Negative Cash Amount in SEP IRA Account

Mammondee

I have a negative cash amount in my SEP-IRA account. It is a nice round figure with no cents ($2885.00). I cannot figure out where this amount came from. I have transactions in the account back to 2001. I scanned through them trying to determine the origin, but to no avail. Can anyone help me with hints on why I would have a negative cash amount in a retirement account? All the other accounts are reconciled and balanced.

Jim_Harman

Go to the account and click on Holdings. Use the "As of" date to go backwards in time until the negative balance first appears then look in the transaction list to see what happened on that date. 

Often a negative balance will occur if you entered a Buy transaction without a corresponding Xin or Deposit to provide the cash for the purchase.

Also to avoid confusion, make sure there are no Placeholders in the account. Go to Edit > Preferences > Investment Transactions and make sure "Show hidden transactrions" is selected.

Tom Young

"I cannot figure out where this amount came from."

The Account has a "Cash Bal" column and it keeps a running total and the running total is reflected "Cash Balance" down in the lower right hand corner of the screen as well as the "Holdings" window.  Are you saying that the running balance in the Cash Bal column in one figure, e.g., $159.75, but the Holding window and/or the Cash Balance reported right below the transaction list is different?

Jim_Harman

Go to the account and click on Holdings. Use the "As of" date to go backwards in time until the negative balance first appears then look in the transaction list to see what happened on that date. 

Often a negative balance will occur if you entered a Buy transaction without a corresponding Xin or Deposit to provide the cash for the purchase.

Also to avoid confusion, make sure there are no Placeholders in the account. Go to Edit > Preferences > Investment Transactions and make sure "Show hidden transactrions" is selected.

Mammondee

Are you saying that the running balance in the Cash Bal column in one figure, e.g., $159.75, but the Holding window and/or the Cash Balance reported right below the transaction list is different?

The Cash Bal column is $0.00, which is correct. There is no cash in this particular SEP-IRA investment account. The "Total Market Value" is short by $2,885. The only place I see this amount is when I click on the Holdings tab which shows the negative cash of $-2,885

Mammondee

Jim Harman.....your explanation is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much for your quick and thorough answer.