Account type problems
I have several Fidelity brokerage accounts and one is called "My Smart Cash Account". With this account, i can buy stocks, mutual funds etc and also write checks with a checkbook provided by Fidelity. The problem is that the commands under the Check#/Action are not compatible with each other. Apparently I cannot buy stock and pay bills from the same MD account.
Comments are currently closed for this discussion. You can start a new one.
Keyboard shortcuts
Generic
| ? | Show this help |
|---|---|
| ESC | Blurs the current field |
Comment Form
| r | Focus the comment reply box |
|---|---|
| ^ + ↩ | Submit the comment |
You can use Command ⌘ instead of Control ^ on Mac
1 Posted by Mike on 30 Jul, 2011 02:51 PM
There are a number of threads regarding this (http://help.infinitekind.com/discussions/financial-institution-dire... and http://help.infinitekind.com/discussions/switching-from-quicken/361... are among them). Unfortunately, MD doesn't allow investment and checking type activities from the same account.
The workaround many of us have used is to create 2 accounts, one an investment account, and the other a checking account, to reflect the single actual account at Fidelity. Download transactions into the investment account, and move the checking types of transactions into the checking account using Batch Change (right click the transaction to bring up a menu which allows Batch Change > Account) of the transactions to change their account. Definitely not an optimal solution, but it seems to be the most commonly used one.
Hope this helps!
2 Posted by mreding on 30 Jul, 2011 03:00 PM
Hi Mike
Thanks for the quick response and note. I had tried the Batch Change which on a Mac is (control-click) to move some transactions, but it does not seem to work with investment accounts
3 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 30 Jul, 2011 04:09 PM
Mreding,
Could you please let me know what version of Moneydance you are running? There was an incremental build which disabled the batch change function for Investment accounts, but they have since been re-enabled. To get the version you are using, go to Help->Console window and copy and paste the first 4 lines of text below. This will help us to move forward with debugging.
Angie Rauscher
Moneydance Support
4 Posted by mreding on 30 Jul, 2011 05:14 PM
hello Angie;
My version of MD is:
Starting Moneydance 2011 (791)
Settings Folder: /Users/malcolmreding/.moneydance
OS: Mac OS X 10.7 x86_64
Java: 1.6.0_26 (Apple Inc.)
5 Posted by Ben Spencer on 31 Jul, 2011 04:39 AM
Investment accounts do allow batch change on transactions but only on transactions of type Xfr.
However I am not entirely in agreement with Mike that this is the best course of action. Moving the checking type transactions out of the investment register is going to mean that the cash balance in the investment register is incorrect.
Investment accounts can handle normal checking account type transactions. You need to set the Action to Xfr on such transactions. Then select the income or expense category in the "Transfer" field. If you want to apply an expense to an investment register enter a negative number in the amount field.
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
6 Posted by mreding on 31 Jul, 2011 10:21 AM
Thanks Ben, the investment transactions I was trying to transfer had been downloaded from the Fidelity site and I dont know the action selection, but your explanation makes sense.
7 Posted by Mike on 31 Jul, 2011 12:41 PM
Ben -
My issue with your approach is tracking things like check numbers - if all checks, billpays, deposits and transfers to/from the account are simply marked "Xfr" it becomes harder to quickly find a given transaction.
Using the approach of a separate cash account, the investment account should have a zero cash balance at all times - the transactions which would affect the cash balance are all moved to the associated checking account, which correctly tracks the cash balance. I realize this is hardly an optimal solution, but it does work in practice.
However, it also clearly isn't the only possible solution :-) I'm still hoping that MD will eventually address this increasingly common usage pattern.
8 Posted by gjbl on 05 Aug, 2011 08:53 PM
Hi,
I'm in a similar boat to a lot of people on here. It seems as though this problem is still kicking around with no end in sight, even though a fix was supposed to be provided back in Q3 of 2010.
I don't use Merrill or Fidelity; I use USAA. Like other people, I use my investment account as my primary checking account. Unfortunately, I can't batch change Xfr transactions. Now, I am using a slightly older version of Moneydance (2010r3). So, my questions are:
1) is the Xfr batch change not valid for that build? (I read in one of the threads that it had been disabled and then put back)
2) is there any new word on when a fix is finally coming?
I'm happy to upgrade, but it is tough to do so when the product, which I otherwise love, can't handle what seems to be an increasingly common case.
Thanks for your help in advance!
9 Posted by Ben Spencer on 05 Aug, 2011 11:58 PM
1) You can batch change in an investment account but only if you have transactions of type Xfr selected.
2) I am sure we will implement a solution to this at some point and I am afraid that I do not have a time line available yet.
Sincerely
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
10 Posted by gjbl on 07 Aug, 2011 03:36 PM
Hi Ben,
Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately, batch change isn't working for me. Was it disabled for the build version I am using (2010r3)?
If, for example, I select two utility bills and select: batch change > category > utility nothing happens.
Under action these are all listed as Xfr type transactions.
Thanks for your continued help.
11 Posted by Ben Spencer on 08 Aug, 2011 08:58 AM
Can you show me a screenshot of what the transactions look like after you have selected
batch change > category > utility?
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
12 Posted by Greg Liegel on 09 Aug, 2011 03:10 AM
Hey Ben,
Attached is a screenshot of a whole bunch of interest transactions, all of transaction type Xfr. Nothing happens when I try and change the category. I've tried to batch change for transactions that were utility payments, ATM withdrawals, you name it.
Thanks for your help.
________________________________
From: Ben Spencer <[email blocked]>
To: [email blocked]
Sent: Monday, August 8, 2011 3:57 AM
Subject: Re: Account type problems [Problems]
13 Posted by Ben Spencer on 15 Aug, 2011 08:18 AM
I am afraid I am going to have to eat my words
You are correct BatchChange->Category does not work correctly in the investment register. I have filed a bug ticket in the issue tracking system.
