Cash Sweep Mangles Reconciled Transactions

LarryC

In a brokerage account, I elected to sweep my cash into a money fund. Quicken asked if I wanted to track the fund as cash (recommended) or a separately managed security. I chose the recommended action. When I reconciled the account the cash holdings were off by several hundred dollars. But more concerning, the cash holdings for many years prior were changed. Reconciled balances were now hundreds of dollars different. I checked a backup to ensure the balances were correct in the past and now changed. How is it possible for Quicken to make changes to historical reconciled transactions without any approval or confirmation?

Quicken Kristina

Hello @LarryC,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and telling us about this issue.  I'm sorry to hear you're running into this problem. To clarify, did you separate cash transactions into a cash account in Quicken (linked to the investment account, but displaying in its own, separate register), or is it tracked as cash in the investment account register? Is this affecting just one account, or multiple accounts? In the restored file, did you go through the same process and see if the issue happens there also? Do you keep your Quicken file on your C drive, or on a shared network drive? Is it synced with any cloud services, such as One Drive or Dropbox (you will usually see the service name in the file location if the file is synced). The simplest way to check your file location, if you are in Quicken with your file open, is click on File, and near the bottom of the list, just above Exit, it will list the file locations for the 4 most recent Quicken files you have accessed, with the one you are currently in at the #1 spot.

Thank you.

LarryC

Answers to your questions:

Did you separate cash transactions into a cash account in Quicken? No

Is it tracked as cash in the investment account register? Yes

Is this affecting just one account, or multiple accounts? One Account

In the restored file, did you go through the same process and see if the issue happens there also? No

Do you keep your Quicken file on your C drive, or on a shared network drive? C Drive

Is it synced with any cloud services, such as One Drive or Dropbox? No

In short, when I synced my account the software mangled reconciled cash transactions stretching back for years.

I have posted a transaction to reconcile my cash balance, but I am worried about the damage that has been done to my records.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your response,

Just to clarify, in your original post, you said the issue started when you followed the Quicken recommended action of tracking as cash, but in your response, you said the software mangled your transactions when you synced your account. Did this happen when you synced with the Quicken cloud, or when you were syncing with something else? Was it the restored file that got re-mangled by the sync, or is the sync what caused the initial issue in the original file?

Thank you.

LarryC

Quicken presents the options to (1) track as cash (recommended) or (2) maintain as a separate security during synchronization. It was at that point when I chose "track as cash" when previously reconciled transactions were altered by the software. The problem presented as I performed a "One Step Update" which includes a sync with the Quicken Cloud. Also, there was no restored file. I have been using the same QData.QDF the whole time.

Right now, I have entered a cash XLN transaction for 178.20 on 3/30/2009 which is the point in the register where the erroneous deviation started. With that XLN in place, all the subsequent reconciliation values once again track to my brokerage statements. I cannot identify exactly what the software altered, but this "bandaid" brings the account back into balance.

There should be no circumstance when the software changes what has been reconciled. Reconciled transactions ought to be treated as carved into stone. If the software cannot perform a requested action without resorting to such alterations, a dialog box needs to ask the user if this is what should happen.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your response,

I'm glad you found a solution that works for you. Based on what you clarified, it sounds like what happened was normal function. When you opt to have Quicken track a security as cash, it will make that change for all references to that security, which would include any references that had already been reconciled.

Thank you.