New shares not recorded

Michael Spiegelman

Why is it that when I enter a reinvested dividend or capital gain the number of new shares does not get recorded? The saved transaction shows 0 shares. When I go back in to edit the transaction and reenter the number of shares, it gets recorded. This happens consistently.

jacobs

Hmm, I've never seen this. I record my transactions manually, and they all work as expected. I can't think of what would cause what you're describing. 

Could you maybe post a screen shot of a new transaction you're entering, just before you click Save. 

JamesDM

This is happening for me too. I type in a specific number of shares, hit enter, and the number is recorded as zero. If I reopen the transaction and type in the number again, it works. Very annoying. I think this only started with the latest update (I am using 6.5.1 on MacOS 10.14.6).

I thought initially this was happening when I used the calculator, but it also happens when I simply type in the number of shares.

Very annoying!!!!

Jim

JamesDM

Here are some screen shots:

Quicken Jared

Michael Spiegelman said:

Why is it that when I enter a reinvested dividend or capital gain the number of new shares does not get recorded? The saved transaction shows 0 shares. When I go back in to edit the transaction and reenter the number of shares, it gets recorded. This happens consistently.

Hello @Michael Spiegelman,    

I apologize for any distress these issues may have caused, and I thank you for communicating with us here with respect to this problem.

Have you noticed this problem across all of your accounts? When did this issue begin?

I look forward to your reply.

Thanks,

Quicken Jared 

lhossus

I am unable to reproduce this behavior. I have several investment accounts where I enter reinvested dividends manually, and I do not see Quicken recording 0 shares.

However, I did observe that Quicken will record 0 shares if I enter a Reinvest Dividend and fail to enter a security name. This was a bit of a surprise and got me thinking.

I don't think you are doing this, right?

I ask this for several reasons:

1a) I notice in @JamesDM screenshot, the in-register transaction with 0 shares also does not have a security name. How did that happen?

1b) The security name entered was Contrafund. This is not the "standard" name for this security (Fidelity Contrafund Fund FCNTX), so I am wondering if there is something funny with this security in your Quicken data file. Is it perhaps an entirely manually created security, with no public Symbol?

2) I am wondering what EXACT sequence of keystrokes you are entering to get to the 0 shares result. Perhaps there is another sequence that also leads to the 0 shares result (that is more subtle than my sledgehammer approach of leaving out the security name.)

Just winging it here - hoping to get some insight into the issue.

Michael Spiegelman

This problem happens consistently will all the funds I've tried to reinvest a dividend or capital gain, and I do have a security name entered. This started happening after one of the recent releases. Not sure exactly which one. Before that, it was never a problem.

Quicken Jared

Michael Spiegelman said:

This problem happens consistently will all the funds I've tried to reinvest a dividend or capital gain, and I do have a security name entered. This started happening after one of the recent releases. Not sure exactly which one. Before that, it was never a problem.

Hello @Michael Spiegelman,

Thank you for keeping in contact with us about this issue. Do you operate any Charles Schwab accounts in this data file? I am curious to know about this before I mention any additional ideas.

I look forward to continuing to work with you on this.

Thanks,

Quicken Jared 

Michael Spiegelman

I have some funds through T.D.Ameritrade, which was recently acquired by Charles Schwab, but I haven’t reinvested these funds. The problem occurs when I reinvest my other funds.

Quicken Jared

Michael Spiegelman said:

I have some funds through T.D.Ameritrade, which was recently acquired by Charles Schwab, but I haven’t reinvested these funds. The problem occurs when I reinvest my other funds.

@Michael Spiegelman,

Thank you for checking back in to clarify the issue and answer my questions. I had forgotten to ask earlier: what instance are you connecting to the TD Ameritrade accounts with when you try to link them?

I look forward to your answer and will try to follow up as often as possible. 

Thanks,

Quicken Jared 

Michael Spiegelman

Not sure I understand what you are asking. The funds in question are with my independent financial advisor which are serviced through T.D Ameritrade.

