How can I prevent Quicken double counting investment account cash balances?

Question

When downloading from my Merrill Lynch Investment accounts, Quicken pulls the full value of the account (investment/stock value + cash balance), and then adds the cash balance on top of the amount to give me the total value of my account.  The cash balance has been counted twice.  Example:  actual value of account X = $150 ($100 investments/stocks + $50 cash balance)...Quicken download value of account X = $200 [($100 investments/stocks + $50 cash balance) + $50 cash balance].

Frankx · Answer

Hi @Clarance T Bishop,

Another request for info (in addition to the 2 above posts) which connection method do you use to download data from this account, and is this a broker type account or a employer retirement plan type account?

Frankx

Boatnmaniac · Answer

Do you have a Paycheck Reminder set up with an employee 401k contribution deduction and/or employer contribution itemized in it?  The default for this will add cash to the 401k account.  But if the brokerage then downloads securities transactions as BoughtX or Shares Added that cash will not be decremented causing the total account balance to be overstated by the amount of that Paycheck Reminder deposited cash balance.EDIT...additional comment:  Let me know if this is what is causing the issue for you.  I can walk you through a couple of workarounds that can resolve the issue for you.

Chris_QPW · Answer

Are you using Simple investing mode?

If so, this might be the same thing that is happening to others as discussed in this thread:
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7908226/why-is-the-401k-entry-doubled