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Investments Account Cash Balance

I upgraded to Quicken 2007 from Q2004 a few months ago. A problem I had in Q2004 and never resolved has persisted - not unexpectedly. However, I have now decided I would like to fix it and I cannot seem to figure out the best, i.e., quickest way. And maybe it is not fixable now, but I hope it is.

The problem goes back some years, I'm not sure how many. I think there are two parts to the problem.

  1. I had an investment account with a linked cash or bank account. At some point, probably when I updated to Quicken 2004 from an earlier version, the directions indicated that it was better not to continue with the 'linked' account set-up and I followed the directions. For a time I had the link information available but it wasn't linked. As the years went on and I did end-of-year archiving, the linked account archived, I think. I can find some of the transactions in archived accounts. Meanwhile, my investment account cash balance reconciles but only after I add some adjustments from time to time. These adjustments appear to tie in with checks drawn and other entries recorded in the missing linked account. Moreover, the cash amount in the portfolio display is way out of sync.

  1. In addition, I have one investment in a kind of money fund (not the account cash) that Quicken wants to treat as cash, so that makes two cash holdings to my way of thinking. Moreover, the investment that Quicken wants to treat as cash, also shows up as shares, because that's the way it was set up originally. All the interest is recorded in the security as reinvested dividends. Recently, I clicked on the highlighted cash in the portfolio and followed the recommendation to consider the 'money fund investment' as cash. This did not affect the cash balance showing in the transactions display, a may have slightly affected the cash balance in the portfolio but it didn't make any more sense to me.

How can I fix all of this?

Merrily

Reply to
Merrily
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Since no one has replied to my question, I am probably 'talking to myself.' However, just in case, someone is listenting, here is an update.

I undertook another approach to trying to solve the discrepancy between cash in the portfolito view and cash in the transaction view. I put various dates into the portfolio view, checked what amount of cash was displayed and then checked what the transactions view showed as cash. By a process of elimination (jumping from an end of December date in one year to a similar date in the next year going back to 2000 or thereabouts which was about when I started tracking the investment/brokerage account), I narrowed down most of the discrepancy to a series of transactions in 2005 over a period of about a month. At least that is when the cash shown in the portfolio for a date is not the same as the cash in the transactions balance. I tried to re-enter those transactions (albeit without deleting the originals first) and the problem was not corrected. I then did a validation procedure and it did not fix it. I also changed one money fund back to being a security before the validation. I also looked at the Help in Quicken some more and I cannot find anything that would help me. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Reply to
Merrily

Merrily:

Am I understanding you correctly that in ONE investment account, the cash value in "Summary" differs from "Transactions?"

If it were I, and my MAIN concern were the cash balance in an investment account, I WOULD keep a separate linked checking account to keep track of cash.

You may want to experiment by copying your current file to a TEST or TRIAL file, and play around with that file.

By separating out the cash transactions into a checking account, it should be easier to determine where or when the numbers diverged.

Bob

I undertook another approach to trying to solve the discrepancy between cash in the portfolito view and cash in the transaction view. I put various dates into the portfolio view, checked what amount of cash was displayed and then checked what the transactions view showed as cash. By a process of elimination (jumping from an end of December date in one year to a similar date in the next year going back to 2000 or thereabouts which was about when I started tracking the investment/brokerage account), I narrowed down most of the discrepancy to a series of transactions in 2005 over a period of about a month. At least that is when the cash shown in the portfolio for a date is not the same as the cash in the transactions balance. I tried to re-enter those transactions (albeit without deleting the originals first) and the problem was not corrected. I then did a validation procedure and it did not fix it. I also changed one money fund back to being a security before the validation. I also looked at the Help in Quicken some more and I cannot find anything that would help me. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Reply to
Bob Wang

Merrily:

I forgot to add, that once you locate the problem, you can un-link the checking account, and go back to just one register.

Bob

I undertook another approach to trying to solve the discrepancy between cash in the portfolito view and cash in the transaction view. I put various dates into the portfolio view, checked what amount of cash was displayed and then checked what the transactions view showed as cash. By a process of elimination (jumping from an end of December date in one year to a similar date in the next year going back to 2000 or thereabouts which was about when I started tracking the investment/brokerage account), I narrowed down most of the discrepancy to a series of transactions in 2005 over a period of about a month. At least that is when the cash shown in the portfolio for a date is not the same as the cash in the transactions balance. I tried to re-enter those transactions (albeit without deleting the originals first) and the problem was not corrected. I then did a validation procedure and it did not fix it. I also changed one money fund back to being a security before the validation. I also looked at the Help in Quicken some more and I cannot find anything that would help me. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Reply to
Bob Wang

Yes, you understand correctly, and thanks for your suggestion. It sounds like a good idea and one I hadn't thought of. Will try to implement it soon.

Reply to
Merrily

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