How to correct a mistake when telling Quicken that a new security is the same as an existing securit

Unknown

When downloading from my brokerage, there was a security that prompted the pop up from Quicken asking if the security being downloaded is the same as an existing security. I clicked that the downloaded security was the same as an existing security, but it wasn't. The names were the same except for the class of security. The downloaded security was Schwab-D, but the existing security was Schwab (held in a separate account with the same brokerage). Obviously the two have different ticker symbols. When I realized the mistake, I manually added the Schwab-D security and went back to correct the transactions involving this security. When I did a comparison of Quicken holdings to broker holdings, it said there was a difference. The pop up box said there were xxx shares of Schwab-D in Quicken, and xxx shares of Schwab in broker. The shares are correct, but Quicken is wrong when it says that the shares in broker are Schwab. They are actually Schwab-D. I assume Quicken has the wrong name for the broker because I clicked during the download that the Schwab-D was Schwab. The pop up that shows the difference does not give an option that Quicken is correct. I can't click to rename because of the ticker symbols and if I just ignore, I will forever get the message about Quicken and Broker being out of balance.  How do I get Quicken to realize that the shares are Schwab-D, not Schwab?

K.O. (Win-Premier)

Hi Joan.  I've seen this before.  Are you certain that you have both securities correct in the security list (ticker symbol and name) such they are different?  Second, are you sure you changed the security to the correct security in the correct account?

Sorry, I know these are basic questions but just want to double check because to the best of my knowledge Quicken doesn't "interpret" what the broker says is in the account at the broker.  So if the comparison says the broker is reporting 100 shares of XYZ that's what they told Quicken.

There is a possibility of a bug in Quicken but you would need to go through the OFX log and determine what the broker is actually reporting.  Not the easiest thing in the world but if you're a techy/IT person it's doable.

There is another small chance that this will get corrected the next download as maybe there is something related to you saying it was the same as an existing security but then changing it.  Worth seeing if that is the case.

Lastly there is another small chance that the comparison between what your broker reports and what you have in Quicken is based on the CUSIP.  I don't know exactly what Quicken uses for this comparison (i.e. ticker, security name, CUSIP) but I do know that when you accept a new security from the broker download it will populate the CUSIP for he security.  However, you cannot enter the CUSIP when you enter a security manually (certainly a bug/oversight).

Hope this helps.

Unknown

Hi, the answer to both your questions is yes. I think Quicken is "interpreting" the wrong security name for the broker because that's what I told Quicken it was when I clicked the button saying the downloaded security was the same as one already held. I just wasn't paying close enough attention when I did the download to realize the downloaded security wasn't one that was existing. I gave Quicken too much credit to know if the ticker and cusip were different, then it would be a new security. I think maybe Quicken needs an option when doing a holdings comparison to accept that what Quicken is showing is correct, for times like this when there is a mistake made by user, or even if the user prefers to name the stock differently than how the broker names it.

K.O. (Win-Premier)

Joan Clark said:

Hi, the answer to both your questions is yes. I think Quicken is "interpreting" the wrong security name for the broker because that's what I told Quicken it was when I clicked the button saying the downloaded security was the same as one already held. I just wasn't paying close enough attention when I did the download to realize the downloaded security wasn't one that was existing. I gave Quicken too much credit to know if the ticker and cusip were different, then it would be a new security. I think maybe Quicken needs an option when doing a holdings comparison to accept that what Quicken is showing is correct, for times like this when there is a mistake made by user, or even if the user prefers to name the stock differently than how the broker names it.

I concur on the matching of downloaded securities.  I do not know how Quicken tries to match (I hear it's CUSIP based) but I as well, have encountered instances where Quicken thinks a security is the same as an existing one but it is not the same.

Regarding "accepting what is in quicken is correct" I would argue that this is not the case for 2 reasons.  If the broker is reporting 100 shares of XYZ and you have 100 shares of ABC stored in Quicken either Quicken is not correct or there is a bug wrt what the broker is reporting.  Further let's say you have 100 shares of ABC in Quicken and you think it's correct.  What happens when you sell 100 shares of XYZ from your broker.  The broker is going to send Quicken a sell transaction 100 shares of XYZ but you don't have 100 shares of XYZ in Quicken (you have ABC) so Quicken is not going to connect the sale of 100 shares of XYZ with the 100 shares of ABC you have in Quicken so everything is either going to get messed up downstream or you're going to have to manually change every downstream transaction.

