[Kmymoney] how far back can we get statements

[Jack]

On 2013.05.15 07:28, Gary Kirkpatrick wrote:
> I am setting up accounts for the first time.  I have some bank  
> accounts and
> investment accts too.
> 
> Per the documentation it seems you can go back 60 days to download
> statements from your institution.  Under accts/edit you can set a  
> date.  On
> my Fidelity acct I set the date to Jan 1 and it went to that date and
> downloaded the data.
> 
> Then I changed it to 1/012012 and I got the first three months of 2012
> only.  Also I could not add categories to these transactions.
> 
> I am hoping someone can explain what is happening to me.
> 
> Thanks for the help!

As the other reply said, it is the institution that limits how far back  
you can go.  However, I believe there may be two different limits, and  
I have no idea whether they are the same or different for any bank.   
Most banks let you download statements for either 6, 12, or 18 months.   
Downloading transaction (as an OFX file) may have the same limits, but  
I know of at least one institution that limits manual transaction  
downloads to either 90 days or 3 months (I have forgotten which).  When  
you do an OFX direct connect, I do  not know if any of these limits  
apply, but there probably is an upper limit on age.

Also, note that if you reset the download start date on the online  
settings tab of the Edit Account dialog, it will download again any  
newer transactions.  The program will recognize the duplicates and  
ignore them, but to save effort, it is probably best to start with a  
manually set older date and see what happens.  (Most of this is based  
on my experience over the years, not on specific knowledge of the  
program or the OFX spec.)

Another good thing to know is that if  attempting an OFX download   
produces an error message that is less than helpful, you can sometimes  
get better information by getting a log of the download.  To do this,  
create and empty file in your home directory called "ofxlog.txt".  Then  
try the download again, and that file will contain a trace of the OFX  
dialog between you and the institution.  Often, it contains a bit more  
information about the error.  If you still have problems, you can post  
that file here - but be careful, as it does contain sensitive  
information, such as password and account numbers.

Jack