Fidelity Download problem

[Max]

Thinking about moving from Fidelity to my schwab accounts. The schwab retrieve Is a unique setup and requires some extra steps but I've always been able to make it work.

[andyelcid23]

Since the csv download is not a simple copy/paste into the helper (ie the columns don't match), perhaps a short link to a video would help. I am not finding in the doc what the field names mean (anum, bnum, etc) so I know the transformation is working.

My download shows,
Run Date Account Account Number Action Symbol Description Type Exchange Quantity Exchange Currency Price ($) Exchange Commission ($) Fees ($) Accrued Interest ($) Amount ($) Settlement Date

Are these consistent for all users and downloads? If so, perhaps formatting the "Fidelity CSV" tab provided would save time. Also what is each column in "Fund Manager Import" doing (relevant ones)?

[Ilikemybu]

Mark,

FYI, I also use Tradestops by TradeSmith. It links to my accounts at a couple institutions. I am still able to download my info from Fidelity despite the issues that have popped up here. (I am also still able to download my Pershing Advisors, which I know you dropped a few months back as well.)

[Mark]

Hi andyelcid23,

The sheet is intended such that you can simply copy/paste from the CSV you download over the data on that sheet. It is in columns A-R and hopefully matches exactly with your download. If it isn't matching, maybe there is some other setting on Fidelity's site I'm not aware of? Could you email me a sample CSV file that you're downloading?

The anum, bnum, etc keys are documented in the generic transaction download. So, in the dialog box from "File / Import / Transactions / Generic..." press the "Help..." button, or go here.

Since the csv download is not a simple copy/paste into the helper (ie the columns don't match), perhaps a short link to a video would help. I am not finding in the doc what the field names mean (anum, bnum, etc) so I know the transformation is working.

My download shows,
Run Date Account Account Number Action Symbol Description Type Exchange Quantity Exchange Currency Price ($) Exchange Commission ($) Fees ($) Accrued Interest ($) Amount ($) Settlement Date

Are these consistent for all users and downloads? If so, perhaps formatting the "Fidelity CSV" tab provided would save time. Also what is each column in "Fund Manager Import" doing (relevant ones)?

[Mark]

Hi Ilikemybu,

Interesting, maybe they are using one of the big data aggregators. I'm not sure...

Mark,

FYI, I also use Tradestops by TradeSmith. It links to my accounts at a couple institutions. I am still able to download my info from Fidelity despite the issues that have popped up here. (I am also still able to download my Pershing Advisors, which I know you dropped a few months back as well.)

[sgurd4oilop]

Thinking about moving from Fidelity to my schwab accounts. The schwab retrieve Is a unique setup and requires some extra steps but I've always been able to make it work.

If you don't mind my asking, what additional extra steps and setup was required?

Thanks.

[Mark]

Hi sgurd4oilop,

Schwab uses the newer "FDX" protocol instead of the older OFX, so you no longer enter your username/password/account number directly in Fund Manager. Instead, you get an "access code" from Scwhab's website and put that into Fund Manager. Each account gets a pseudo account number that goes into Fund Manager. This is one of the benefits of FDX, that you aren't sharing sensitive information with 3rd party apps. It really isn't more difficult than it was before, it is all pretty integrated into FM, but the steps are a bit different. You can read more about it here:

https://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/faq ... ersion.php

[sgurd4oilop]

Hi sgurd4oilop,

Schwab uses the newer "FDX" protocol instead of the older OFX, so you no longer enter your username/password/account number directly in Fund Manager.

Thanks Mark. Maybe Fidelity needs to hear that their perceived "security issues" that FDX resolves (by not storing credentials), is enabled in FM, working well for users, and Fidelity faces the prospect of 'losing ground' to a competitor.

I do hope it can be resolved with Fidelity re access to the API and the FDX servers. Doing this manually is chock full of potential errors. And I still haven't found a way to reconcile other than to physically look at security shares at Fidelity and compare them to what I can see in FM - a very tedious effort.

[Mark]

The "workaround" instructions for importing a downloaded CSV file have been updated. Please see:

https://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/faq_fidelity.php

It appears there are 2 different CSV download formats, depending on whether or not your account has multiple currencies. We've made 2 helper spreadsheets available, so you can use the appropriate one.

[golden-berg]

Here's a list of Fidelity transactions which do not map , and result in #N/A (there may be others)
DIRECT DEPOSIT
DISTRIBUTION
FED TAX W/H
FEE CHARGED
LONG-TERM CAP GAIN
NORMAL DISTR
RETURN OF CAPITAL
SHORT-TERM CAP GAIN
Electronic Funds Transfer Paid

[Mark]

Hi golden-berg,

Thanks for sharing that. If you have a sample downloaded CSV with any of these that you can share with me, I can try and make some improvements to the spreadsheet.

[sollner]

Hi Mark,
I'm late to the party here, but I'm having the same issue, of course. I've tried your spreadsheet conversion, but not without the issues below, so I haven't tried to get FM to read the import.

In addition to the fields golden-berg listed, here are more "Action" entries that result in #N/A in columns D, E, and F in the Fund Manager Import tab:
JOURNALED JNL VS A/C TYPES (Cash)
JOURNALED JNL VS A/C TYPES (Margin) (I'm not sure what these two are. They are offsetting dollar amounts.)
STATE TAX W/H MA STAT
FEE CHARGED
FOREIGN TAX PAID
WIRE TRANSFER TO BANK (Cash)
MERGER

I'll be happy to share the CSV file with you.
Gerry

[Mark]

Hi Gerry,

The spreadsheet doesn't support all transactions. It was updated yesterday to add support for long term cap gain, short term cap gain, and return of capital. Some of the transactions that are only in the cash account will complicate the spreadsheet quite a bit, so we're leaving those for manual entry for now. If you haven't downloaded the helper spreadsheet since Dec 11, please download it again. The latest as of now is revision 3, which you can see on the "Mappings" sheet.

[pjkorest]

Just an update to the community... I had a meeting with Fidelity's team today. It was a very good start, and we're moving forward to try and get FM access again to their FDX interface. It was just an initial meeting, and not all the details have been discussed, but I'm hopeful. I'll post updates here as they become available.

As a reminder, we have some "importing CSV" workaround instructions here.

The CSV import is a bit cumbersome, and apparently Grok is capable of converting the downloaded CSV file into QIF, which would be easier if that works for you.

Hello Mark,

I've raised this issue with my team at Fidelity along with making sure they know this puts them at a competitive disadvantage vs Schwab and the other brokers. It has gone up the chain and my complaint did get to the folks working the issue which should help. Honestly, I would not have put funds at Fidelity if I couldn't download transactions.

With all that said, any update on when you think this will be resolved? I'm not hopeful for this month but January? Once you have the information you need, how long will it take Fund Manager to get Fidelity's FDX working?

[Mark]

Hi pjkorest,

Thanks for your help by providing feedback to Fidelity. We are currently going through an approval process with Fidelity. If/when we are approved it should only take a couple of days to implement the software changes in Fund Manager, but I don't have an update on when this might be.