spending changes in the column that highlights the differences between the two periods. You can customize the report to display the difference between the two periods in dollars, as a percentage, or both. (INF in the Difference column stands for infinity and appears when the calculation divides by zero because the first amount is zero.)

After you select the starting time period in the Date range field, Quicken displays relevant comparison periods in the Compare to field. For example, if you want to see how much you spent by category for the current month, Quicken lets you compare this amount with the amount you spent for the last 3, 6, or 12 months. If you want to see how much you spent by category for the current year, Quicken lets you compare this amount with the amount you spent last year, or for the last 3 or 5 years.

Current Spending vs. Average Spending by Payee report or graph

This report or graph compares current expenses from one time period with the average spending for another time period, grouped by payee. It can help identify whether your spending in those areas has steadily increased or decreased over time, or whether a one-time occurrence (such as a visit to the furniture store) caused the change.

You can spot spending changes in the column that highlights the differences between the two periods. You can customize the report to display the difference between the two periods in dollars, as a percentage, or both. (INF in the Difference column stands for infinity and appears when the calculation divides by zero because the first amount is zero.)

After you select the starting time period in the Date range field, Quicken displays relevant comparison periods in the Compare to field. For example, if you want to see how much you spent by payee for the current month, Quicken lets you compare this amount with the amount you spent for the last 3, 6, or 12 months. If you want to see how much you spent by payee for the current year, Quicken lets you compare this amount with the amount you spent last year, or for the last 3 or 5 years.

Income and Expense by Category report or graph

This report or graph can help you spot spending patterns by comparing your total income by category with your total expenses by category over time. Because it lists summary information instead of transactions (like the Itemized Categories report), it can give you a quick overview of your income and expenses.

Income and Expense by Payee report or graph

This report or graph can help you spot spending patterns by comparing your total income by payee with your total expenses by payee over time. Because it lists summary information instead of transactions (like the Itemized Payees report), it can give you a quick overview of your income and expenses.

Budget reports and graphs

Quicken offers two budget reports: the Current Budget report or graph and the Historical Budget report or graph. For more information, see Create a budget report or graph.