Mutual fund Conversion

artg

Please help! I did a mutual fund conversion which worked perfectly in the account register. However, the new fund is NOT showing up in the account on the Investing tab. What did I do wrong?

artg

Ok, I'm sorry community, I figured out what I was doing wrong. The fund now shows up. That's the good news, the bad news is the Cost Basis did NOT convert properly (accurately.) Does anyone have a fix?

q_lurker

artg said:

Ok, I'm sorry community, I figured out what I was doing wrong. The fund now shows up. That's the good news, the bad news is the Cost Basis did NOT convert properly (accurately.) Does anyone have a fix?

What version of Quicken?
What is ‘wrong’ with the cost basis?

artg

Quicken premium (Windows), the latest version. The cost basis in Quicken is an out of control amount I've never seen which gives me a negative gain. The cost basis should be about 23.58 per share which would give me a reasonable gain. That's what it was BEFORE the Mutual Fund Conversion. And thank you @q_lurker

Jim_Harman

If you go to the Security Detail view for the old version of the security and click on "Edit Security Details,"  is the "use average cost" box checked? There is a bug in Quicken's conversion routine that causes the cost basis to be calculated wrong in this case. Let us know and we can give further instructions.

artg

@Jim_Harman: How do I get to the old version? The old version of the fund is gone, I have the new security in my view.

Jim_Harman

Go to Tools > Security List and click on the old security, then click on Edit security details to see the Use average cost option. If the security is not shown, click on Show hidden securities in case you have hidden it.

artg

No change whatsoever in my bogus cost basis. Thank you @Jim_Harman. Please give me some other ideas.

artg

@Jim_Harman : I started all over again with a backup file and YOU ARE MY HERO! Using your method...I had calculated that my average cost per share (of the new fund) should've been about $23.58. Quicken says it's 23.571922. In other words, because of you I'm solid. Thank you so much.

Jim_Harman

Glad to hear your problem is solved. What exactly did you do?

For the record, I was not suggesting the un-checking Use Average Cost would solve the problem directly, only that it would explain the problem you were seeing and provide a starting point for fixing it.

artg

I unchecked the "Use Average Cost" on the mutual fund being replaced.

Jim_Harman

OK, and then I assume you went ahead and used the Mutual Fund Conversion. The downside of that approach is that if you previously sold shares in the old fund, now your tax lots and cost basis in Quicken may not match your broker's records. This may or may not matter to you. 

I don't know of a better approach though ...

artg

@Jim_Harman : It matters Jim but now it's much closer. So, I'm happy.