Before you switch
A thirty-minute checklist you run once, in Quicken.
Before you close Quicken for the last time, spend thirty minutes running this checklist. Everything on it is reversible — you’re not deleting anything — but doing it now means you’ll arrive in PennyBolt with a complete picture, not a partial one.
The checklist
Back up your Quicken file first. In Quicken: File → Backup and Restore → Backup Quicken File. Save the backup somewhere outside your normal Quicken folder — a different drive, an external disk, cloud storage. This is your insurance policy. Don’t skip it.
Note your account list. Open Account List (Tools → Account List) and write down every account: the name you gave it, the type (checking, savings, credit card, etc.), and the current balance. This gives you something to check against after the import.
Note your category list. Open Category List (Tools → Category List). You don’t need to copy every category, but scan it: are there any with unusual names you created yourself? Any that are structurally important (a “Transfer” category you used for a specific purpose)? Make a note of anything that isn’t a standard expense category.
Note your reconciliation history. For each account, note the date of your last reconciliation and the reconciled balance. You’ll want to confirm these numbers survive the import intact.
Do a final register sync if you use Quicken Connected Services. If Quicken was downloading transactions automatically, force a final sync so the register is up to date. You want the QIF export to include everything.
Export to QIF. File → Export → QIF. Export all accounts, all dates, all data types. Save the file somewhere you can find it. See Moving your data for the exact export settings.
What you don’t need to do
You don’t need to close your Quicken subscription before switching. You can run both Quicken and PennyBolt in parallel for as long as you want.
You don’t need to clean up your Quicken data before exporting. Messy categories, duplicate payees, old accounts — bring all of it. It’s easier to clean in PennyBolt after the fact than to spend time cleaning in a product you’re leaving.
Next step
When the checklist is done, move to Moving your data .
See also
- Moving your data — the import itself.
- Import your Quicken history (QIF) — the detailed technical guide for the QIF import.
- Your first week — what to verify after the switch.