Problem with Account Balances Report - weird cash balance in brokerage account

Randyrama

When I run the Account Balances Report (Reports/Net Worth & Balances/Account Balances) for the past 12 months, it is showing a negative balance for my non-retirement brokerage account. If I drill down on it I can see it is showing a large negative cash balance. When I look at the account register itself, it shows there was a cash balance of around $6K, but the report shows a negative cash balance of $56K. I am on Quicken Premier for Windows R53.32 Build 27.1.53.32. That discrpency carries through the entire year, and even though the balance is exactly what it should be on the account itself, the report is off by over $50K. Anybody have any ideas on what might be happening here and how to correct or work around it? I tried searching but didn't find this particular issue out there….thanks!

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

Since the account and what shows on the report aren't matching, I would recommend checking for file specific issues. I suggest that you try validating and/or super validating your data file.  Please save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Validate: 

1. File
2. Validate and Repair File...
3. Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

If the issue persists, proceed to Super Validate. If the issue is resolved after performing validation, then please disregard the instructions to Super Validate.

Super Validate:

1. File
2. Hold CTRL + Shift and click Validate and Repair File...
3. Super Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.   

Please let me know how it goes!

Quicken Kristina

Hello @Randyrama,

To look into this issue further, could you please provide additional information? When did you first notice this issue? Do you have the brokerage account set to display the cash balance as a linked cash account, or are the cash transactions reflecting in the brokerage investment account? Is that incorrect cash balance reflecting in any other report(s)?

I look forward to your response!

Randyrama

Hi Kristina! The cash balance is within the brokerage account. It is all swept into a core money market fund and I enter transactions to buy/sell from the core money market as cash flows out or in. I just noticed it lately, but it has likely been happening quite some time. Are there any other reports you would suggest checking to see if it is happening there? I have really only found the Account Balances Report that shows this information, at least in this way. If you have other reports I can check just let me know and I will be happy to check them out. Thank you very much for your help!

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

From what you describe, it's possible that Quicken thinks you have a negative cash balance in that account due to the cash all flowing through the money market account. When you said the balance is correct, are you referring to the market value? Is it seeing the correct cash balance in the account, when you look at the investment account itself? Does Quicken see the core money market as "cash" or does it see it as another security? How do the transactions reflect when there's a buy/sell transaction (for instance, for a buy, does it show a sell in the money market first to free up the funds, or does it just treat the money market as cash and not show any money market transaction)?

I look forward to your reply!

Randyrama

Hi Kristina,

Please see the screenshots above. The top shows the cash balance in December 2022/January 2023. Technically, that should be zero, but at the time I wasn't really showing all of the transactions to go through the money market. I started doing that more carefully in 2023. Unfortunately, I see that this is showing account value vs. cash amount…but since the problem extends to today I am also going to add screenshots of the current value from the account and from the report below:

Account:

Report (you can see the Fidelity account in question is still highlighted):

I hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any further information I can supply.

Thanks,

Randy

Randyrama

Hello again…I just realized I could go into holdings on the account and get the account value on a particular date, so here is that page for 1/7/2023, showing the account value was > $62K, not negative.

Thanks!

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

Since the account and what shows on the report aren't matching, I would recommend checking for file specific issues. I suggest that you try validating and/or super validating your data file.  Please save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Validate: 

1. File
2. Validate and Repair File...
3. Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

If the issue persists, proceed to Super Validate. If the issue is resolved after performing validation, then please disregard the instructions to Super Validate.

Super Validate:

1. File
2. Hold CTRL + Shift and click Validate and Repair File...
3. Super Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.   

Please let me know how it goes!

Randyrama

Hi again,
The Validate worked! I didn't have to try the Super Validate. I have had to do this in the past…I should have tried it before contacting you. Do you think there is any value in going ahead and doing the Super Validate? If not, I will stop there. I just thought it was worth asking. For the record, my data goes back to 1993….so it isn't a small file. Thank you very much for all your help!!!

Jim_Harman

It's good to hear that fixed it. Did the Validate report any errors you have not seen before?

In general a Super Validate does not cause nay problems, but you should be sure to back up your file first, just in case.

Randyrama

I am not sure regarding the errors. I will have to go to my old desktop and find the data log file there to see if the ones that popped up my laptop were new or not. I used to use the PC for everything personal until I bought this laptop when I retired. I will take a look. Thanks!

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

I'm glad to hear the Validate worked. As @Jim_Harman said, a Super Validate shouldn't do any harm, but if you choose to do it, make sure you backup your Quicken file first.

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out!

Chris_QPW

For what it is worth, both Validate and Super Validate both make a backup copy of your data file in a sub folder of VALIDATE before doing the validate (but it does overwrite an existing copy in that folder).