Quicken account balances are very different than from my bank

nancy@

I was hoping to get back to @Tom Young who has been very helpful…but the discussion has been closed.

So, any help would be appreciated.

My bank balances are way off of what Quicken shows for one bank. This is our primary bank through which we run our checking account, etc. The other bank balances are fine.

I just saw a feature called Tracking Method that might well help.

I really don't need Quicken to keep track of investment details. Security purchases, sales, etc. We count on the bank's info at the end of the year for information needed for the investment part of income taxes….tax forms etc. All we really care about (I think) is our account balances being semi correct.

I do want Quicken to keep track of checks/payments we make to folks…deposits we make, say from refunds, etc. The details that we budget, etc. eg the check register. I certainly do not want to mess this up.

so, I tripped onto the Tracking Method option under Holdings in the investment account area.

It says we have two options.

First is "complete Investing" which I have checked. Says it gives complete details.

Second is "Simple Investing"….tracks balances but no investment register.

This seems like just what I need. But, I would like someone smarter than me about Quicken to advise me on this.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Chuck Buck

Jim_Harman

If the problem is with a banking account and not an investing account, then changing an investing account to Simple mode will not resolve your problem.

A banking account will be listed in the Banking section of the Account Bar (usually on the left side of your screen) and will NOT have a name like "XXXXX-Cash" where XXXXX is one of your brokerage accounts.

Tom Young

The difference between "Simple" and "Complete" tracking is explained here:

https://help.quicken.com/display/MAC/About%2BSimple%2BTracking

and this is the warning you get if changing from Complete to Simple:

This option really is aimed at people who don't want to see complete details of transactions and/or their security positions. I don't think this will be very helpful if the problem is "cash" related, but you can try it and see.

nancy@

I have pursued this before here, but that discussion has been discontinued.

The balances are way off for the bank with which I do my checking, etc. Other banks balance fine. Thanks to folks here in this forum I have tried many solutions. But, without success.

I really don't use, or need, the details of investment transactions (buy, sell equities, etc) I use the bank's year end statements for tax purposes. All I need is that the balances are correct….for use in lifetime planning etc.

I very much do need the details in the check register. We budget transaction, etc.

I have just discovered a possible solution that I want to check out before proceeding.

Under Investment Accts>See Acct Details>Tracking Method

2 options are presented

First, which I have checked…..is complete Investing—-"full details"

Second, is "simple investing"—-tracks balances but no investment register

To myself, as a novice, this seems like the answer to my situation. But, I am afraid to try it without one of you experts confirming that this is a likely solution that won't mess up my ability to record and budget checking and other payment/deposit tracking that we do in our checking account.

So, I'll certainly appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Chuck Buck

nancy@

There are two "linked" accounts from the same bank. In the banking section one is labeled xxxxxx-cash the other is xxxxx. All of the incorrect balances are these two accounts for this bank I have other investment-only accounts for this bank that work fine.

For the xxxxxx-cash account…..the cash balance is quite close but the Investment portion is way short of actual in the bank.

For the xxxx account…this is our checking account…the Quicken total of cash and investment is way short. and, cash (in bank section) is way short….and the Q investment total is high compared to the banks total for equities……

Does this help???

Thanks Chuck

NotACPA

Can you narrow down the discrepancy to a particular security? Is the number of shares incorrect? How about the quote?

Do you download into the investment account, which (because you seem to be using a Linked Cash Account) will automatically transfer the cash txn to the linked account?

When did you last reconcile the cash account?

q_lurker

There are two "linked" accounts from the same bank. In the banking section one is labeled xxxxxx-cash the other is xxxxx. 

With respect to Quicken terminology, that is one linked account and one independent account. The xxxxxx-cash account only exists in your file because at some time in the associated xxxxxx (6x) investment account details, you chose to “Show cash in a checking account”. That choice created a linked account int the checking area for all cash transactions within the xxxxxx (6x) investment account. When the investment account downloads a “check” transaction, Quicken moves that to the linked xxxxxx-cash account even though it truly took place in the investment account.

