Recording cash transactions in a brokerage account

Question

My brokerage account puts my cash in a money market fund. Quicken sees the cash money market fund and lists it as one of my holdings.  However, it doesn't seem to realize that this IS THE CASH in the account.  When I buy a new stock, it does not take this cash from the money market fund, and when I receive a dividend, it does not add this to the money market fund.  How do I get it to interpret this holding as "cash" in the sense that it will be spent when I make a purchase and will grow when I get dividends?

Rocket J Squirrel · Answer

Also make sure the new global preference not to interpret the MMF as cash is not checked.

Tom Young · Answer

Make a backup and try this:  Within the Account click on Update Cash Balance.  In the new window that comes up, see if there's a "Cash Representation" button and if there is, click that button and see if you can switch that MMF from a security to "cash."

Jim_Harman · Answer

Brokerages vary in how they handle cash downloads, and there are some options that control how they are displayed in Quicken.

When you transfer cash to the account, is a Buy for the money market fund downloaded? And when you buy a security, does it download s Sell for the money market fund along with the Buy?

If so, one thing you can do is enter a manual Sell transaction for the balance of the money market fund, then delete or not accept future downloaded money market transactions. When you receive a Reinvest for the money market dividends, record it as a Div, Then the money market balance will be shown as cash in Quicken.

If you share the name of the brokerage and the type of account (Taxable, IRA, 401(k) etc.), we may be able to provide more detailed instructions or a simpler way to track the cash.