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Cannot figure out how to resolve placeholder

pdallen1970

Something went awry when my TIAA funds were rebalanced/moved and I now have three placeholder entries:
6/5 15,932.35
6/14 15,936.19
6/26 25.59

I've tried removing them, and it screws up the balance. As of today, my shares are 16,351.21. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to resolve this. I have never understood or had luck with placeholder entries. In the past, I got so frustrated with one account that I deleted the whole thing and started over. I really don't want to do that again. Any help fixing and understanding this would be greatly appreciated.

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NotACPA

Placeholders are created by Q when the downloaded quantity of a holding doesn't match what you have recorded in Q. The Placeholder brings the 2 into agreement.

SO, what you need to do is figure out WHY there's the difference and correct that. Are you missing transactions? Do you have duplicated transactions? What?

Work on them one at a time, starting with the oldest, and make the needed corrections to your account in Q. After you identify what necessitated the 6/5 placeholder, and correct the issue, you'll be able to delete that placeholder and start on the next.

pdallen1970

No missing transactions. The opening transactions for this new account are all present. I went over the statement line by line, price by price when the rebalance account was created (TIAA liquidated my old account and then opened a new account with purchases of the new funds). It should have been easy. The value of my account in Quicken is correct.

I may just need to delete it and set up a new download to start over. 🤷‍♂️ Or maybe I need to shift to SIMPLE instead of COMPLETE? It's a 403(b) account so I don't think I need/care to track every single little transaction.

I've used Quicken for over 25 years and have never once successfully resolved a placeholder!

NotACPA

I've already told you why placeholders are created. If you choose to reject that info, so be it.

pdallen1970

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20562942#Comment_20562942

I am not "rejecting" anything. I am telling you that every transaction in my register is marked as R, except for the placeholders. I have no missing or extra transactions.

Quicken Laura

Hi @pdallen1970,

Thank you for sharing the details of what happened.

One thing to keep in mind is that placeholders do not necessarily indicate a missing transaction or an incorrect account value. They are created when Quicken’s calculated share balance for a security does not match the share balance reported by the financial institution.

With a TIAA rebalance/conversion, common causes can include an opening share balance mismatch, a security change, fractional share differences, or the rebalance being recorded differently than TIAA’s download.

I would suggest starting with the oldest placeholder (6/5), opening the transaction details, and checking which security it applies to. Then compare the share quantity Quicken shows for that security with TIAA’s reported holdings on that date. That should help identify what Quicken is trying to correct.

These articles may help with reviewing and resolving placeholders:

https://info.quicken.com/win/how-do-i-decide-how-to-resolve-placeholder-entries
https://info.quicken.com/win/security-detail-view

If the holdings are correct and you do not need detailed transaction history for this 403(b), an Adjust Share Balance transaction may be a simpler way to bring Quicken back into agreement: https://info.quicken.com/win/how-do-i-adjust-the-share-balance

Please feel free to reach out if you have additional questions.

webberwj

I am also an original Quicken user and the automatic downloads of my investment accounts were always spot on … once Quicken started using "placeholders" my balances have never been correct since and I also have never figured out how to fix them. I started a new account and then downloaded it into quicken and it was totally off wanting me to resolve the placeholders … I followed the directions exactly and it then built new placeholders and I have just lived with it … what is the secret?

pdallen1970

Thanks, Laura - again, the issue is that my balances are correct so there is no balance adjustment I can make to correct the balances. If I delete the placeholders, my $ balance for the account is thrown out of whack. I've just switched over to SIMPLE for this one account so that I don't have to deal with it - I have spent HOURS trying to resolve it since June 1.

Quicken Laura

Hi @pdallen1970 & @webberwj,

Thank you both for your responses. I understand what you mean, and I agree that resolving placeholders isn't always intuitive.

At first glance, it may seem like nothing is missing, especially if your current account value and share balance appear correct. However, placeholders are created when Quicken detects missing or inconsistent information needed to accurately calculate your investment holdings. This isn't always a missing transaction; it can also be missing cost basis information or incomplete share history.

For example, suppose you currently own 2 shares of a security. Quicken may correctly show those 2 shares at today's market price, but if it doesn't know how or when those shares were acquired, it cannot accurately calculate your investment history or cost basis. In that situation, Quicken creates a placeholder so the current share balance matches what your financial institution reports, while also indicating that historical information is still needed.

If you simply delete the placeholder without replacing the missing information, Quicken will also remove the shares it represents. That causes your holdings and account value to no longer match your financial institution.

For that reason, it's generally recommended to resolve the placeholder rather than delete it. The support article Resolving Placeholders and $0.00 Cost Basis in Quicken outlines two approaches:

Add the Missing Transactions (recommended for the most accurate records)
Enter an Estimated Average Cost (if the transaction history is no longer available)

I hope this helps clarify why placeholders exist and how deleting them affects your balances, even when everything initially appears correct. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or if there's anything else we can help explain.

pdallen1970

Thanks. In this case, each share is $1. I tried adding transactions with the placeholder date for the number of shares in the placeholder - that added $15K+ to my account. It resolved the issue with the shares, but then the dollar amount was off.

In this case, I've just changed over to SIMPLE for tracking. The account has been off since Day One and it seems every time I download, there is a new placeholder being pulled in. No amount of work made it better - only worse. I was hoping to get it resolved on this rainy day off but going to simple is the solution.

Quicken Laura

I'm sorry to hear the issue is still not resolved.

You can also contact Quicken Support for further assistance. They can work with you in real time, guide you through additional troubleshooting steps, and escalate the issue if necessary.

You can find the Quicken Support phone number here: Support Home | Quicken. Phone support is available Monday through Friday, from 5:00 AM PT to 5:00 PM PT.

I apologize that I could not provide a more direct solution, but please don’t hesitate to reach out again if you have any other questions.

Leslie Jones

I just delete the placeholders and all is well.