Quicken Jared

Michael Spiegelman said:

Not sure I understand what you are asking. The funds in question are with my independent financial advisor which are serviced through T.D Ameritrade.

@Michael Spiegelman,

I apologize for any confusion. What I am wanting to know is what specific option you are selecting in the bank list when you try to connect your account to online banking services in Quicken? Is it 'TD Ameritrade 401k' or 'TD Ameritrade Retd', etc? I am wondering what you see when you try to link or add the account.

I hope to work on this with you further. 

Thanks,

Quicken Jared 

Michael Spiegelman

I’m not using any banking services on Quicken. I only use the “investment” option in the app.—add shares, remove shares, and reinvest dividends and capital gains. Mostly reinvest. When I reinvest, the shares do not get recorded until I edit the transaction afterward.

Quicken Jared

Michael Spiegelman said:

I’m not using any banking services on Quicken. I only use the “investment” option in the app.—add shares, remove shares, and reinvest dividends and capital gains. Mostly reinvest. When I reinvest, the shares do not get recorded until I edit the transaction afterward.

@Michael Spiegelman,

I appreciate that you are continuing to keep in touch with me about this.

Let's go about this a different way. When you go into Accounts > Settings > Downloads in the upper menu at the top of the screen with the TD Ameritrade investment selected in Quicken, do you see your account information, or does it say Connect Account?

I just want to confirm something before I recommend any additional troubleshooting steps. I do wish to continue working with you in resolving this issue if you have the chance to check back in with the Quicken Community. 

Thanks,

Quicken Jared 

dsavitz

I am having the exact same issue. It's only with manual entry of dividends, short and long term capital gains. It is not an issue with manually entering sales or purchases. When I enter a second time, it works. Kind of a hassle. I do not connect to any of my financial accounts online as I prefer to manually enter my transactions.

jacobs

dsavitz said:

I am having the exact same issue. It's only with manual entry of dividends, short and long term capital gains. It is not an issue with manually entering sales or purchases. When I enter a second time, it works. Kind of a hassle. I do not connect to any of my financial accounts online as I prefer to manually enter my transactions.

@dsavitz I continue to be puzzled about this, because I also do my transactions manually, and I recently entered all my 4th quarter dividend and capital gains transactions, both paid and reinvested, without experiencing this once. I'm stumped about what could be different. Could you walk through your entry of one such Dividend transaction and describe what you do field by field (e.g. enter that date, tab to Type, select Dividend from the pop-up list, tab three times to get to the security field, enter XYZABC, tab, enter amount 1000, tab, etc.). I'm thinking there must be some sequence that causes what you and @Michael Spiegelman have described which is different in some way from the way I'm entering my transactions. 

dsavitz

> @jacobs said:
> @dsavitz I continue to be puzzled about this, because I also do my transactions manually, and I recently entered all my 4th quarter dividend and capital gains transactions, both paid and reinvested, without experiencing this once. I'm stumped about what could be different. Could you walk through your entry of one such Dividend transaction and describe what you do field by field (e.g. enter that date, tab to Type, select Dividend from the pop-up list, tab three times to get to the security field, enter XYZABC, tab, enter amount 1000, tab, etc.). I'm thinking there must be some sequence that causes what you and @"Michael Spiegelman" have described which is different in some way from the way I'm entering my transactions. 

An example would be T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth mutual fund. I select new transaction, enter the date and then select whatever the action would be - I'll use Reinvest Dividend for this example. In the T. Rowe Blue Chip Growth window, I enter T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth as the Security, enter the dividend amount ($100) and then enter number of shares (2). The price per share auto enters ($50) and total cost is auto entered ($100) - all other entries are blank. I then press save. When looking at the transaction list, it now shows 0 shares but the investment amount is $100. When I edit the transaction to re-enter the number of shares (2) and then press save, the transaction now updates the "shares @ price" (2 shares @ $50). This is a new issue for me since 1/1/2022. I was not having this problem before then and I have not changed any manner or method of data entry.

