Any one else having issues with FBAR reports in R30.14?

Question

I just got the latest release of Quicken and saw that it included an FBAR report and thought that was grand because my wife and I have to file FBAR every year.

So I launched the report and was very disappointed as it is not correctly reporting what FBAR wants and in my opinion this Quicken report is in error.

The issue is that it only reports the cash balance of the accounts and does not include the value of any securities or mutual funds etc.

The filed FBAR must reflect the maximum value of each account in the year including all assets in  all foreign accounts if the aggregate total exceeds $10,000 at any time in the year. A foreign investment account would include bank accounts, investment accounts as well as tax deferred accounts.

Also, from my past filings and reading of the filing rules for FBAR I understood that the value needed to be the maximum in US dollars in the year.  You can only determine this by adjusting the values of the accounts by the exchange rate and then determine the maximum value and Quicken does not do this.  Quicken tells you the maximum value in the year in the foreign currency and then tells you to convert that to US dollars by applying the year end exchange rate.

So basically this report is useless.

Anybody else having this problem?

BBG · Answer

I have a 100% foreign currency quicken file with bank and trading accounts, and have filed FBARs ever since.  The FBAR is an approximation of maximum value, using the xrate on 31/12 of the year.  Meaningless?  Or just confusing?  Both?
The Quicken FBAR report did a good job showing the maximum value in foreign currency for each bank account for 2020, exported to an .xlsx; and the 31/12/2020 forex rate was easily applied with minimal angst.

But the share accounts - nothing but zeros. Not even what @kingmm01 sees.  I update the prices once per week, record dividends, and so on, and quicken can show net worth and various account reports, but the FBAR, nada.

Quicken is not the only company that has major fails with simple 'foreign' stuff.  There are still some Americans who don't believe we (expats as well as locals) live in houses not trees, wear clothes and cook food, and they seem to be in management as often as not.

Terry Locke · Answer

@kingmm01 "unless it's a simple bank account"  It does not even work for a simple bank account as it only reports the value at a specific date and only in the foreign currency not in US dollars.  I know this as I have several accounts in foreign countries with cash in them and when I run the report it always comes up with a total in that countries currency.

Basically this FBAR report is worse than useless it is dangerous because of it's flaws.  Quicken should be held liable should anyone run into problems using the results to file their FBAR.

I'm tired of Quicken half assing it with their software.

kingmm01 · Answer

The report ignores the market value of securities in a foreign account so it's pretty worthless as written unless it's a simple bank account.  I work for a foreign company and own stock which is traded outside the US.  Quicken's FBAR report shows the highest balance as the day dividends posted and only shows that cash in my account.  I have filed an FBAR for years....and will keep doing it with the data provided by the Foreign Brokerage Company.