Why Do I Need to Manually Accept SOLD Security Positions

Question

When I sell a number of security positions, they download and show up in my Merrill Lynch (ML) account ledger.  I click accept all, and a message appears that I must proceed to a wizard dialogue to accept each position one by one.   I highlight each single sold transaction, and a button appears to manually accept the transaction.  I click that button and the sell transaction is accepted.

Why is this process in Quicken?  It's of no use.  There is never a question of whether I'd like to accept a transaction.  If ML sends it to me, it's correct.  I'd like to simply ACCEPT ALL.

Ken

NotACPA · Answer

IF you don't tell your broker, at the time of the sell order, which lots you want to sell from, they'll almost certainly use FIFO.

Since you don't use Q for that sort of tracking, you might as well go ahead and tell Q to use FIFO and save yourself that step.

Chris_QPW · Answer

If all you want to do is track the number of shares, price, and cash then you might want to consider using Simple investment mode.

Pat Sills · Answer

Thanks for that explanation.  I understand.  I don't use Quicken for cost basis or realized gains.  I keep all this data in an Excel spreadsheet for daily access, and my brokerage sends me accurate reporting for taxes.