Michael Spiegelman

The sequence as outlined by @jacobs is exactly the same as I use.

jacobs

@Michael Spiegelman  @dsavitz  This continues to be strange. All three of us are seemingly doing the same thing, but it's working as expected for me but not the two of you.  Although this seems like an unlikely culprit: what version of macOS are you running? I'm still on Mojave.

lhossus

Grasping at straws here:

Try reviewing the Quicken Preferences for any setting that 
- might in ANY way affect entries into the transaction form.
- might be different that how other users or mainstream users have set them.

Consider changing any questionable settings, and then try again to enter a transaction. Does this issue go away?

You might also review macOS Preferences settings with the same considerations in mind. For example, there have been some Quicken difficulties arising around Language & Region settings. But consider any and all settings that might in any way impact what Quicken sees as input.

As I said, grasping at straws.

Another idea:

Goal: test for this problem in a vanilla configuration of user account and Quicken account.

1. Set up a new user account on your Mac.
2. Then make a copy of your Quicken data file to be used in that new account.
    You might do this using Quicken's File > Save a Backup... into your Shared folder.
    Or you could use an external drive.
3. Now log in to the new user account.
    Fast user switching is useful here so you don't have to sign out of your regular account.
4. Go to the Shared folder for your regular account (in Finder: Go > Computer, then open your boot drive, open Users, select the regular user account, open Shared)
5. Double-click on the Quicken data file backup that you made in step 2 - which should launch Quicken.
6. Follow the instructions for setting up Quicken - Quicken will refuse to load the data file until you have entered your Quicken ID.
7. Double-click on the Quicken data file backup that you made in step 2 (again) - which should load the data file.

Now enter a transaction to try to reproduce the problem.

Note: don't sync your Quicken data file copy with the Quicken cloud, or download transactions. This is just to avoid confusing the Quicken cloud. If Quicken in your regular user account does get confused after this experiment, then you will have to go to Quicken Preferences > Connected Services > Cloud Account: Reset

dsavitz

I am running Monterey 12.1 and Quicken Version 6.5.1 (Build 605.42638.100)

Michael Spiegelman

I’m using Mac version 12.0.1. Quicken Deluxe version, build same as @dsavitz.

jacobs

Hmmm, I'm beginning to think this could be a bug for Monterey users, even though I can't imagine why the OS would affect the data entry on this particular screen. I don't have a Mac running Monterey to test this on.

lhossus

jacobs said:

Hmmm, I'm beginning to think this could be a bug for Monterey users, even though I can't imagine why the OS would affect the data entry on this particular screen. I don't have a Mac running Monterey to test this on.

I am running Monterey v12.1

I have tried to reproduce the problem, with no success.

dsavitz

My last Monterey update was 12/16/21. This was not an issue for me until last week so I do not think Monterey is the issue.

jacobs

dsavitz said:

My last Monterey update was 12/16/21. This was not an issue for me until last week so I do not think Monterey is the issue.

Okay, well, there wasn't any update to Quicken Mac last week, either. So if it's not the version of macOS, and we're all using the same 6.5.1 version of Quicken, it comes back to what can be different among us? I think the suggestion from @lhossus to try a new test file is probably next on the troubleshooting checklist.

That is, go to File > New to create a test file. Create a brokerage account (manual, not connected to any financial institution for downloads), and create a security. Try entering a dividend or capital gain transaction to see if you get the zero shares entry. The suggestion was to try this in a separate/new user account on your Mac, but I think you could try it in your current account to start. If the problem recurs, then try it again in a different or temporary user account. 

It occurs to me I've never asked if you have checked in your account register if there are any placeholder transactions. These are gray transactions, with Placeholder in the Memo field, and typically at the very beginning of time for the account. Quicken creates placeholder transactions when what is reported from a financial institution doesn't match what's recorded in Quicken, and it has to create a transaction for the difference. In investment accounts, these transactions don't have a cost basis, which can cause some other oddities. So... any placeholder transactions? 

And along with that: is the brokerage account connected to a financial institution for downloads, or has it ever been? Or do you enter everything manually?