Changing Money Market Fund Treatment in Quicken Investment Accounts

Some brokerages hold cash in a money market fund (MMF). Depending on how the brokerage reports that MMF, Quicken might show it as part of your cash balance, as a security in your holdings, or both. Use the Cash Balance and Money Market Preference settings to tell Quicken whether to treat the MMF as cash or as a position, and to control how the account cash balance is calculated.

Before you start

Changing MMF handling can delete or convert some downloaded investment transactions, so protect your data before you continue.

1. In Quicken, select File > Copy or Backup File.

2. Create a backup of your data file.

Open the money market preference settings

You open the settings from the account’s Account Details window.

1. Open the investment account you want to change.

2. Open Account Details (for example, from Account Actions > Edit account details).

3. Select the Online Services tab.

4. In the lower-right area, select Set/Edit next to one of these labels:

   • If treated as position - Treat this Money market as cash: None

   • If no money market fund is selected - Treat this Money market as cash: None

   • If treated as cash - Treat this Money market as cash: <SYMBOL>

The Cash Balance and Money Market Preference status window opens.

Review the current setting

The status window shows the current MMF handling for the account before you make changes.

1. In Cash Balance and Money Market Preference, review the text under Standard Behavior or Custom Behavior.

2. If you want to change the current behavior, select Customize.

If you previously customized the setting, you can remove the customization by selecting Reset to Standard Behavior (or Reset to default, depending on what the window shows).

Customize how the account treats the money market fund

The Customize option opens a wizard that walks you through the available choices.

Wizard 1: Choose the fund and how it is treated

This page controls whether the selected MMF behaves like cash or like a security position.

1. In Cash Balance and Money Market Preference, under Custom Behavior, choose the fund in Money Market fund used in this account.

2. Choose one option:

   • Treat this Money Market as Cash and don’t show as a position

   • Treat this Money Market as Position and remove from the Cash Balance

3. Select Next.

Wizard 2: Choose the balance calculation method

This page appears when Quicken asks how to update the account cash balance based on your selection.

1. In Select Cash Calculation Method, choose one option:

   • Use unadjusted balance from brokerage

   • Use value of <SYMBOL>

   • Add value of <SYMBOL> to brokerage balance

   • Subtract value of <SYMBOL> to brokerage balance

2. Select Next.

Wizard 3: Confirm the changes

This page lists the exact changes Quicken will apply if you continue.

1. Review the list under Actions Quicken will take.

2. If the changes look correct, select Next.

Important: This page can indicate that Quicken will permanently delete Buy, Sell, and Add Shares transactions for the selected MMF, and convert Reinvest transactions (for example, to dividends). If you do not want those changes, select Prev or Cancel and restore your backup if needed.

Wizard 4: Finish

This page confirms what Quicken changed.

1. Review the summary.

2. Select Close.

What to expect after you change MMF handling

Your account view can change immediately after customization.

• If you choose Treat this Money Market as Cash and don’t show as a position, the MMF may no longer appear in holdings, and Quicken may adjust downloaded transactions for that fund.

• If you choose Treat this Money Market as Position and remove from the Cash Balance, the MMF remains a holding, and the account cash balance reflects that choice.

Set preferences for downloaded transactions

Downloaded transactions are transactions that your financial institution sends to you, instead of transactions you enter manually. Use Preferences to control how Quicken adds, names, and interprets those transactions.

Setting the preference Never interpret downloaded money market funds as cash

If your investment accounts download money market fund activity, Quicken can sometimes treat those funds as cash. Turn on this preference if you want Quicken to always keep downloaded money market funds as a position (a holding) instead of treating them as cash.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences.

2. In the left pane, select Downloaded transactions.

3. Under After downloading transactions, select Never interpret downloaded Money Market funds as cash.

4. Select OK.