Source of unexplained difference between a security holding and its cost basis

fergy1

In checking my Quicken entries against account statements I have an unexplained difference between the current value of the holding and its cost basis. Everything was fine up until my August statement. All values compared through the end of July 2021. August only had 4 transaction with this security. The values related to these four entries were checked;they agreed with the account statement. They were entered correctly. On the off chance that the values looked OK but were internally incorrect, I deleted all four entries and re-entered them. No change. Do things like this happen with Quicken, particularly as the data file for Quicken becomes larger. It's not apparent that this discrepancy can be overcome.

volvogirl

Have you checked the price history?  You might have a price for a date in the future or price that doesn't match.  Right click on the security and edit the price history to view the prices.

NotACPA

Is it the value of the security that differs?  Or the Cost Basis?  I'm not entirely sure what you're saying.

If it's the value, search the Price History for discrepancies.

If it's the Cost Basis, did you execute any sales in the account?  If so, did you instruct your broker as to  WHICH tax lots to sell.  If you didn't, they most likely sold on a FIFO basis.  Did you choose FIFO also?

fergy1

The cost basis for the fund matches the statement that I receive monthly. The current market value is off. This is a money market fund with a constant share value of $1.00 so the mismatch is not caused by an error in the value. I checked the historical entries for the fund back to August of 2020. The current market value of the fund matches the statements up to and including July 2021. The mismatch starts in August 2021. There are only 4 transactions in August; checked them for accuracy--they were entered correctly. On the off chance that one of these was damaged internally to Quicken, I deleted all 4 and re-entered them. No help there. I'm totally puzzled as to the source of this error.

NotACPA

Click on Investing, Portfolio and then RIGHT click on the name of the MMF and click Price History.  Are there any non-$1 quotes shown?  Either change then to $1, or delete them altogether.

Also, since my MMF's, like yours are a constant $1, I just don't bother to download quotes for them.

q_lurker

For a MM fund, the cost basis should always equal the market value —on each and every day. I would be walking the portfolio view through time to see where the divergence begins. 

volvogirl

Sounds like this other post.  He had to turn on Show Hidden Transactions.
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7900062/difference-between-the-amount-on-the-portfolio-page-and-the-balance-in-the-transaction-register#latest