Add a single mutual fund investment account
Use this procedure to track only a single mutual fund-type account.
What is the difference between a single mutual fund account and a brokerage account that includes mutual funds?Use the single mutual fund account only for funds that meet these conditions:
- You buy the fund directly from the mutual fund company.
- Your account has no cash balance—any funds you contribute are automatically used to purchase shares. For any transaction that produces cash, such as a Sell or Dividend, your mutual fund company may do one of the following:
- Reinvest dividends in the mutual fund
- Mail a check to you
- Make a transfer to your bank account
- This account tracks one mutual fund per account. If you buy another fund, typically the mutual fund company requires you to open a separate account.
- This account displays the share balance and market value in the register, but it doesn't track interest, miscellaneous income, or miscellaneous expenses. Like the brokerage account, it can provide complete performance reporting and tax planning assistance.
Use a brokerage* account to track multiple stocks, bonds, and mutual funds in a single account. This account can:
- Track multiple securities
- Show a cash balance and market value in the register
- Track interest, income, and expenses
- Provide complete performance reporting and tax planning assistance, including capital gains
- Add a linked checking account
* The IRA and 401(k) account types also track multiple securities, including mutual funds.
Add a single mutual fund account
- Click the Add Account icon on the top right of the Account Bar.
- Click Brokerage.
- At the bottom of the Add Brokerage dialog, click Advanced Setup.
- Click I want to enter my transactions manually.
- Enter a name for the account, such as the name of the mutual fund.
- Enter a date, but do not enter Cash or Money Market values.
- Enter the ticker symbol for the mutual fund.
- Enter the number of shares that you hold, and then click Mutual Fund.
- In response to the question Is this a single mutual fund account?, click Yes.
Make updates to a single mutual fund account
When you receive your statement, you can update your account in two different ways.
- If your statement includes transaction-level detail, you can enter the transaction history for this statement period using the Enter Transaction dialogs, and then reconcile the account.
- A simpler way is simply to update the balance of shares for each security. Use this method if you don't care to track transaction-level detail, or if your statement doesn't include it.