Quicken Community is moving to Single Sign On! Starting 1/22/21, you'll sign in to the community with your Quicken ID. For more information: http://bit.ly/CommunitySSO
Default Lot Identification (22 Legacy Votes)

Allow me to set up a DEFAULT of FIFO (first in, first out) for securities. As it is now, if there are multiple lots of securities and some are sold, unless average cost is in effect, I have to identify for each sale, the lot from which it is taken. This is very burdensome when many small trades take place for a security where there are many lots. I would like to be able to specify FIFO as the default for a particular security, or for a particular account (thereby covering all securities). This would be very helpful for mutual funds or actively managed brokerage accounts.
Note: this request has been made many times over many years. I found one from five years ago.
PLEASE do something about this nagging and annoying irritation.
Note: this request has been made many times over many years. I found one from five years ago.
PLEASE do something about this nagging and annoying irritation.
Tagged:
9
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
In Edit Security Details view for a selected security and if the Security Type is Mutual Fund, you have a selection "Use Average Cost" that you can check (or not).
For other Security Types: When you enter a Sell transaction and do not click on "Specify Lots", the default is FIFO (and has been for years, AFAIK, and unless someone changed that recently. Can't think of a good reason why, though)
From Quicken Help about selling securities ...
This is not to denigrate your Idea. Based on the depth and history of complaints about this behavior, I think it should be changed. I do think too much complexity (option on a security basis) could have ramifications that would be risky and could become very confusing. For example, what would the decision process be when someone changed the setting for a security from FIFO to Min taxes? Would that apply retroactively to prior unspecified transactions? To do so could have significant unforeseen ramifications.
At this stage, also considering the manual entry behavior, I think I'd lean toward giving the option to prompt for the question or default to FIFO as is already the default.
But overall, not many things.
- Where to find a Help Guide for Quicken for Mac?
- Quicken Mac FAQ list
- Quicken Windows FAQ list
- Help Guide and FAQs for Quicken Mobile
COMPLETE list of Product Ideas - Quicken for Mac to VOTE onObject to Quicken's business model, using up 25% of your screen? Add your vote here:
Quicken should eliminate the LARGE Ad space when a subscription expires
(Canadian
I'm not sure I follow you. The FIFO requirement is not in the tax law as passed. People still have the opportunity to pick which lots to sell, so the ability to set a default order for each account would would still be a useful feature in Quicken.
Why do I need to constantly specify a lot method. It seems I should be able to make a preference setting that would always be used so I wouldn't need to constantly be prompted to select a lot strategy like First In, etc. I currently have 42 sold stock lots that I need to go into each one individually and specify the method which will always be the same (First In). It will take me upwards of an hour just to do this one download. If I could set a preference and let it ride, I wouldn't need to go through this painful experience every time I download sold stock.
Totally agree. I've sent the same suggestion in myself. It would need to be at the account level so that different accounts (i.e. IRA vs margin accounts) can have different defaults.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Need a Preference Setting for Lot Identification Strategies, i.e. First In, to El....
Bull. a) When you enter the transaction you have the option to specify lots and if you avoid that option, Quicken will default to your particular preference of FIFO. b) If you are not entering the transactions until they get downloaded from the brokerage, then only sales of partial holdings from a multi-lot holding will prompt you for the lot specification (selling the entire holding or selling a partial holding from a one lot holding will not present a pop-up lot question). For that pop-up situation because you are choosing the FIFO, all you need to dis click the OK. No need to click the specify lots button and go that path. "Upwards of an hour" is an over the top exaggeration unless there are other timing issues with your data file.
I am not disputing the value of simplifying the process as suggested. Only that the current process is not as onerous as you imply.
Now if you are having 42 affected sales per day, per week, per month, and each specification is taking 1.5 minutes, then there may well be timing issues with your data file. Perhaps because of transaction counts in an investment account (Quicken is not intended for day-traders or "active" traders) or due to some corruption issue in your file. Both those are points for a different discussion.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Need a Preference Setting for Lot Identification Strategies, i.e. First In, to El....
That sounds like a reply I would've expected from Intuit in the old days. I guess not much has changed, if you're even an employee. You can either add the feature or not, I'll continue forward either way. Software exists to help humans eliminate repetitive tasks, if it doesn't do that it doesn't do it's basic function. I have been using Quicken for active trading and all my banking needs since 1997, and yes the database, although probably slower than an empty one, still works fine. I find it pretty short sighted that you're telling me how Quicken wasn't designed for what I've been doing for 20 years.
This issue has always been a pain, but tolerable. It just so happens my new broker tends to sell in many lots. A sale of 6 positions resulted in 44 lots. Only two could be resolved automatically (plus the last lot of each position), the remaining required intervention. If you need an example of the feature, maybe you can find an old version of MS Money. As a user, I would spend the money to upgrade even if this was the only feature offered. I would also upgrade for an option where I could elect to have securities automatically added to reports (like they used to be by-the-way).