You didn't provide the actual ticker symbols and names of the security.  But thinking back when I had differing 401(k)s I remember 2 cases which this could be related to.

1) A case where a broker will have "different securities" specified as different due to the account they are held in but what they actually have stored in their system is the same security.  They just present them to the user (i.e. if you look at your brokerage account online) as different securities.
2) A case where a mutual fund was basically the same but it would have 2 different but similar securities.  E.g.  VSCIX - Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund and VSCPX - Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund Instl Plus.  If memory serves these were essentially the same security (i.e. the tracked the same) but had dramatically different prices.  If memory serves the 401(k) actually would always send VSCIX through to Quicken but the broker actually was buying/selling VSCPX and had stored in their account.

Regarding case 1 if this is the case just use the same security and don't worry about the name.  Regarding case 2 I elected to always change the transaction that was downloaded to VSCPX to match the broker and I turned off the compare w/ broker for that account and I would reconcile each month to ensure there were truly no discrepancies.  If your case is #2 this is not a Quicken bug and other than contacting the broker and trying to get them to change what they send through to Quicken (good luck w/ that) there is nothing you can do about it.  Don't shoot the messenger

q_lurker

To correct the fact that you created a bad association between the brokerage security (Schwab-D) and one of your Quicken Securities (Schwab), you need to edit the security details for the Quicken security and uncheck the box that says Matched with Online Security.  

After that if you perform a Reconcile Shares (and maybe sooner) you will have the same pop-up appear and you can match the two (Brokerage and Quicken) securities correctly.

Unknown

Joan Clark said:

Hi, the answer to both your questions is yes. I think Quicken is "interpreting" the wrong security name for the broker because that's what I told Quicken it was when I clicked the button saying the downloaded security was the same as one already held. I just wasn't paying close enough attention when I did the download to realize the downloaded security wasn't one that was existing. I gave Quicken too much credit to know if the ticker and cusip were different, then it would be a new security. I think maybe Quicken needs an option when doing a holdings comparison to accept that what Quicken is showing is correct, for times like this when there is a mistake made by user, or even if the user prefers to name the stock differently than how the broker names it.

Thanks for the help, but I think I'm not communicating well. When I realized that I had incorrectly told Quicken that Schwabd was Schwab (which was the security that was already in Quicken), I manually changed the downloaded transactions that pertained to Schwabd. I copied the security name directly from the broker account. So the way the downloaded Schwabd is named in Quicken is correct. It matches exactly what the broker says, and what was attempted to be downloaded. If I hadn't told Quicken at the onset of the download that the two securities were the same, then Quicken holdings and Broker holdings would agree. I believe that the reason Quicken is showing the wrong name for the security held by the broker is because that's what I told Quicken when I said it was the same as the existing security. The broker is not sending the name the way Quicken says it is.


For example, when I held Disney stock, if I purchased shares, the download would bring it in as Disney, Walt. In Quicken I manually changed it to just Disney. The next time I had a purchase, Quicken would ask if Disney, Walt was the same as Disney. I would click that they were the same. When doing a holdings comparison between Quicken and Broker, there would be no differences, even though the broker statement would show Disney, Walt and Quicken would show Disney. Because I had told Quicken that Disney, Walt was the same as Disney, anytime there was a transaction involving Disney, Walt, Quicken saw it as just Disney. I think this is what is happening now. Since I mistakenly told Quicken that the security from the broker was Schwab (when it actually is Schwabd), it is seeing it as Schwab even though the broker is actually reporting Schwabd.


I'm thinking that I'll probably need to delete the transactions for both Schwab and Schwabd, delete the two securities from the security list, and then re-enter the transactions.

Unknown

Thanks, I knew there had to be a way to fix the problem. Never thought to uncheck the matched with online security!