Shortcomings/Bugs in Quicken (stock split issues) [edited]

GerryRoston

A stock that I owned recently split, Quicken recorded said split as a ratio, but then the number of shares in Quicken did not match the balance. Why? Because the number of shares that I had owned had a factional amount, Quicken did the split on the whole thing, but in reality, only the whole shares were split. It appears that these is no way to enter such a split into Quicken – shortcoming.

I then entered an ‘Adjust Share Balance’ entry into Quicken. However, once entered, the ‘transaction’ does not appear in the register, so I see the wrong number of shares; however, when I click on Holdings, it shows the right number. Bug.

Another bug. Just found an Add transaction when I looked at Holdings, but I do not see that transaction in the register and I have no way to edit it.

Tom Young

"A stock that I owned recently split, Quicken recorded said split as a ratio, but then the number of shares in Quicken did not match the balance. Why? Because the number of shares that I had owned had a factional amount,"

I find that very unlikely. Typically a split is calculated on all the shares you own, even fractional shares. However, and again typically, when the "new" shares to be issued is determined any fractional shares that are created as a result of the math (# of shares you own x split factor) are not issued. Instead, the fractional share you should have received is sold and you receive Cash in Lieu (CIL) as the proceeds of the sale. Accordingly the new number of all the shares you own is changed only by a "round" number of shares; if you owned a fraction of a share before the split that fractional number does not change.

"Quicken did the split on the whole thing but in reality, only the whole shares were split."

"By "the whole thing" I take that to mean "all the shares I owned, even the fractional share." And you're right, Quicken did make its calculation on all the shares you owned, as that's the normal process. But you didn't actually receive into your account any fractional share created by the split itself, so it can appear "as if" only the whole number of shares were used by the company in their calculation.

"It appears that these is no way to enter such a split into Quicken – shortcoming."

No, Quicken's calculation most likely reflected the reality of the split. What you need to do now is to "sell" the fraction of a share that you didn't actually receive, using the CIL as the proceeds of the sale and realizing a gain or loss on that sale. The resulting number of shares at that point should match the broker's number.

"I then entered an ‘Adjust Share Balance’ entry into Quicken. However, once entered, the ‘transaction’ does not appear in the register, so I see the wrong number of shares; however, when I click on Holdings, it shows the right number. Bug."

"Another bug. Just found an Add transaction when I looked at Holdings, but I do not see that transaction in the register and I have no way to edit it."

I don't understand those but see if deleting the entry you made to get rid of the "extra" fraction puts things to right.

Jim_Harman

I then entered an ‘Adjust Share Balance’ entry into Quicken. However, once entered, the ‘transaction’ does not appear in the register, so I see the wrong number of shares; however, when I click on Holdings, it shows the right number. Bug.

Another bug. Just found an Add transaction when I looked at Holdings, but I do not see that transaction in the register and I have no way to edit it.

If you hit the Enter Transactions button and selected "Adjust share balance" or selected AdjShBal in the Transaction List (Register), that created a Placeholder to correct the share balance. Sometimes Placeholders are not visible. To make them visible, go to Edit > Preferences > Investment and check the Show Hidden transactions box.

You can then delete the Placeholder, which will restore the fractional share from the split. You can then enter a Sold transaction for the partial share with the proceeds equal to the Cash in Lieu amount your should have received, as @Tom Young describes above.

Note that choosing "Update share balance" from the account's gear menu instead of "Adjust share balance" creates an Added or Removed transaction rather than a Placeholder.

I edited the title to clarify the issue.

GerryRoston

Tom: Good idea to take the split, then sell the difference. There was a small amount of cash added to the account and that is a perfect way to resolve the issue.

Jim: Thanks for pointing out that setting - I had missed that one.