Either way, you take it into consideration or not, it doesn't matter to me how you run your company. If you prefer to alienate your customers, then you've done a good job. I don't think I'll be returning.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Need a Preference Setting for Lot Identification Strategies, i.e. First In, to El....
OK ... I'm going to step into the firestorm here and try and bring this back to the issue. Regardless of the number of times and the amount of time it takes there is a valid business case to have default Tax Lot settings per account.
For most retirement accounts it is allocated one way (FIFO) and for margin accounts many users choose least gain because it's more tax beneficial. Currently in Quicken the problem is that if its is not a complete closure of all shares (via 1 transaction) when the opening trade was done in multiple lots that Quicken forces the user to identify the lots even if they do it the same way in that account all the time.
The problem becomes worse when the sale of the entire position occurs not as 1 transaction but in multiple transaction (as I believe the original poster has identified). For example, I opened a position in 2 lots of 500 shares and 400 shares. If I put an order it to close 900 shares and the broker executes that in nine different 100 share transactions and sends 9 transactions through to quicken then Quicken is going to ask the user to you to identify the lots for at least the first 4 closing transactions. I say "at least" because it will be more if you don't identify the opening lot of 400 for the first 4 closing transactions.
Many times this scenario occurs when the fill price is not the same across all shares of the closing trades or the way the commission is split up causes multiple closing transactions (instead of 1 bulk closing transaction).
ps. for the O.P., I am also just another user/super user and not an employee. Just trying to help out.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Need a Preference Setting for Lot Identification Strategies, i.e. First In, to El....
@JGumby: "That sounds like a reply I would've expected from Intuit in the old days. ... "
OK, identities have now been clarified. All fellow users here at this point. No one is trying to speak for Quicken, Inc.. I'll just add to clarify my reaction to your idea: The basic idea has merit in terms of easing user interface. I did not see any credibility added to your position by what I saw as exaggeration. It was that perceived exaggeration that prompted my response.
Further, it appeared that you may have been going deeper into actions than you needed to, and I was trying to convey that aspect. For your FIFO preference, the popup appears and you only need to click the OK or Accept button (however it is labeled). If that possibly can reduce your minutes/transaction to seconds/transaction, all the better.
One more note -- as Kevin suggested, he and others have been bringing this idea to the developers' tables for quite a while. They have not taken action on those requests. That suggests the possibility that it may not be as easy at it might appear.
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Need a Preference Setting for Lot Identification Strategies, i.e. First In, to El....
Is it possible to get a comment directly from the Developers about this FIFO preference option?
Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Need a Preference Setting for Lot Identification Strategies, i.e. First In, to El....
Quicken has just gotten worse and worse over the years. If it were easy to jump ship and move to another software I probably would have already.
#NoEnv
#Persistent
#SingleInstance, force
SetMouseDelay, 10
SendMode, event
f12:: ;<- use the f12 key to start/stop the clicking routine
clicktoggle := !clicktoggle
if (!clicktoggle)
{ SetTimer, ClickAccept, off
tooltip
return
}
; drops through into the click timer
ClickAccept:
tooltip, NOTE: AutoHotkey is running to auto answer accept quicken lot identification
ControlClick, QC_button77, Quicken
sleep 1000
setTimer, ClickOK, -1000
return
ClickOK:
ControlClick, QC_button2, Sell Shares
sleep 3000
setTimer, ClickAccept, -1000
return
Esc:: Exitapp ;<- use the esc key to end the script
Quicken should add a feature to enable us to select a default tax lot method on every account, including an "ask me" option. I guarantee the "ask me" option (right now, the only choice available) would be used by very few customers.
The above took a fair amount of sleuthing. I ended up downloading WinSpy to find the right id. It's an AHK script.
What is the real mind blower is how many years Default Lot Identification has been an unresolved issue. Tone deaf customer service.
I have an IRA investment account which does automatically several trades per day. When I download the transactions I have to manually accept each "sell transaction" because it wants me to select for each one of them "Lot identification" or "average". Today that was a slow 51 transactions to confirm. "Accept All" will not work. I want "accept all sell transactions" using the same method "i.e. Lot identification"
Just to be clear. Based on what I have seen when any one investment account gets a lot of transactions, and based on all the people reporting terrible performance that is related to having tons of transactions in an investment account, I was speculating that the Quicken performance wouldn't be good for you. If you have found a way to overcome that problem, great!
That comment though was in no way connected with the fact that the idea to have someway to default the lot identification is a good idea and hopefully they will see people want it and implement it. They take suggestions with a post marked as an Idea, so people can vote on it.