CollegeCounts 529 Account Set-Up, Transaction Entry and Reconciliation

kirkdsmith

Any tips for the best way to set up a CollegeCounts 529 account in Quicken and best practices on entry of transactions and reconciliation of quarterly statements?

The only option is manual entry, as CollegeCounts and the program manager, Union Bank & Trust, don't support integration with Quicken for their 529 accounts. I have confirmed this by speaking with a CollegeCounts rep.

Regarding ongoing transaction entry, cash deposits are immediately used to purchase shares of a fund (no fund name specified, other than "Aggressive Age Based 19+" or "Aggressive Age Based 0-02," for example). Each quarterly statement lists number of shares purchased for each transaction by date, the share price associated with each purchase, and the number of shares and total value on the closing date. When I attempt to reconcile the statement there is a difference equal to the increase in value of the holdings.

I would like to have this set up correctly so that it functions well with the planning tools in Quicken and is included accurately in reports. Any tips / best practices would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.

Ps56k2

I used the Illinois BrightStart 529 and just tracked everything using Quicken and entered transactions manually, and updated the price when the statements arrived.  

For me, I setup a manual account, and then created a virtual security so that I could enter transactions to buy/sell against that virtual security within the 529 account.

kirkdsmith

ps56k -- Thanks for your response. How does one create a virtual security?

Ps56k2

Others may have a different way of handling these 529 accounts...

--> Tools - Security List - (at bottom) Add New - (again at bottom) Add Manually

I then just made up a pretend "symbol" and other info - and it was created.
Of course, if it is a real external fund, then it would have a real symbol.
Back to the Security List, UN-checked the Download & Watch List

Lastly - I then can update the price of this pretend security when I receive statements and Quicken will have the Cost Basis and the current Market Value of the account.

Tom Young

If you only receive quarterly statements and have no online access the then during the quarter all you can do is record your cash deposits as you make them.  When the quarterly statement is received the first thing you do is confirm the cash deposits. Assuming the deposits are correct you then enter the trades using the correct trade dates.  After each buy the running balance of cash should drop to $0 as of the trade date.  That gives you reasonable assurance that you entered the trades correctly. You cross check that the numbers of shares match.  As you make your entries and are satisfied that the entry is correct you can mark each one with an "R".

You then enter on the Holdings screen, as of the statement date, the per share quote quote or quotes.  Quicken and the statement should match as to the value of the account.

At that point cash is reconciled, shares are reconciled and the market value - which might include cash if your last deposit occured on a quarter end - agrees to the statement.

kirkdsmith

Thanks, ps56k and Tom. Much appreciated.