AccountsAuditor is designed to help Quicken users maintain the integrity of their data files. I developed this program to meet my own needs, and I’m offering it without charge to others who may find it useful. I am not associated with Intuit, Inc., publishers of Quicken. This program has not been reviewed or approved by Intuit, Inc.
Although AccountsAuditor is available without charge, it is protected by copyright. You may copy and distribute either the 68K or the PPC version of the program, or both together, so long as you include all the documentation files that come with the program and so long as you make no modifications to either the program or the documentation. You may make as many copies as you wish of the AccountsAuditor program and the accompanying documentation files for your personal use, and you may modify them as you see fit. If you wish to give or sell modified copies of the program or documentation to anyone, you must obtain my written permission. See the contact information at the end of this document.
Background
I was inspired to write this program by something that happened a while back. I was going through some old records and discovered a long run of negative balances in a savings account, balances that were clearly impossible. Eventually, I discovered a transaction for a withdrawal with a date that preceded my use of Quicken. It was a real withdrawal I had really made, so my current account balances all looked okay. But the date had gotten messed up somehow, and I had to go to paper records to find the correct date to fix the file.
Since that time, I’ve kept periodic archival backups that I’m pretty sure are good. But the only way to be sure my current file hasn’t developed any weird data has been to do a laborious visual comparison of my current file with the archival files. Guess what hasn’t happened very regularly!
Enter AccountsAuditor. It compares data exported from two Quicken files and reports differences. In writing and testing this program, I’ve found a few minor glitches in my files, such as changed memo fields. They’re rare, but they have occurred. I’m compulsive enough to care about fixing them.
Obviously, AccountsAuditor won’t do you any good unless you make backups of your Quicken files. It’s not going to find any problems in the oldest file you have, but it will tell you whether the old transactions in more recent files are the same as the corresponding transactions in older files. If you’ve been keeping periodic backups, or if you are willing to do so in the future to avoid the introduction of errors into your accounting data, AccountsAuditor may be for you.
I should warn you that all the data corruption I’ve experienced happened some time ago. It’s possible that recent versions of Quicken are immune to the problems I’ve observed, and that I’m wasting your (and my!) time.
System Requirements
This beta version of AccountsAuditor was developed under System 7.5.5 and has been tested mostly under that version of the Mac OS. As far as I know, it should run under System 7.0 or later; please let me know if it doesn’t. I don’t know whether it can run under System 6. I did size the screens so that they will work on the classic Mac. The 68K version of the program requires at least 5000K of free memory; I’ve found 7000K is necessary for some of my files. The PPC version has been only minimally tested. If it causes trouble, try increasing its memory, or use the 68K version.
Program Quick-Start
Launch AccountsAuditor, use the control panel that appears to select two Quicken export files to be compared, uncheck all the checkboxes in the control panel, and click the “Go” button. After a minute or so, assuming the files aren’t identical, an interactive report window appears showing the names of accounts for which differences were detected. Click on an account name to view changes in that account.
The accompanying manual explains program options and describes messages you may encounter.
Should the Author Maintain This Program?
If you find AccountsAuditor useful, or if you wish it were useful but can’t use it because of bugs or missing features, let me know. If lots of folks want this program, I’ll try to make it work for as many people as I can. If I’m the only person in the world compulsive enough to compare current files to backups, then I’ll fix only the things that bother me!
Contact me by e-mail at djsmall@dclink.com, or write:
Duane W. Small
10909 Hunt Club Road
Reston, VA 20190-3912
USA
Disclaimer of Warranty
AccountsAuditor and its documentation are provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind. You assume all risks, including any incidental and consequential damages, arising from use of the program or its documentation.
