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Hello, I use Quicken 2015 and recently two of my stock funds merged. Has anyone entered a transaction of this nature into their own Quicken software?
I looked on their community boards, searches.etc and found a few possibilities but I'm still struggling. Its a tax free event so I need to save all of the transactions history.
So for example, this is how they merged: Transaction date 4/28 own Fund 1: 1000 shares @ 36.19= $36,190 Merge to Fund 2: 843 shares @ 42.93=36,190 Thank you all for the help Tom. If you go into your investment register, there is an 'Enter Transaction' button (towards the top of that screen, immediately under the register name). Click on it, and then from the drop-down menu, there is a long list that includes 'Mutual Fund Conversion'. Set up the post-conversion mutual fund first, then do this step. When you enter the conversion details, you enter 5 pieces of info: conversion date, existing fund, new fund, shares of new fund and price per share of that new fund after conversion. Quicken will do the conversion. Frankly, until I just double-checked my initial answer to your question, I had never seen this option.
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If you just use the drop-down 'Action' in the investment register, that choice oddly does not appear. At least in my Quicken Premier 2016. I've had maybe 4 of these conversions in the last decade. What I had done instead was to use the Add/Remove shares option. That also works, in terms of not incorrectly reporting gains and in terms of correctly stating cost basis. And if taxes are an issue, you have to enter the lots correctly. However, if you use the IRR report, this method does incorrectly show the two funds at security level detail (while still correctly showing IRR for total investment account).
Not a big deal, but I now think the first way is far better and will use that in the future. Although I would do a backup immediately before I try it for the first time, until I actually make sure it works correctly. So thanks for that! Tom - just to clarify there are 2 drop-down menus in the Investing Register that SHOULD (I would think) offer the exact same choices.
I'm 99.9% sure this would be true for both 2015 and 2016. The drop-down you get after hitting the 'Enter Transactions' button is the COMPLETE list that includes what you need. You make your selection, 'Mutual Fund Conversion' which is way down on that list, and the proper entry screen will come up. So use this one. If you instead just enter the transaction register and click on the drop-down in the Action column on a new line, the list will be shorter and won't include the 'Mutual Fund Conversion' choice.
I would have expected the exact same list offered here too. So my guess, because I never noticed this until today, is that the 2015 and 2016 Quicken Premiers will both exhibit this minor prompting issue. Let us know what happens. Tom - thanks for the list, it was useful in tracing this issue down. Hopefully somebody with the 2015 version can pipe in here and verify. But based on your list, I'm now guessing that this 'Mutual Fund Conversion' option IS new with the 2016 version. When I scroll down, I do see everything you listed exactly in the same order - until the 3rd from the last item on your list, oddly enough.
My selections do not include either 'Shares Transferred Between Accounts' or 'Mutual Fund Name Change'. But my selections end with 'Reminder Transaction' - the last one on your list. In between all that stuff, I've got many other options, including the one you really want - 'Mutual Fund Conversion'. So we're looking at the same menu tree for sure. And I found this reference to the procedure on the Quicken website, and you will notice it's dated 2017: So, further making me suspect this might have been a new option in the 2016 version.
My preliminary thoughts at this point: First wait to see if somebody else chimes in here, and verifies that this is new in Quicken 2016 and 2017. If not, frankly I'm stumped. Assuming it is a new option, this one thing would not be enough to prompt me to upgrade by itself. But you've got a 3-year upgrade cycle from 2015 anyway, so you are getting close I suppose. Go to the Premier 2017 version if you decide to upgrade, not to 2016.
I've heard that the 2017 interface is improved, but features from version-to-version in Quicken tend to be fairly minor. Worst case, I would probably just do what I've been doing before today anyway: record the whole thing as a share removal from the former fund and and share add for the new fund. Really, the only detriment to that that I've ever seen is with the security-level detail in the Investment Performance (IRR) Report. Market values and cost basis will be correct. If it's in a taxable account though, you might also have concerns about the 'acquisition date' (really the conversion date in your case) of the new fund, and resulting potential mis-categorization of long vs.
Short gains if you should sell some or all of this in the next 12 months. Thanks Plats - that explains it exactly. I do have one single-fund investment account, so I can now see that it acts exactly as Tom had described - with that shorter list. My other investment accounts were all the other kind, and so showed the long list. Makes complete sense now in context.
It's been so long since my account setup that I forgot the single-fund option even existed. Tom - so you CAN try the 'Mutual Fund Conversion' feature now within your 2015 version. To find that single-fund option and change (I'm using my 2016 for menus): Click on Tools (top Quicken menu) Select Account List Click the Edit button next to the investment account involved. On the General tab, the 'Single mutual fund account Yes No' is 5th row down. Here's a complete link on the subject from the Quicken website too with full details: Whichever of the 3 (or so) methods you end up using, I'd recommend a quick backup right before you start.
Then check reports for correct cost basis, no gain/loss recognition, correct pre and post conversion market values, and rate of return calculations. Just to validate that it worked as intended. And if not, Restore is almost always the quickest way back. Here's to hoping this works well for you!
Just wondering if you were able to get this sorted out. It sounds like the conversion itself worked correctly (since new fund has correct shares, price and cost). If it's not listed in the Account List, then I can understand it not appearing in the (left-side) Snapshot. Not being in the account list itself though is puzzling. Within the 'Investing' tab you are looking at, try changing the view and see if the new fund data appears under any account name there. You will see a drop-down menu labelled 'Show'.
If you pick 'Value' from that list of choices, each security will appear, sorted by account. And/or - If you were to run a Portfolio Value and Cost Basis Report (Reports Investing Portfolio Value and Cost Basis), and from the Customize button and Accounts Tab check ALL, would you see the new fund in that report at the correct value and cost?
The only other thing I can think of is to go to the fund investment register where you entered the Mutual Fund Conversion action and see if any seems wrong there. If I get any brainstorms, I'll post. I'm really interested in verifying this conversion step works because I'm sure I'll be experiencing this myself soon.
You need to do two things: 1. Determine your net selling price. That would be the sale price, less expenses of making the sale (such as fees for recording documents at the courthouse, appraisal fees, attorney fees, etc.) if you had to pay any of those. It doesn't matter if those amounts were deducted from the sale proceeds or if you paid them separately. Amounts that you would have had to pay even if you kept the property (such as real estate taxes to the date of sale) are not selling expenses; these would be deducted on your return in the same way that you deducted them in prior years. If you received a settlement statement (from the attorney, lender, broker or other party), that should provide a road map to help you determine the net selling price. Determine your 'adjusted basis' in the property.
This is usually the price you paid - no matter how long ago - plus the cost of any improvements you made over the years. 'Improvements' don't include repairs and maintenance; those are operating expenses that might be deductible in the years you paid them. If any part of the property was depreciable, you'll have to deduct any depreciation 'allowed or allowable' for all the years you held the property to determine your adjusted basis. Again, if there was a settlement statement, it would provide a good starting point. Then just report both (1) and (2) on Schedule D of your Form 1040 and follow the instructions to determine your capital gain (or loss). I've not used the tax planner in so many years that my advice on that would be sheer guesswork, so I won't comment on the mechanics of that. If you need more details, you'll have to tell us more about the property and the purchase and sale transactions.
For example, if this was 'property used in a trade or business', as opposed to property held for investment or for personal use, then you might need to report it initially on a form other than Schedule D. White, CPA (Retired - no longer licensed to practice) San Marcos, TX Microsoft Windows MVP.