Investment Transactions Report
I want to generate a report of Investment Dividends.
I selected "Transaction Report" and also selected a stock. A report is generated but the "Amount" field is always Zero. The dates of the transactions are correct but the amount of the dividend is not shown.
I looked a bit further and I think the Amount field is actually showing the Number of Shares Bought or Sold. Since the dividend transactions have zero shares bought/sold then the Zero in this respect is correct.
However if I buy/sell then the report should show number of shares, share price and the total amount so I still think this is inadequate.
How do I produce full and meaningful investment transaction reports ?
Best regards,
Steve.
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1 Posted by -Kevin N. on 29 Jan, 2011 05:24 AM
Hi Steve,
I think you've hit upon a definate need for an Investment Transactions Report.
You can generate a report displaying Dividends using the Search Report
The following assumes you have the Stock's name in the Description field of txns in your Investment Account.
Edit the Search Report criteria:
Account = Investment Income: Dividends (or something similar)
Date = Desired date range
Description = The Stock's name
This will generate a report of dividends only, it will not include buys and sells which I agree with you would be more meaningful.
HTH -Kevin N.
2 Posted by stevemul on 30 Jan, 2011 05:59 AM
Hi Kevin,
Your suggestion works a treat. Many thanks.
However, wearing my jaded ex-Quicken hat let me make a couple of suggestions to help new users of MD.
Firstly, I did not realize that I should use the Category field and enter something like "Investments:Dividends". I had wrongly thought that the action DivXfr was sufficient. I looked up MD Help to attempt to find out how Dividend transactions should be entered .... there are brief descriptions of each field but no further help, no examples !!
I then looked at a lot of transactions that needed changing and groaned. By a complete stoke of luck I was looking at another post in these forums and saw the two magic words 'Batch Change'. So .... I looked up MD Help for 'Batch'; there is nothing there !! Not one word ! Luckily I searched these forums and found what I needed. BUT .... if MD has a feature/function/command I think it is 100% reasonable to expect to see it documented in the Help file.
The more I use MD the more I like it's power but it is not that intuitive. More and better help is needed for new users. I am a retired IT fella and enjoy the challenge; in addition I am absolutely determined to give Quicken the flick !! However I think many potential users of MD are typically fickle computer users who would not have the patience needed.
On the plus side these forums are fantastic. The support is quick, knowledgeable and very helpful.
Thank you and best regards,
3 Posted by -Kevin N. on 30 Jan, 2011 02:23 PM
Hi Steve,
As you've discovered the 'Action' field is just that. The selection that the user makes merely determines which fields of the transaction become 'live'.
MD changed their Help file format from an internal format in the 2008 version to a website version in the 2010 version. To MD's credit the 2010 version is a marked improvement over the 2008 version.
Using a website format for the Help file makes good sense. It makes it simpler for the developer to update the file as needed and the user gets the immediate benefits.
They DO however need to update the file. One such update would be to reflect the changes to the installation process of the new Quotes and Exchange Rates Updater. Another, as you and others have pointed out, would be to provide instructions in the use of 'Batch Change' and even more importantly a warning of how powerful Batch Change is. Things can get messy in a hurry when multiple txns are selected and a slip-up is made using Batch Change. I always try to make a point to tell users to make sure that they have a recent backup of their data file before using Batch Change.
I agree with you that these forums are great. There is a wealth of knowledge to be gained from lurking around here.
I'm glad to hear that the Dividend report worked out for you.
-Kevin N.
4 Posted by stevemul on 31 Jan, 2011 05:20 AM
Many thanks, Kevin.
I've learnt a lot from this discussion. I'd like to see MD include an Investments Transactions report but, in the meantime, I am able to get the information I need.
Thanks again.
Best regards,
System closed this discussion on 31 Mar, 2015 03:43 PM.