Fidelity CMA as checking account vs brokerage

NitDawg

Fidelity has instructions on their website to do this, but I'm assuming this is for QWIN, not mac…is there a way to list this account in the checking bin sidebar?

Quicken® recognizes a Fidelity® Cash Management Account as a checking account when you follow these steps:

1. From the Main Menu in Quicken, choose Tools > Accounts List.
2. Select the investment account to which you'd like to add a linked checking account, then click the Edit button.
3. On the General Information tab on the Account Details window, choose "yes" to "Show cash in a checking account." Quicken will prompt you to back up your data file.
4. Once the backup is complete, the linked checking account is created in Quicken with the same name as your investment account, plus the suffix "Cash." Click the OK button to save your changes.

CaliQkn

@NitDawg these instructions are for QWIN. As far as I know, this feature is not available for QMAC, but there is a product enhancement idea out there for this feature to be added to QMAC.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7310443/add-ability-to-link-accounts-to-brokerage-accounts-to-quicken-for-mac-104-legacy-votes

The current status of this product enhancement idea is "Planned" but Quicken never says when new features will be added.

NitDawg

Thanks so much for this info! I'll be keeping my eyes open on this. Its managable, but hopefully this makes it way to QMAC. Thanks again!

NotACPA

@NitDawg what you're referencing is known, in QWin, as a "Linked Checking account".

It doesn't really exist, but rather represents the cash transactions in a taxable brokerage account. And, it acts in Q as if it was a real checking account.

There's a slight issue, however, in that Fidelity is a brokerage, not a bank, and thus by law they CAN'T offer a true checking (or savings) account. But the differences are so small, even if legally significant, that it won't matter to the vast majority.

The primary checking account for both my wife and myself are Linked Checking Accounts at Fidelity.

NitDawg

Thanks! The transaction tracking and reporting work just fine for me too, just wish I could pull it up into the "banking" bin vs "investing" bin. Been using Fidelity's CMA for a while and I'm a big fan.