How do I edit the number of shares?

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: share volumes wrong - no way to edit.

Seana

I am using Quicken Mac Deluxe 2019, and there is no way to directly edit the number of shares in Quicken anymore, either in the portfolio or transaction view.

You could easily do this in the older versions, but in current version you can't. You can *try* in the transaction view, but when you edit any transaction, Quicken will now automatically "adjust" your cost basis, share price, etc. -- even if you don't want it to.

For example, let's say you SIMPLY WANT TO CHANGE THE NUMBER OF SHARES, WITHOUT CHANGING ANYTHING ELSE. (Which is the simple question you asked! Which everyone else on this thread seems to be missing!) I do this all the time, like when dividends get reinvested, when my bond security shares go up on a regular basis, etc. My share amount changes, but my cost basis stays the same. That used to be easy to change, in the older Quicken versions.

The only solution I've found in the current version is very cumbersome -- go to the transaction view for the security, click "add new" transaction, then "add shares," then calculate the difference between (a) what Quicken currently lists for that security and (b) what it should actually be, then enter that amount for the shares to be added. Don't enter a cost or anything else. That should do it. (No idea what to do if you want to *reduce* the amount of shares, without changing anything else.)

Why did Quicken take away that ability? Who knows. Probably because they want everyone to switch to away from manual transactions, and over to synching *all* of your financial info with Quicken. I don't trust Quicken to have all that info, so I enter securities manually. But that is much more difficult on the current version Quicken. It's very frustrating that the current version of Quicken has less features than the older ones.

jacobs

I'm not sure I understand what you have done in the past, but for a situation like reinvested dividends, you should be using a Reinvest Dividend transaction, which will increase your number of shares correctly.

Dtinen

I must say, this threw me at first as well. I was used to entering a particular starting number of shares, or dollar amount in the account at the beginning, and then going forward in time to check values against paper statements.

Now, having gone to the hassle of trying to do it the old way with new Quicken and being very frustrated, I understand (I think) what they're doing: Now, it looks at the latest account update, both shares and dollar amounts, and works backward from the present.

At the beginning of any account that had transactions in it before your use of Quicken, the first transaction is automatically an "Add Shares" in grey type, and in the Memo/Notes column it says "Placeholder". This transaction is not a fixed value; it will change automatically in order to agree with your latest bank or broker or credit card statement.

If you manually enter a transaction to "fix" something, this placeholder will change automatically so that the bottom line agrees with the downloaded statement. If all your manual transactions are correct, the placeholder should equal the "starting balance" you would have had to enter manually in the old days. On the other hand, if you've made an error in your entry somewhere, the "starting balance" placeholder will be wrong as well.

Eventually, it all works out, it seems. And, yes, sometimes downloaded transactions need to be examined carefully so that it's not erroneously logged as "Dividend Received" (which will change your cash account) when it should have been "Reinvest Dividend" (which will change your shares received).

You have a choice: use Account Update, or enter manually. On balance, Update saves time once you get used to it.

However, I must say I think there could be problems in the math of "Cost Basis" in this scenario: You have downloaded info from the financial institution, but, say, they only have transactions available for 2019. [for this discussion, assume they don't allow downloads for 2018.] So you enter your 2018 data by hand (there's a "pencil" in the far left column). Now you have some shares that Quicken does know the basis of (the reinvestments from 2019), but it says "Add Basis" for the shares that were in the account from 2017.

Click on that, and it says:
"Cost basis as of 1/1/2019"
or something like that.

You have to go through your statements and figure out which cost basis is right. At the end of 2017? 2018? Or your most recent statement?