Sincerely
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
14 Posted by gjbl on 29 Aug, 2011 01:17 PM
Thanks for following up on this, Ben. Any idea when it is going to be fixed? Thx.
15 Posted by Jon Hoover on 30 Aug, 2011 09:23 PM
Hi,
No specific timeframe but it is ranked as a 'major' bug, which means we are prioritizing it.
Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Sincerely,
Jon Hoover, Moneydance Support
16 Posted by gjbl on 30 Apr, 2012 03:11 PM
Hi,
Is this "major" bug ever going to fixed???? Its been 8 months...
Greg
17 Posted by gjbl on 03 May, 2012 02:14 PM
Hi,
Anyone? Anything happening here? Please at least let me know that this being addressed?
For the growing number of people who have an account of this type -- and particularly for those of us who use a investment/checking account as their primary account -- this is a deal breaker.
Right now, I have a great piece of software that contains a major bug -- one that hasn't been addressed in 8 months!
Please at least let me know what the timeline is to fix this.
Greg
Support Staff 18 Posted by Sean Reilly on 07 May, 2012 12:52 PM
Hi Greg,
The next major update to Moneydance will address this in a way that I think everyone will appreciate. It will provide a banking view of an investment account in addition to the current investment trading interface.
Thanks,
Sean
19 Posted by gjbl on 07 May, 2012 01:46 PM
Sean,
Thanks for getting back to me with the good news. That will be a welcome improvement. Can you give us a date when you expect that update to be released?
Thanks,
Greg
Support Staff 20 Posted by Sean Reilly on 11 May, 2012 01:03 PM
Hi Greg,
Unfortunately I can't prove a solid date when this will be released, but I do plan for it to be this year.
Thanks,
Sean
21 Posted by gjbl on 11 May, 2012 01:24 PM
Hi Sean,
Thanks for getting back to me, albeit not with the answer I had hoped.
In the short term, is there anyway to restore batch change for categories to the investment register?
This functionality was present when I first switched to Moneydance and was subsequently removed for some reason that still isn't clear to me.
Best,
Greg
22 Posted by Greg on 22 May, 2012 04:25 PM
anything? please.
23 Posted by Ben Spencer on 23 May, 2012 12:39 AM
I am afraid we I do not have any news on this issue. We don't currently plan to reinstate batch change on investment accounts as it was making it way too easy for our users to to make a huge mess of their investment account. I am sorry that this was a feature you were relying on.
I do know that Sean plans to improve the way investment accounts handle cash accounts hopefully in the next major release. However I am not in a position to make an estimate on when that may be.
Sincerely
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
24 Posted by Philip Perlman on 24 May, 2012 05:55 PM
Unfortunately unless this upgrade occurs quickly we will be unable to continue with MoneyDance. We have four investment/brokerage accounts -- all with check writing privileges wherein there is a separate 'Cash Account' as originally setup via Qucken.
I purchased MoneyDance because I was irritated witha ll the so-called features of Quicken which are annoying and cumbersome as well as their forced upgrade system requiring a new version every three years. Having written a great deal of software in my younger years I am well aware of what constitutes good programming and I like MoneyDance very much. But if one cannot utilze the direct download and formatting as originally setup via Quicken Home and Business which provides a 'Cash' Account for each investment account which is the way standard bookkeeping approaches this then I will be forced to resort to Qucken. I think MoneyDance has a unique opportunity to grow should it be able to do the above.
/ Philip /
25 Posted by Greg on 24 May, 2012 06:31 PM
Ben,
Thanks for your response. To be honest, I feel a little cheated. This is not a functionality that did not exist. If that were the case, then I would have selected another product that better met my needs. However, this functionality did exist when I purchased the product. In fact, it was one of the main reasons that I bought Moneydance. What irritates me most was that it was then taken away. In other words, you changed the product in such a way that rendered it virtually useless for those of us who have these types of accounts -- after you had our money.
That is frustrating to say the least. So too is the lack of any insight into when this problem will be fixed - especially given the fact that you have known about this exact issue and identified it as a major bug well over a year ago. In its current form, Moneydance seems to lack sufficient customer support / development.
In short, I am in Philip's boat: unless this promised upgrade comes quickly, I will not be able to continue with Moneydance. That would be disappointing, as it really is a great product.
26 Posted by Philip Perlman on 24 May, 2012 08:51 PM
On Thu, 24 May 2012 14:32:03 -0400, Greg
<[email blocked]> wrote:
Greg,
I concur. This is the type of upgrade that will be beneficial to
MoneyDance and all necessary resources should be utilized for this to
occur as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
all my best,
/* Phil */
27 Posted by Ben Spencer on 25 May, 2012 10:56 PM
Hi Greg
I am sorry that you feel cheated. That was certain not our intention. If you tell me the version of Moneydance you were using that you were last happy with I will find and installation file for such that you can revert to that version.
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
28 Posted by Philip Perlman on 30 May, 2012 01:54 AM
Greg and all involved in this discussion,
One other thing that I notice is the inability of participants to email each other. For example my email address is hidden from view when I post. Now I understand the necessity for doing this to prevent all sorts of solicititations etc.; however, there should be a means for us to converse besides through this forum. Greg you can reach me at [email blocked]. Thanks,
/ Phil /
29 Posted by Philip Perlman on 30 May, 2012 01:55 AM
Regarding my previous comment, add the name culann in front of the asterisks. Thank you.
/ Phil /
System closed this discussion on 31 Mar, 2015 03:37 PM.