Placeholders on the Mac

Lou Anne
Lou Anne Member ✭✭
I have Quicken Deluxe 2018.  After importing quicken window files to the Mac, I have an added shares transaction with a zero balance. How do I correct this and where is the placeholder entry.  Thank you,

Comments

  • Quicken_Tyka
    Quicken_Tyka Alumni ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2018
    Hey Lou!

    A placeholder transaction would be located at the bottom of the register and will be slightly grey.  If you are unable to locate a placeholder and that add shares transaction is incorrect and should not be there I would save a back up and delete that specific transaction.

    Hope this helps!
    ~~~***~~~
  • Lou Anne
    Lou Anne Member ✭✭
    edited December 2017
    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    Use the search box in the upper right corner to search for the word "placeholder". That will find any placeholder transactions for you. If you find one for the problem security, backup your file, then simply delete the placeholder transaction and see if that fixes things.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • Lou Anne
    Lou Anne Member ✭✭
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    I have done that but nothing shows up so I assume I don't have any placeholder transactions.  My problem still remains.  
  • Unknown
    Unknown Member
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    Is it possible that it’s a transaction with fractional shares...so small that it shows as a zero value???
  • Lou Anne
    Lou Anne Member ✭✭
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    Yes, it does have fractional shares but I have several other add share transactions that have fractional shares the share balance is reflected.  Could it have something to do with that particular line in the register?  I say that only because after I deleted the transaction, the same thing occurred to the transaction above the one I deleted.  Prior to the deletion, the transaction was OK.  Mind boggling.
  • Unknown
    Unknown Member
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    If the fractional shares is something like .000001, you'll see zero shares and zero for the amount.

    In Quicken Mac, go to the "problem" investment account, click on Portfolio with Portfolio Value selected and scroll down to see the security with the fractional shares.  Click on the little arrow to the left of that security and see the date for the lot.

    Then go into Transactions and resolve for that date.  Most likely a rounding error when a Buy or Sell transaction was downloaded...or an entry to account for fractional shares plus or minus to balance your account.  
  • Lou Anne
    Lou Anne Member ✭✭
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    When I go to the transaction, I can't change it.  It is an add shares transaction for .75456 shares.  It won't add the shares to the balance.  I actually don't even own the security anymore, but in my portfolio is shows a minus share balance.  I have been  a Quicken user on the PC since the 1990's and just recently switched to Quicken for the Mac.  I didn't have this problem on the PC.  Thank you everyone for trying to help.
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    LouAnne, can you delete that transaction?

    BTW, it is helpful to put the name of the security in the search box (upper right) and enable the Shares and Share Balance columns. Sort by Date and then you can see how the history of the security tracks. If you don't need a record of the history, you could simply delete every transaction for that security. I would be sure to have a backup before doing anything a major as this, though.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • Unknown
    Unknown Member
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    I agree.  Just delete it.

    Backup first.  
  • Lou Anne
    Lou Anne Member ✭✭
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    I can delete the transaction but that would make the situation worse,  I would have to delete all the transactions related to that security--about 14.  It is odd that only one add share transaction among 12 don't add the shares to the balance.  Thanks again everyone.  I am a numbers type of person and like everything exact.  Yikes.
  • Unknown
    Unknown Member
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    Did you check the price of that security for that particular day?  Maybe there is an incorrect price (or zero) price entered for that day.
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    Also, what about deleting the offending transaction and then replacing it with a pretty much identical one? (Backup first)
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • Lou Anne
    Lou Anne Member ✭✭
    edited December 2017
    Lou Anne said:

    The add share transaction should be there but it is not adding to the share balance--it shows zero,  I tried the following:  I duplicated that transaction.  That worked.  Then I deleted the original transaction.  Now the transaction that was above the deleted transaction is showing a zero balance and before it wasn't. How weird.  

    So, this is what I did.  I deleted the transaction.  Then I went to the portfolio.  It then showed another transaction with fractional from 2001!  I then reentered the transaction I had deleted. On checking the portfolio, the 2001 transaction was no longer listed but the transaction above the one I had deleted now did not add the shares to the balance. I didn't check the price of the security as it goes back to 2005,  Also, as I said, everything was fine in Quicken on the PC.  I think we are running out of solutions and I may have to live with it,  If I could only hide the security, but from what I have read, that is not possible,  Thanks again,
  • jsely56
    jsely56 Member ✭✭
    edited April 2018
    I am having problems with Quicken Deluxe for Mac and my investment portfolios.  I have tried deleting account and reloading it; now I have a portfolio with 100 shares of GLD but no corresponding placeholder to allow me to add cost basis.  Consequently, I have no reading on unrealized or realized gain?  From discussions, it appears there is something wrong with the way placeholder transactions work in latest version of Quicken?
    How do I fix this?  Can you import data, or create my own older transactions without messing up the portfolio view?
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited January 2018
    jsely56 said:

    I am having problems with Quicken Deluxe for Mac and my investment portfolios.  I have tried deleting account and reloading it; now I have a portfolio with 100 shares of GLD but no corresponding placeholder to allow me to add cost basis.  Consequently, I have no reading on unrealized or realized gain?  From discussions, it appears there is something wrong with the way placeholder transactions work in latest version of Quicken?
    How do I fix this?  Can you import data, or create my own older transactions without messing up the portfolio view?

    Try filtering the register using the search box to only transactions for GLD. Can you see from those how the share quantity got to 100? If there are Add Shares transactions, you may need to edit those to input the cost of those shares to be used for basis calculation. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • jsely56
    jsely56 Member ✭✭
    edited January 2018
    jsely56 said:

    I am having problems with Quicken Deluxe for Mac and my investment portfolios.  I have tried deleting account and reloading it; now I have a portfolio with 100 shares of GLD but no corresponding placeholder to allow me to add cost basis.  Consequently, I have no reading on unrealized or realized gain?  From discussions, it appears there is something wrong with the way placeholder transactions work in latest version of Quicken?
    How do I fix this?  Can you import data, or create my own older transactions without messing up the portfolio view?

    Alas, no, no "Add Shares" and no transaction that added the quantity, which happened in 2013.  I understand Quicken downloads transactions and data from broker, Schwab, but when I download, I do at least get a cost basis for the 100 shares. I would have thought the software would automatically add a placeholder, with the option of putting in an estimate, or average cost basis to help explain the shares in the portfolio.  It looks like the latest version of Quicken doesn't do this.  I manually added a transaction and it did not double my holdings, so I'm not sure how balances are linked or not linked to transactions.
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    edited January 2018
    jsely56 said:

    I am having problems with Quicken Deluxe for Mac and my investment portfolios.  I have tried deleting account and reloading it; now I have a portfolio with 100 shares of GLD but no corresponding placeholder to allow me to add cost basis.  Consequently, I have no reading on unrealized or realized gain?  From discussions, it appears there is something wrong with the way placeholder transactions work in latest version of Quicken?
    How do I fix this?  Can you import data, or create my own older transactions without messing up the portfolio view?

    This is the second report I've seen of a phantom placeholder. Might be a bug is being discovered.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
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