I see where all the transactions will show up in the account registers
in Money, after the bank posts the payments, i.e., just like any other
withdrawal or deposit.

But I took the question to mean 'if I have recurring monthly payments
setup via my bank's website bill payment scheme, will those recurring
monthly payments show up in Money's bills and deposits list when I start
using Money with my bank, and will Money take over control of those
payments, and even if the payments show up is there a change the
payments might be duplicated?' Maybe I read too much into this.

I do know there's a command in the transaction standard Money and banks
use to sync with other that can create a recurring monthly payment from
within Money. Whether an initial usage of Money can pickup existing
recurring payments already setup at a bank I don't know, but I would
like to know. And based on the transaction command set, I think its doable.

Chris Cowles wrote:
- quote -

"Retired Coal Miner" <...[at]...> wrote in message
news:nvSdnTgPTahAf-jZRVn-tQ[at]comcast.com...
- quote -

I think in all cases they'd show up in Money. The difference would be
whether it happens when the bank generates the payment, or the payee
deposits it.

If it's a bank-generated payment and not created in Money, you lose the
ability to track the status in Money. It will show up in Money once it
clears, just like an ATM withdrawal.

Chris Cowles wrote:
- quote -

Don’t think you're missing anything, I wasn't suggesting it be done both
ways.

Automatic bill payments (outside of Money) can be setup two ways:
between you and the biller, or between you and a bank. In the between
you and the biller arrangement, you sign an agreement with a utility,
phone company or credit card company to have them pull an amount from a
bank account every month. The amount typically varies each month, and
the biller withdraws (pulls) an amount from your account.

In the you and the bank scenario, you go to a banks website and setup a
monthly bill payment, to be sent to a biller. This is an agreement
between you and the bank, the bank pushes the amount to the biller each
month. To work automatically with no logging into the banks website, the
amount has to be the same each month. (Footnote, at one time the
predecessor to Wachovia and First Union had a bill presentment system
integrated into their web-based bill payment system. It had a feature
such that if an incoming bill matched up with an automatic monthly
payment, and the bill’s amount due varied each month, you could setup a
+/- threshold that if the amount due fell within the threshold, the bill
would get paid automatically with no manual intervention on your part).

I read the OP questions as having bill payments setup between her and
the biller, not between her and the bank. In rereading the first post,
now I'm not sure. If bills are setup between her and the biller, and if
she takes no action, those bills will continue to be paid until she
turns them off.

Not sure how Money would work when newly start to use money, your bank
already has bill payments setup via their website, and the bank supports
syncing and bill payment through money, But, I suppose one of only two
things could happen, the preexisting automatic payments show up in Money
or they do not. If they do not, you simply go to the banks website and
turn each one off, if you want to have Money takeover.

"Retired Coal Miner" <...[at]...> wrote in message
news:x5ednT8-ncufpOjZnZ2dnUVZ_vmdnZ2d[at]comcast.com...
- quote -

It may be possible to have both. For example, you could record an estimated
monthly bill on Money, for 'direct debit'. You could also have the bill set
up on the bank's web site to draft your checking account.

When the transaction took place at the bank, it could download into Money.
You could match the downloaded transaction to the one existing in Money.
That merge would eliminate duplication. Money probably would learn the
association between most of the payees and suggest the match automatically.

If you have to go to the web site to initiate payment, I don't understand
why you'd bother with what I describe above. Either manage your bills in
Money (assuming bank supports direct billpay) or manage your bills on the
web. Why do both?

Am I missing something?
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

Connie, the only way to insure you do not get duplicates would be to
turn off the bills that are paid directly from your bank (the bill
payments that existed before money ever came onto the scene). There's
no facility in money that does: if you do a bill pay through money,
check if a duplicate automatic bill payment already exists. The money
bill payments and the pre-existing automatic bill payments will never
know about each other.

You turn off the existing automatic bill payments by taking some action
with the billers. So you have to contact each biller, not the bank,
because the automatic payment agreement is between you and the biller,
not between you and the bank.

In my past experience, when you setup and agree to these automatic
payment arrangements, you typically agree that to turn off the auto
payments, you must notify the biller in writing. They make it easy to
setup and start, but a little harder to turn off (billers want you to
stick with this, because they get an electronic payment each month for
whatever amount they bill you). Also, in my past experience, if you
call the billers customer service number and act like you don't know
about the 'notify us in writing to turn it off' requirement, they
usually turn if off with that phone call. And, bigger organizations are
pretty good about sending you notices with the monthly statement saying
'this is the last auto payment, next month please remember to pay
manually'.

