Quicken showing negative balance for newly created accounts.

Unknown

I'm using Quicken 2018 for Mac (version 5.4.4).
My problem is that I created a new account to receive my Vanguard Variable Annuity. All the info downloaded nicely. Now to display my ignorance... The account shows a negative Cash Balance equal to the amount put into the account. I want the account to show the true market value as a positive. There were no commissions paid and the transaction was a 1035 exchange of another annuity well beyond the surrender period.
I know what I have in the account and just want it to show as a positive. How can I accomplish that?

John Burgess

You probably have "Add Shares" transactions with a cost basis.
You need to add a fake deposit transaction to account for that cash. 

John_in_NC

This shouldn't be to hard to figure out. Your screenshot shows the Portfolio view. I suggest you look at the top of that window and click on the button to take you to the Transactions view where it shows you all your transactions.

From there, you will have to figure out what is going on with the cash balance. Do you have a bunch of Buy shares transactions reducing the cash balance and no corresponding transactions of how the cash got into this account? (The cash had to get into the account, and you need to indicate that.) Or, it could be a placeholder (light gray transaction at the beginning of the register) that acts as an opening balance adjustment. In any case, you need to look at the Transactions view to see what is going on with your cash balance. As noted, it shouldn't be hard to fix.

RickO

John Burgess said:

You probably have "Add Shares" transactions with a cost basis.
You need to add a fake deposit transaction to account for that cash. 

John, An Add Shares transaction would not result in a negative cash balance needing an offset. However, if the OP used a Buy transaction instead of an Add Shares, that would do what you are suggesting.

RickO

John in NC said:

This shouldn't be to hard to figure out. Your screenshot shows the Portfolio view. I suggest you look at the top of that window and click on the button to take you to the Transactions view where it shows you all your transactions.

From there, you will have to figure out what is going on with the cash balance. Do you have a bunch of Buy shares transactions reducing the cash balance and no corresponding transactions of how the cash got into this account? (The cash had to get into the account, and you need to indicate that.) Or, it could be a placeholder (light gray transaction at the beginning of the register) that acts as an opening balance adjustment. In any case, you need to look at the Transactions view to see what is going on with your cash balance. As noted, it shouldn't be hard to fix.

More info on placeholder transactions:

FAQ: What Are Placeholder Transactions in Quicken for Mac?

Unknown

Thanks for the suggestions.

1. I can't see any Placeholder in the account. There are no gray areas on the screen.
2. I created a phony Money Market Account as a Payment/Deposit and it increased the negative balance.
3. I've done the same with a Buy action and it comes out a negative.

I'm really at a loss. It's a simple transaction with money being transferred to Vanguard and buying shares/units in three different funds (sub-accounts in VA parlance). Any initial transaction seems to post as a negative balance. I'm beginning to think Quicken has an error in its programming as the same thing has happened with another account with but one fund in it. Balances are accurate on the Vanguard site.

RickO

Switcher39 said:

Thanks for the suggestions.

1. I can't see any Placeholder in the account. There are no gray areas on the screen.
2. I created a phony Money Market Account as a Payment/Deposit and it increased the negative balance.
3. I've done the same with a Buy action and it comes out a negative.

I'm really at a loss. It's a simple transaction with money being transferred to Vanguard and buying shares/units in three different funds (sub-accounts in VA parlance). Any initial transaction seems to post as a negative balance. I'm beginning to think Quicken has an error in its programming as the same thing has happened with another account with but one fund in it. Balances are accurate on the Vanguard site.

If you can post a screenshot of the related transactions in the Transaction view, that might help us see what's going on.

BTW, just to be clear, placeholders are not "gray areas", but are gray text, like this: