Can I update the value of an investment without adding shares, etc.?

Question

I have a mutual fund IRA for which my bank does not allow downloads. I am not currently contributing to this account and all I want to do is update the value in Quicken when I check my quarterly statement - no share units or values or whatever. Is there an easy way to do this? Should I delete it and set it up as a different account type to avoid having to enter these details?

Tom Young · Accepted Answer

The "lowest information" way of doing this is to create a "dummy" security - one that has no ticker symbol.  When you next look at your quarterly statement you might see that, overall, it has a value of $25,578.82 while your Quicken balance Is $18,936.55, a difference of $6,642.27.  So you simply do an "Add" transaction for 6,642.27 shares of the dummy security, each share valued at $1.  Each quarter thereafter you do an "Add" of additional dummy security shares at $1 to balance to that quarter's statement, assuming the value of the account has increased.  
If the value of the account decreased you'd do a "Remove" of the appropriate amount of dummy shares.

Frankx · Accepted Answer

Sure, you could just set it up as a bank account, or even a cash account.  You can enter the balance from the most recent statement and then adjust that amount to the going-forward statement balance on whatever time frame you want (monthly, quarterly, annually). It will probably be easier if you just delete the investment account you've set up and start a new cash account.