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Bug in Portfolio Value Report

unknown

I am using Quicken for Windows Year 2018 Version R11.20.

I am going to post screenshots of 4 different reports in Quicken that should all show the same thing, but because of a bug do not. Note, I spent 3 hours online with Quicken support, with a gentleman that was actually quite knowledgeable, but alas, he ultimately said, "I cannot help you and there is no protocol for escalating issues to the programming team, please post your issue online."

Screenshot 1: Portfolio Value Report with the bug. Notice: 1) the cash line item shows up twice (it should only show up once as you will see from subsequent screen shots), 2) the account total only reflects one of the cash line items, 3) the total investment line reflects both of the cash line items. The bug is that the cash line item should only show up once.

Image httpsd2r1vs3d9006apcloudfrontnets3_images1751837RackMultipart20180914-83731-1e9cxwm-Picture4_inlinepng1536949174

Screenshot 2: Portfolio Value and Cost Basis Report filtered to show the account above. Notice that there is only 1 line item for cash.

Image httpsd2r1vs3d9006apcloudfrontnets3_images1751841RackMultipart20180914-51738-1sm2065-Picture5_inlinepng1536949562

Screenshot 3: Generated from selecting Investing on the ribbon and then Portfolio. Notice that there is only 1 line item for cash and the account value is equal to cash (because cash is the only asset of the portfolio). Sorry that the writing in the picture is so small. I am hoping you can blow it up so you don't have to take my word for it.

Screenshot 4: Generated from going into the register for the account. Look at the last transaction for the month (5/29/08), notice the cash balance. The cash balance is equal to the single line item for cash. Sorry that the writing in the picture is so small. I am hoping you can blow it up so you don't have to take my word for it.

I am hoping that the reader can clearly see that there is a bug in the first report.

BTW - this error is just now appearing, I believe, because I spent yesterday cleaning up some old transactions to make them consistent with the original brokerage statement.

If the writing in the pictures is too small, I am happy to send them direct. In addition, I am happy to provide any additional information that one needs to opine on this issue.

Please help. I rely on the Portfolio Value Report extensively and I have over 10 years of data in this portfolio.

Thank you.

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Comments

Tom Young

Have you tried validating the file? I have Quicken for Windows Year 2018 Version R11.20 and I'm not seeing that 1st screen shot error. Is there any significance to the selected date, or does that problem show up irrespective of the date selected?

unknown

Thanks for the reply. 1) I have validated and super validated this file. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Quicken. I have "cleaned" quicken. 2) Not sure what you mean by "not seeing that 1st screen shot error." 3) There is no significance to the date. There is only 1 cash line item on 5/6/08. On 5/7/08 there are two for some reason. There is a duplicate line item for cash for each day of the account from 5/7/08 until the account cash balance goes to 0 in late 2011. Thanks for digging into this with me.

Tom Young

Thanks for the reply. 1) I have validated and super validated this file. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Quicken. I have "cleaned" quicken. 2) Not sure what you mean by "not seeing that 1st screen shot error." 3) There is no significance to the date. There is only 1 cash line item on 5/6/08. On 5/7/08 there are two for some reason. There is a duplicate line item for cash for each day of the account from 5/7/08 until the account cash balance goes to 0 in late 2011. Thanks for digging into this with me.

Sorry, should have said "I'm not seeing that 1st screen shot error in my own file.

Very odd. It does seem like there's something wrong down at the data level that's screwed up and validating doesn't fix it. What happens if you make an entry to drive the cash to $0 on 5/7/08 by entering a reduction of cash of the duplicated amount with the offset going back into the SAME Account. (After first making a backup, of course.) That should, as an accounting entry, make the cash balance in the actual Account drop to $0 (in error) but at this point I guess it doesn't hurt to just thrash about for a bit.

Beyond that I don't have any other advice except to not use the Portfolio Value Report over the affected period. ;-)

unknown

Thanks for the reply. 1) I have validated and super validated this file. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Quicken. I have "cleaned" quicken. 2) Not sure what you mean by "not seeing that 1st screen shot error." 3) There is no significance to the date. There is only 1 cash line item on 5/6/08. On 5/7/08 there are two for some reason. There is a duplicate line item for cash for each day of the account from 5/7/08 until the account cash balance goes to 0 in late 2011. Thanks for digging into this with me.

Thanks Tom. Yes, I have made an accounting entry to drive the cash to zero and it does 2 things. First, it screws up the other 3 "reports" that are correct while fixing the portfolio value report and second, the problem appears in the portfolio value report later when cash shows back up due to normal transactions. I have concluded that this is NOT a data input error but rather a Quicken data processing error or a Quicken report error. I am more than welcome to someone showing me otherwise. In the absence of that, I am hoping that someone from the Quicken programming team can dive into this and help out. Thanks again Tom.

Jim_Harman

David,

This is a long shot, but are there any cash transactions in this account that are split between multiple Categories? In the past there have been problems with investing reports when there are split cash transactions, even if the split box shows only one category.

Because Quicken is computing the running balance, even transactions that occurred before the analysis period of the report can cause problems.Since you say the problem shows up on 5/7/08, I would be particularly suspicious of any transactions on or near that date.

If there are any split transactions, I would try deleting them and re-entering as multiple transactions, one for each Category.

Also I assume you are working with the default version of the report, not one you have previously saved. Sometimes saved reports that were created with a previous version of Quicken carry over problems from the earlier version.

unknown

Jim - thank you for your thoughtful comment and idea. Given your advice, I have deleted every transaction in the register on the day that the problem begins and this indeed solved the problem, thank you! I will now go back and re-add the transactions and hopefully all will continue to be good. I will report back. Again, thank you!

unknown

Jim - again, thank you for your insights - they have lead me to discover the problem. Don't ask me the how or why behind this, but it turns out that this problem is somehow linked to cash transfers into this account from another account. As I am deleting the cash transfers the problem is rectified until there is another cash transfer. I guess I will delete all of them and then re-add them. Thank you again for the idea of determining the cause by deleting transactions on the date the problem started - this has led to the determination of how to rectify the situation.

Jim_Harman

Jim - again, thank you for your insights - they have lead me to discover the problem. Don't ask me the how or why behind this, but it turns out that this problem is somehow linked to cash transfers into this account from another account. As I am deleting the cash transfers the problem is rectified until there is another cash transfer. I guess I will delete all of them and then re-add them. Thank you again for the idea of determining the cause by deleting transactions on the date the problem started - this has led to the determination of how to rectify the situation.

I spent 3 hours online with Quicken support, with a gentleman that was actually quite knowledgeable, but alas, he ultimately said, "I cannot help you and there is no protocol for escalating issues to the programming team, please post your issue online."

I'm glad I could help. I'm surprised the Quicken support person didn't recommend tracing the problem to the date it first occurred.

A couple of other thoughts on this problem:

-- Make sure "No Security (includes Cash)" and any other securities that have ever been held in the account are included in the Security selections for the report. Select All should work.

-- Watch out for any transactions that transfer cash to or from accounts that no longer exist in Quicken.

unknown

Thank you Jim. Those are good thoughts.

Rocket J Squirrel

Glad you solved your underlying problem, but as an aside, notice that in screenshot #4, your column headings are off by one starting with Share Bal. Sliding them back into place might make it easier to see what's going on.