How do I use a linked checking account?

By default, Quicken tracks your cash in the investment transaction list. If your account has check-writing privileges, you can enter cash transactions directly into the investment account.

If you want to use reminders or repeating online payments, you must add a linked checking account to the investment account. When you do this, Quicken automatically records cash transactions as transfers to or from the linked checking (Chequing in Canada) account. When you enter transactions manually, follow these guidelines:

When you enter a buy transaction, or any other transaction that requires cash, Quicken automatically uses cash from the linked checking account to pay for the transaction. Likewise, when you receive cash in your investment account, Quicken will record it in the linked checking account.
To receive interest payments or money market fund dividends, you should enter an Income transaction in the investment account transaction list. These transactions will be used to track the performance of your cash management account in the regular investment income reports.
To reconcile the accounts, reconcile the linked checking account. The investment account maintains a cash balance of zero, so you can't reconcile it.

Notes

To learn more, see tracking cash in an investment account and Add a linked checking account to an existing investment account.

Note for our Canadian Customers

The following terms will be different in the Canadian releases of Quicken.

Canada: "Cheque" / United States: "Check"
Canada: "Colour" / United States: "Color"
Canada: "Centre" / United States: "Center"
Canada: "Realise" / United States: "Realize"
Canada: "Behaviour" / United States: "Behavior"
Canada: "Analyse" / United States: "Analyze"