Investment Account Cash Portion

I just opened a new brokerage account with Citibank and need to set it up in
Money 2006. When I create a new investment account it automatically creates
the associated cash account. The problem is that the cash account is
actually an account I've had open at Citibank for years and has already be
setup in Money a long time ago.

How can I link an existing MS Money account as the cash account for the new
investment account?

Thanks,

Dick
Wed Mar 15 07:58:49 CST 2006

Go into the Account Settings. There is a place there to pick the cash
account. IIRC, in M06 it's more obvious than in some prior versions. Pick
the one you want. Then go and delete the one it created.

"Dana Van Tassel" <danaorders> wrote in message
news:uQTMxp%23RGHA.4384@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>I just opened a new brokerage account with Citibank and need to set it up
>in Money 2006. When I create a new investment account it automatically
>creates the associated cash account. The problem is that the cash account
>is actually an account I've had open at Citibank for years and has already
>be setup in Money a long time ago.
>
> How can I link an existing MS Money account as the cash account for the
> new investment account?

Chris
Wed Mar 15 09:02:46 CST 2006

"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko@mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:%23MwkRiDSGHA.5108@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Go into the Account Settings. There is a place there to pick the cash
> account. IIRC, in M06 it's more obvious than in some prior versions. Pick
> the one you want. Then go and delete the one it created.

Does changing the name of the cash account associated with an investment
account change the actual cash account to which it's linked? That doesn't
seem apparent in my file. I haven't tried it.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

Dick
Wed Mar 15 09:17:14 CST 2006

Let me speculate, since I don't have any versions here to test on, partly
from my potentially inaccurate recollection of prior experience gained
validating http://umpmfaq.info/faqdb.php?q=182.

I believe this is a key relationship. If you change the name of the
associated cash account, then just that happens: the name of the associated
cash account changes. IIRC, you can also pick from a list of cash accounts
and/or change the name to another account that already exists. This changes
the relationship from one investment account to a different cash account. I
wish I could test this here to be definitive. And it may be version
specific. Where/how this relationship is set has morphed over time.

"Chris Cowles" <spam_magnet@remove-me-bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:eb5YJGESGHA.4452@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Does changing the name of the cash account associated with an investment
> account change the actual cash account to which it's linked? That doesn't
> seem apparent in my file. I haven't tried it.

Dana
Wed Mar 15 14:39:58 CST 2006

I have accessed the account settings and can only name (rename) the cash
account. I am not able to select an existing account.


--


"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko@mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:%23MwkRiDSGHA.5108@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Go into the Account Settings. There is a place there to pick the cash
> account. IIRC, in M06 it's more obvious than in some prior versions. Pick
> the one you want. Then go and delete the one it created.
>
> "Dana Van Tassel" <danaorders> wrote in message
> news:uQTMxp%23RGHA.4384@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>I just opened a new brokerage account with Citibank and need to set it up
>>in Money 2006. When I create a new investment account it automatically
>>creates the associated cash account. The problem is that the cash account
>>is actually an account I've had open at Citibank for years and has already
>>be setup in Money a long time ago.
>>
>> How can I link an existing MS Money account as the cash account for the
>> new investment account?
>
>

Chris
Wed Mar 15 18:04:31 CST 2006

"Dana" <dana> wrote in message news:OjKMkCHSGHA.4960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>I have accessed the account settings and can only name (rename) the cash
>account. I am not able to select an existing account.

The only option I can think of is to export the contents of the older
account, import them into the cash side of the investment account, and fix
any broken transfers that result. Make sure that transfers into the older
account are moved, rather than duplicated.

After every thing is confirmed to be accurate, delete the previous account.
Be very sure it's all balanced before you do. Make a backup and confirm that
you can restore from the backup.

There may be other potential problems here, like I don't know if cash
accounts can be in the budget, etc. I don't know if that matters to you.
Maybe not.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

Dick
Wed Mar 15 21:31:27 CST 2006

I sure am glad I didn't offer you the Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money
Back offer on that answer.

I really did think there was a way to do this. Concerted efforts in M04 and
M06 have failed to identify that way. Indeed, disassociating a cash account
from an investment account causes Money to loose the account into the ether
EVEN IF it has a balance and transactions! (What's up with that???) When I
designed my alternative Money DB, there was nothing magic about the
associated cash account. It could be any non-investment account. No magic at
all. The really sad thing is that I bet Money is that way internally, it's
just the UI that enforces these behaviors.

In addition to the QIF route that Chris suggests, here are two alternates:

1) Just do a transfer of the balance from the old "regular" cash account to
the new magic "investment account associated" cash account. Put a memo in it
as a pointer to where/why you did it. Close the original account in Money
once it's reconciled. Declare victory. Move on.

2) If there aren't LOTS of transactions, just Cut/Paste each of them to the
new magic "investment account associated"account. When they are al
transferred and the opening balance of the new account is set and it
reconciles, delete the old, now empty, account. It'll take some effort to
move each transaction one-by-one but you may find it's worth it in terms of
neatness, etc.

Sorry for the dirt road detour.

