Reconcile question...

[chancee]

I've been searching through the Documentation and these Message Boards, but I can't seem to locate a critical step in reconciling.

I have the reconciliation wizard up... and it is showing an investment that has a different balance from my statement due to a dividend. So I highlight it and then click Edit...

Then what?

I have the Data Register open and I see that I can click on the investment and then either select New, Edit or Delete...? I assume I don't want to delete it, so that's out... do I want to create something New? When I click Edit it brings up a Distribution Transaction where the info from the dividend is filled in... but what am I supposed to do? When I click OK, the box goes away and just takes me back to the Data Register, which after clicking Done... takes me back to the Reconciliation Wizard where Finish is greyed out. Obviously I'm missing something, but what? Thanks.

[Mark]

Hi chancee,

You use the Data Register to correct whatever is missing or incorrect. In this case you said you were missing a dividend. I assume you mean a reinvested dividend, as a non-reinvested dividend does not change your share balance, so it wouldn't affect the shares owned. (Or maybe you are talking about the dividend going into the default cash account?)

I'm assuming you meant a reinvested dividend... Click "Edit..." in the reconciliation wizard, and it will open up the Data Register for this investment. Select "Distributions (all)" as your "Data Type" in the upper right corner of the dialog. Now, you are listing all your recorded distributions. Assuming you are missing one, you need to add a new one. Click "New...", and fill out the dialog. You should now see the new distribution you just added listed here in the Data Register. If it was a reinvested distribution, it will also affect the share balance, so click "Done" to the Data Register and the reconciliation wizard will be updated to reflect the changes you just made.

We have a tutorial on using the Data Register. The Data Register is important to understand, so I'd suggest watching this:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/tuto ... video.html

[chancee]

Hi Mark... actually, I don't think I'm missing a dividend. It's that in the Reconciliation Wizard under the Fund Manager column it shows 764.24 shares. Under the statement column it says 769.067 shares. And next to that the Difference is -4.81.

When I highlight the investment it takes me to the Data Register where it shows two dividends... One for 4.76 (November), and one for 4.75 (September). Under Type and Memo it shows: Reinvestment.

Beneath the two dividends, it shows 754.733 shares. Under Type: Purchase and under Memo: Adjustment to obtain retrieved balance...

So... I guess what I'm confused over is, it looks like I began with roughly 754 shares, and then the two dividends added made it roughly 764 shares. So where is the 769 shares coming from under the Statement column in the Reconciliation Wizard?

[Mark]

Hi chancee,

The number of shares shown in the Statement column is coming from your broker. That was what was retrieved. Your broker says you own that many shares, so your balance in Fund Manager should match that, assuming the broker is correct. If you're not sure how the number came about, log onto your broker's website, and look at all your transactions, to see how they are coming up with that number (769). You want to have the same transactions recorded in Fund Manager that your broker reports. Once you do, the share balances will match.

Just a guess, but since you have a September and November dividend, and no October one, are you maybe just missing the October dividend in Fund Manager?

[chancee]

I checked Fidelity and it looks like there was a dividend for the exact amount that's causing the difference issued on 11/30. I'm assuming that means Fund Manager just isn't pulling down the most recent info...?

[Mark]

Hi chancee,

FM should be pulling down everything when you retrieve. Did you retrieve transactions for this date range? Is the 11/30 one different than the other "November" one you said you had recorded?

Try retrieving transactions again, and make sure you are retrieving over this time period.

[chancee]

Yes... okay, that did it. Problem solved. I'll take a look at that video. Thanks.