How do I repair math error in one column of my portfolio report?

Bak1946

Gain/loss 12 month column addition is incorrect. I have checked online conversations and don't see anything that applies to my situation. Am running Windows 10 and Quicken Premier which automatically updates.

Frankx

Hi @Bak1946

The attachment you posted isn't very clear, and even if it were it likely wouldn't really help us to determine what the problem is.

If you could tell us what is incorrect in the report - in as much specific detail as possible - that will be helpful.  One thing to keep in mind is that the "12 month" column is going to show the last 12 month period - so if you run that today it shows the time frame of 10/02/2020 to 10/3/2021.  That isn't the same as a year to date report for the year 2021, but a lot a folks get confused by that.

Get back to us and we'll go from there.

Frankx

Jim_Harman

Is it the total at the bottom that is wrong, or the individual numbers? Your screenshot just shows some of the numbers in the column, not the total. 

If you customize the view so just a few securities are included, it would be easier to see what is going on.

Jim_Harman

I grouped a Portfolio view by accounts and just selected a few individual accounts one at a time. The Gain/loss 12 mo column added up correctly except in an account where I have a security that I bought during the year. In that case there was an N/A for that security but its gain was apparently included in the account total.

This sort of makes sense - the 12 mo gain/loss is not meaningful if you did not hold the security at the start of the period because the starting value is zero, but the Gain/loss can be calculated at the account level.

I see you have some N/As as well; that may explain what you are seeing.

Bak1946

I have been using Quicken since 1997 and have never run into this before.

The only column that does not add correctly is the Gain/Loss 12 months. I have several trades over the years and have never had this happen. Every other column adds correctly.

To complicate matters, I have two separate investment accounts and only one has the error in the Gain/Loss column. The other account is correct.

The column is off by $2323.80 - which using the method of cancelling 9's you would think it was a transposition - but I have checked that several time.

Jim_Harman

In your screenshot there were 3 N/As. Is that the column that is adding incorrectly? If so please see my comment above.

Frankx

Hi @Bak 1946,

I would love to try and help you, but the screen shot you posted is so distorted, that I don't believe anyone can make heads nor tails out of it.

There is absolutely no way for me to even guess whether that "The column is off by $2323.80" - as you've said.  If you give us more to go on, maybe we can sort this out, otherwise folks are only throwing darts with a blindfold on.

Frankx 

Bak1946

Will try to provide more information.
Running Windows 10 on HP laptop
Using Quicken Premier
Have been using Quicken since 1997.
Report columns - Stock, Shares, Market Value, Cost Basis, Gain/Loss 3 Months, Gain/Loss 12 Months, Gain/Loss.
Columns 3, 4, 5 & 7 add up correctly. The only column that does not add correctly is Column 6 - Gain/Loss 12 months.
Is there a way to attach my report better than the screen shot - will gladly do it as I can easily hide all personal information?

Jim_Harman

You can use the Windows Snipping tool - enter Snip in the Windows Search bar, pick New Snip, and drag your cursor over just the area you want to include.

The problem with the screenshot you attached in your post of 10/3 was that it did not include the column header or the total at the bottom, so it is impossible to see the problem.

Did you read my post of 10/3 and the follow-up of 10/7? Do you have N/As in the problem column? That would explain why the numbers don't add up.

Bak1946

Attached is a Snip shot. Hope this works better. Yes there are N/A's - in the column but I have three accounts with N/A's in the same column in all three accounts and this is the only one that does not add.

Jim_Harman

[corrected]
I hate to be picky, but your snip still does not show the total at the bottom that you say is wrong. Please group your view by account so we can see the totals for each account. You can black out the account names if you want.

I see you have grouped by account and the account gain/loss totals are at the top.

Your Gain/Loss 3-month column does not have any NA's. Does that add up correctly?

In your Gain/loss 12-month column, there are 3 N/A's. What value are you assuming for them when you add up the column? If there have been no sales in these securities, I would guess the numbers should be the difference between the market value and the cost basis:

Viatris        1035.44
Organon      262,12
Citigroup -3335.10

total        -2037.54

Is that the same as the discrepancy you are seeing?

Bak1946

Sorry - the totals are at the top -

Bak1946

Hopefully this gives you the second account. My internet is dropping in and out - apologies. Will try to add Snip of third Account

Bak1946

The difference is $2,323.80. Close but no. I tried that too.

Jim_Harman

Sorry, your latest post overlapped with my correction. 

When I add up the Gain/Loss 12-month column in your second account, it appears to add up correctly despite the N/A's, so that is at odds with my explanation.

Maybe someone else has an idea what is wrong with your first account.

Jim_Harman

I also see that when I group by account (different from the experiment I did before), the totals add up despite N/As. 

Do you have Placeholders or other odd transactions in the problem account? 

You may be able to find the problem by changing the As of date in the portfolio view. If you set it to 5/31/22, the Gain/Loss 12-months column will calculate starting on 6/1/21. If you find a date when the total is correct, the problem must be more than 12 months before that date..

But first I would do a File > Validate and Repair to see if that fixes your problem.

Bak1946

Thanks for your attempts. I had tried validate and repair and there were no place markers.
I guess I will have to work with it until it hits more than 12 month.

Jim_Harman

As I said before, you can set the As of date ahead until the problem goes away. Then you will know the problem occurred 12 months before that and you can figure it out and fix it.

Frankx

Hi @Bak1946.

My understanding/experience (and it is ONLY my understanding/experience) is that when there are certain types of transactions that occur involving securities, such as acquisitions, or mergers, or other similar transactions, - that Quicken does not calculate the gains/losses for periods within which those transactions have occurred.  I don't have any explanation or rationale about why it doesn't make such calculations, but I suspect that it doesn't have enough data, or it's calculation methodology is not sophisticated enough to look for and obtain the required data, to make those calculations.

I know that this doesn't clearly answer your question - and perhaps someone else more familiar with the inner workings of the application may still weigh in on this - but I have seen this happen within those unusual time frames in the past, and have accepted them as the limitations of a generic application.

Sorry I cannot be more precise in my response to your question.

Frankx

Bak1946

Thank you one and all for your input. I will keep playing with this and see what will happen at the end of 12 months.