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For this example, assume the table below lists your actual transaction history for a security.
| Date | Transaction details | Total shares |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2012 | Buy 100 shares | 100 |
| Jan 1, 2013 | Sell 80 shares | 20 |
| Jan 1, 2014 | Buy 10 shares | 30 |
| Jan 1, 2016 | Buy 10 shares | 40 |
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Suppose that you start using Quicken in Jan 2016 and download transactions. Since many brokerages allow downloads for a limited period (90 days or 1 year), you cannot download the entire transaction history. For this example, you are able to download only one transaction; that is, the Jan 1, 2016 Buy 10 shares transaction. At this point Quicken records the purchase date and cost (and thus the cost basis) of this single share transaction.
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Now, you need to enter the entire transaction history as shown in the table below:
| Transaction details | Total shares in Quicken | Total shares in broker report | Placeholder value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2012 - Buy 100 | 110 shares | 40 shares | -70 shares |
| Jan 1, 2013 - Sell 80 | 30 shares | 40 shares | +10 shares |
| Jan 1, 2014 - Buy 10 | 40 shares | 40 shares | 0(zero)-Resolved |
Important: Note that there can be swings between positive and negative figures when you are backfilling transactions. These swings might be even bigger if you are entering stock splits or multiple stock splits. However, after you enter all the missing transactions that impact the number of shares, the placeholder value should eventually be zero.
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Tip: If you have an account with many transactions over many years and do not wish to enter everything, you could use the Guessstimate option to account for this missing shares. Just estimate the total cost of the missing shares and enter that value in the guesstimate field. This will get you a gain/loss value on the portfolio view, but should not be used for tax reporting.