Matching Securities Using CUSIP Numbers

SAF56

Is there any way to set the Matching Securities function so that it works off of CUSIP numbers rather than names? The matching is often terrible, such as suggesting "CA" and "Cantaloupe" are the same company. And, on options, the logic ignores differences in exercise prices and expiration dates.

NotACPA

Matching doesn't work off of names. None of my securities bear their "official" names. For example "Fidelity Equity-Income Fund" is recorded in my file as just "Equity Income" … and it downloads just fine.

It's the symbol that's used for the match … so make sure that you've got them correct and the securities are "Matched with online security"

SAF56

Thanks, but when Quicken suggests that a stock with the symbol CWH may be the same as the stock with the symbol CA, it doesn't appear that it's using symbols as the matching device.

Jim_Harman

When you manually set up a security in Quicken, it gets a name and perhaps a ticker symbol but not a CUSIP number. Its Matched to online security box will not be checked.

Downloaded investing transactions include a security name and a CUSIP ID. If the CUSIP ID matches the ID of an existing security, Quicken records the transaction for that security. If no matching security is found, Quicken compares the name to the securities in your file that don't have the Matched to online box checked and proposes a match based on the name. This is just a guess; it is your responsibility to confirm that the match is correct, select a different security, or create a new one. When you confirm the match, it marks the security as Matched to online and records the CUSIP ID. It uses this ID for future downloads.

This process is what lets different FIs use different variations on security names and lets you give the securities in your file names that are convenient and meaningful to you rather than the downloaded name.

Ticker symbols are only used by Quicken's quote provider to provide updated prices and quote information, not for matching to downloaded transactions.

SAF56

Thanks for the explanation. It would be helpful, however, if there was a way to toggle off the matching process you describe and automatically post as a new security a downloaded security with a CUSIP number not already in the investment portfolio. As I noted above, the Quicken matching process appears to be very primitive and seeks to match numerous securities where the names aren't really similar or where derivatives have different terms (e.g. strike prices and expiration dates) in their names.