ConnieVH wrote:
- quote -

"ConnieVH" <ConnieVH[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9754AB96-8706-4D47-82E0-DDA6004105FE[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

If your bank supports billpay within Money, that is the case. Confirm with
your bank's bill pay tech support staff.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

I would agree that integration between my bank and Money would be great. But
please remember that I'm just learning about this. I'd like to be able to
track and chart my monthlies -- I just don't want duplicate payments. If I am
assured that will not happen, I'll explore further.

Thanks to all.

"Chris Cowles" wrote:

- quote -

"Retired Coal Miner" <...[at]...> wrote in message
news:A7ydnXNwWNF2GenZnZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d[at]comcast.com...
- quote -

I have several bills drafted automatically from my credit card account. The
credit card account drafts full balance monthly from my checking account.
My paycheck is direct deposited to my checking account. All of that happens
with plenty of notice from all parties, and it posts automatically in
Money. I just sit back and watch.

Works for me.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

And, you get to control if, when and how much to pay against the bill.
Which is how it's supposed to be.

The OP is referring to automatic payments that billers pull from a bank
account. This gives up control for convenience, IMO. Money is designed
to track your bills, and remind before they are due. But you always
have to initiate the payment, by a few mouse clicks.

Chris Cowles wrote:

- quote -

"ConnieVH" <ConnieVH[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AEC5D10A-37FE-49D7-9731-A0394CBA5B20[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Because, if it works, you no longer have to go to your bank's web site. You
can create payments directly within Money.

Do what works for you.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

On 2006-05-24, harrelsonesq <harrelsonesq2[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -

Before I integrated my Bill Paying w/in Money, I had this same
problem, but the way that I handled it was to enter the bill into the
register immediately after I paid it on the bank's website. When I
eventually downloaded that transaction from my bank, it would match
the downloaded transaction and the existing one in the register.

This also allowed me to set up splits for some of the payments that
I make. For example, the payment to the cable company consists of
some part "Bills: Online/Internet" and "Bills: Cable/Satellite TV".
I don't get this information from the transaction download, so if
I want that information I either have to enter it manually when the
transaction downloads or use the scheduled bill which already has it.
I chose to use the scheduled bill.

The primary advantage that I see of integrating Bill Pay w/in Money
is that I can skip entering the bill twice: once in Money and once
at the bank. Eventually these transactions match and all works
out, but by doing Bill Pay directly in Money, I simply enter the
bill once and the bank gets the right information. IMHO, it saves
quite a bit of time on the 1st & 15th.

$.02

The way you want to do it is just fine. Many people do it like that.

I use Wells Fargo, and they charge more to use bill pay through Money than
on their website. Or at least they used to, when I considered which method I
wanted to use (a long time ago). Plus Money has had problems connecting
directly to many FI's ("try your call again later" messages and so forth),
whereas, if you can connect to the internet, you can use the bank's website.

There are some very minor advantages to using bill pay through Money. For
example, when you download transactions from the bank's website, Money
doesn't always mark the bills paid in Scheduled Bills and Deposits, so they
show up as overdue until you go "Skip payment." This is way too minor for me
to consider switching, as using the bank's website works so well in general.

HTH,

Susan

"ConnieVH" <ConnieVH[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AEC5D10A-37FE-49D7-9731-A0394CBA5B20[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Thanks Chris for the very prompt response!
But it seems like a lot of duplicated effort. My bank's bill pay is working
just fine - why change it over to Money? I'd like to monitor it from Money,
but not cancel and re-create anything. When I added my bank account
information, I now see my balance in Money. Doesn't Money's bill pay work the
same way? I just want to SEE it from Money.

"Chris Cowles" wrote:

- quote -

"ConnieVH" <ConnieVH[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8DF37BC1-380A-40F9-9F27-0A8AA0A028C2[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

If you have scheduled bills more than once (ie monthly) and your bank
supports bill pay from within Money, cancel the future payments of that
bill, then recreate it in Money. Otherwise it might not be in sync.

Confer with your bank's bill pay tech support for specific guidance. My
experience with my bank (Wachovia) is that they're helpful.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

I'm just setting up and learning my Microsoft Money.
I already pay my bills (some automatically, some manually) through my local
bank checking account. I have added that account to Money.

If I set up Money's bill pay, are my bills going to get paid TWICE?