"Dana" <dana> wrote in message news:OjKMkCHSGHA.4960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> I have accessed the account settings and can only name (rename) the cash
> account. I am not able to select an existing account.

Dana
Wed Mar 15 22:07:08 CST 2006

You guys are great for replying so quickly. Both ideas seem reasonable
except for another little wrench. My existing account is configured to
automatically download transactions from Citibank. I think I would lose this
feature because I don't think I can configure the cash account for download.
I might be out of luck.

I would think this should be as simple as the software giving an option to
use an existing account or create a new one. Regardless, this cash account
should behave like any other bank account and be configurable as such.

I can convert the downloaded transactions (buy / sells) in the existing
account into transfers into the cash account for the investment account
(that's a mouthful). Then at this point record the buy / sells in the
investment account. Seems silly but I can't think of another way. I'm not
sure if this is simply an oversight by the developers or if there are
legitimate reasons for this behavior.

Thanks again for your ideas and suggestions.


"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko@mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in
message news:udiDkpKSGHA.4688@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>I sure am glad I didn't offer you the Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money
>Back offer on that answer.
>
> I really did think there was a way to do this. Concerted efforts in M04
> and M06 have failed to identify that way. Indeed, disassociating a cash
> account from an investment account causes Money to loose the account into
> the ether EVEN IF it has a balance and transactions! (What's up with
> that???) When I designed my alternative Money DB, there was nothing magic
> about the associated cash account. It could be any non-investment account.
> No magic at all. The really sad thing is that I bet Money is that way
> internally, it's just the UI that enforces these behaviors.
>
> In addition to the QIF route that Chris suggests, here are two alternates:
>
> 1) Just do a transfer of the balance from the old "regular" cash account
> to the new magic "investment account associated" cash account. Put a memo
> in it as a pointer to where/why you did it. Close the original account in
> Money once it's reconciled. Declare victory. Move on.
>
> 2) If there aren't LOTS of transactions, just Cut/Paste each of them to
> the new magic "investment account associated"account. When they are al
> transferred and the opening balance of the new account is set and it
> reconciles, delete the old, now empty, account. It'll take some effort to
> move each transaction one-by-one but you may find it's worth it in terms
> of neatness, etc.
>
> Sorry for the dirt road detour.
>
> "Dana" <dana> wrote in message
> news:OjKMkCHSGHA.4960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> I have accessed the account settings and can only name (rename) the cash
>> account. I am not able to select an existing account.
>
>

Chris
Thu Mar 16 00:23:28 CST 2006

"Dana Van Tassel" <danaorders> wrote in message
news:%23lumZ8KSGHA.5728@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> You guys are great for replying so quickly. Both ideas seem reasonable
> except for another little wrench. My existing account is configured to
> automatically download transactions from Citibank.

Is this a tax-deferred account? If not, the way to address this is simple.
Uncheck the 'Track Cash transactions' box on the settings page. Before doing
that, edit all cash related transactions (buys, sells, dividends, etc.) to
transfer to your desired account.

When you uncheck the box, it will delete the cash account and all future
transactions can be linked to the Citi account. That's actually true, now,
but the default practice is to use the cash account.

If this is a retirement account you must have an associated cash account.
It's a design requirement.
--
Chris Cowles
Gainesville, FL

Cal
Thu Mar 16 09:45:19 CST 2006

In microsoft.public.money, Dana Van Tassel wrote:

> My existing account is configured to
>automatically download transactions from Citibank. I think I would lose this
>feature because I don't think I can configure the cash account for download.
>I might be out of luck.
>
>I would think this should be as simple as the software giving an option to
>use an existing account or create a new one. Regardless, this cash account
>should behave like any other bank account and be configurable as such.

I suggest you switch out of Top-line-only mode in the investment
register. Then the Transfer-to account will be visible. Click each
that show the wrong place for the account, and change it to what you
want. Money should catch on for future transactions.

To witch out of Top-line-only mode, you can use the View drop-down
list at the top of the register, or press the Ctrl+T toggle.

Dana
Thu Mar 16 22:27:41 CST 2006

Thanks guys, sounds like a plan.



"Cal Learner-- MVP" <via_newsgroup@please.tnx> wrote in message
news:oo1j12hs0u1mskolo0p58dlek09n5gdnlt@4ax.com...
> In microsoft.public.money, Dana Van Tassel wrote:
>
>> My existing account is configured to
>>automatically download transactions from Citibank. I think I would lose
>>this
>>feature because I don't think I can configure the cash account for
>>download.
>>I might be out of luck.
>>
>>I would think this should be as simple as the software giving an option to
>>use an existing account or create a new one. Regardless, this cash account
>>should behave like any other bank account and be configurable as such.
>
> I suggest you switch out of Top-line-only mode in the investment
> register. Then the Transfer-to account will be visible. Click each
> that show the wrong place for the account, and change it to what you
> want. Money should catch on for future transactions.
>
> To witch out of Top-line-only mode, you can use the View drop-down
> list at the top of the register, or press the Ctrl+T toggle.