Add Shares on QFX import is not calculating cost basis (Mac only)

drs
drs Member ✭✭
I have a 401(k) that I have to manually import a QFX file each quarter. On transactions that Quicken marks as Add Shares, Quicken is not calculating the investment amount. This appears to be Mac only. The files import okay on Quicken Windows.

For example, a transaction for a given security may be to Add Shares of 0.789917 shares @ 47.599938. The investment amount should be $37.60 (those two previous numbers multiplied). But that field is blank in Quicken and so the cost basis for the security is inaccurate.

The data for this transaction in the QFX file is:
<TRANSFER>
<INVTRAN>
<FITID> [removed] </FITID>
<DTTRADE>20210406000000.000[-6:MDT]</DTTRADE>
</INVTRAN>
<SECID>
<UNIQUEID> [removed] </UNIQUEID>
<UNIQUEIDTYPE>CUSIP</UNIQUEIDTYPE>
</SECID>
<SUBACCTSEC>OTHER</SUBACCTSEC>
<UNITS>0.789917</UNITS>
<TFERACTION>IN</TFERACTION>
<POSTYPE>LONG</POSTYPE>
<UNITPRICE>47.599938</UNITPRICE>
</TRANSFER>

There are many of these types of transactions on this account, so it is prohibitive to manually fix. And as I indicated, these transactions do import correctly on Windows.

Why is Quicken for Mac not calculating the investment amount?

Answers

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Can you show a screen shot of what one of these Add Shares transactions looks like in Quicken Mac?

    Any addition of shares is Number of Shares x Cost Per Share = Total Cost. But if you try to enter an Add Shares transaction manually, the Quicken Mac interface requires that you enter the Total Cost and the Number of Shares, and it calculates the Cost Per Share; there isn't a way to enter manually Number of Shares and Cost Per Share with Quicken calculating the Total Cost. So perhaps this is why it isn't working on the import of the QFX transaction?

    In the OFX specification, there are <UNITS> <UNITPRICE> and <TOTAL>, but actually only any two of those are needed to generate the third. It's possible that Quicken Mac is expecting <TOTAL> and <UNITS> and isn't working because this financial institution isn't providing <TOTAL>. I'm just guessing about that; hopefully others who import QFX transaction for investments can jump in.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • drs
    drs Member ✭✭
    I think that's probably right. It's expecting a <TOTAL>. If I look at these imported transactions, they have neither the share price or total. I can input the total manually and then it calculates the share price. Quicken is ignoring the share price in the QFX file. I'm attaching a screenshot to show what a transaction looks like without the total and one where I've added it manually.

    I should note that this only affects ADD SHARES types of transactions. All other types such as BUY, REINVEST DIVIDEND, REMOVE SHARES, etc. are imported correctly.
  • drs
    drs Member ✭✭
    I poked around some more, and in the settings for this account, I just checked the box next to "Contains no cash transactions." That might be the fix I was looking for.
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    drs said:
    I should note that this only affects ADD SHARES types of transactions. All other types such as BUY, REINVEST DIVIDEND, REMOVE SHARES, etc. are imported correctly.
    Out of curiosity, does the QFX file have anything different for a BUY transaction than it does for and ADD SHARES? Does BUY contain a <TOTAL> amount? I'm trying to understand if the problem is with differences in the QFX file from the financial institution or with the way Quicken is dealing differently with the same QFX elements for different types of transactions.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • drs
    drs Member ✭✭
    Yes, the information is different. For a BUY transaction, the QFX file has all three: UNITS, UNITPRICE, and TOTAL.
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Well, we've gotten to the bottom of it: the ADD SHARES transactions don't work correctly in Quicken Mac because of the absence of the <TOTAL> amount in the QFX file. Unfortunately, we've also reached the limits of my very limited knowledge of the OFX standard.

    The question is whether the financial institution is required to provide the TOTAL amount, or is free to provide the other two values and omit the total. If the total is expected in an OFX file, then this should be reported to the financial institution as a bug in the QFX downloads they're providing. If the financial institution is allowed to omit the total, then this should be reported to Quicken as a bug in Quicken Mac, for not being able to compute the total from the other values provided. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
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