The other xxxxx (5x) account is not so linked to an investment account. You stated that too appeared in the ‘Banking’ set of Quicken accounts. It exists as its own separate account and as a separate download connection to a more true checking account at your financial institution. That account (in Quicken) cannot hold any securities. So when you state:

For the xxxx account…this is our checking account…the Quicken total of cash and investment is way short. and, cash (in bank section) is way short….and the Q investment total is high

I can’t figure out what you mean. Please clarify.

Doug Duncan

My experience has been the same with my banking account. The discrepancy I see is because of outstanding entries that have not cleared yet and have not been reconciled. The bank account knows nothing about them until they clear.

nancy@

Thanks to all of you for your advice. Let me try to answer your questions….in the hopes of helping. To make things more simple, I hope, let's start with the xxxxxx-cash account.

In the Investment portion the option is checked to "show cash in the checking account". Then I took a look at balances of the holdings in Q and the bank.

Cash…is equal (comparing the bank with the number in the Q Banking section)

Equities —are equal

US Treas…—-are equal

Investment section for Q shows a large cash negative market value. This accounts for the entire mismatch in Q versus the bank for this account.

We don't use this account as a checking account. Not sure why we set it up this way in the first place. Of course, we buy/sell/ transfer in and out….but don't see any value in having all the "price adjustments" in the register —as an example.

So, as a novice at this, here is what seems like a possible approach for this account

Uncheck the "show cash in the checking account"

Switch the Tracking Method to Simple (presumably that would get rid of the incorrect negative balance and maintain correct balances going forward………??)

Does this make sense for this account? Any better ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks much Chuck Buck

—-I'll take a look at the other account next

volvogirl

This may be way off base but I'm getting the feeling when you say account you might mean data file? Are all your accounts in the same data file and listed in the account bar down the side? Or how do you switch between accounts? Do you go up to File-Open.

Ps56k2

So - you have an Investment Account at some un-named brokerage/bank - and it is listed in the Quicken Accounts Investments ?
…
Within this Quicken defined Investment Account, you have [x] "Show cash in a checking account" -
and that linked checking account is listed in the Quicken Banking accounts -
This "account" does not really exist,
it is merely Quicken taking all the "cash" transactions and splitting them off into a virtual account.
These would be Buy, Sell, Divs, Interest, etc -

If you click on the Investment Account - and then click on Holdings - and scroll down…
you will see the Account Status balances….. from Quicken's point of view -

nancy@

Are all your accounts in the same data file and listed in the account bar down the side? yes….all bank accounts are listed…from one file

ps56k2 yes, I understand this…..my problem is that the bank balances are not the same as the Quicken balances……see earlier posts

Thanks for your taking a look at my issues….much appreciated

Tom Young

This, for me, is still woefully unclear and a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

It would be immensely useful to see what you're actually seeing in your Accounts with suitable redactions that identify you personally.

But you seem to suggest here that in the REAL WORLD there really is no separate cash account associated with the investment account and if that's the case then unchecking that "separate account" option in Quicken should bring all the cash in that separate account back into the investment account and that might help clear things up. Make a backup before doing so of course.

Ps56k2

lastly - take a look at the Opening Balance of the account and make sure Quicken has not randomly changed it

nancy@

Per a suggestion here….I analyzed the holding in the troublesome account….comparing the holdings in the bank's site versus those shown in Quicken. I found two basic issues. Some of the bank's propriatory investment vehicles are not captured by Quicken. I am going to talk with the bank about this.

But, in general specific equity and cash holding were equal. But, a large difference was in the cash balance in the investment portion. So, I just went in and adjusted the cash balances…..worked great.

so, most of the problem is fixed.

thanks to all of you for your probing questions which guided my investigation.

😀

Ps56k2

Some of the bank's proprietary investment vehicles are not captured by Quicken.

just to clarify - Quicken only captures and enters transactions that are sent or made avail from the bank - no arm twisting -
If they are not sent or made avail - then Quicken has no knowledge they even exist -

NotACPA

"Are not captured by Quicken" … does that mean that you never created the security in Q?

And, could that cash have been, in real life, used to purchase those proprietary securities?