Resolving Placeholders and $0.00 Cost Basis in Quicken

Overview

When reviewing your investment portfolio, you might see a cost basis value with an Add button or a $0.00 amount. This typically happens for one of two reasons:

• You see an Add button because Quicken created one or more placeholder entries to match the number of shares reported by your broker.

• You see a $0.00 cost basis because one or more existing investment transactions (such as Buy or Add Shares transactions) are missing cost basis information.

This article explains what placeholders are, how to find and resolve them, and how to correct missing cost basis values.

Note:

• If you see an Add button instead of the cost basis value, start with the What Is a Placeholder Entry? section below.

• If you see $0.00 for the cost basis value, skip to the Fixing a $0.00 Cost Basis Without Placeholders section.

What is a placeholder entry?

Quicken enters a placeholder entry when you’re missing part of your investment transaction history. For any security, if the total number of shares bought or added in your transaction list doesn’t match the number of shares in your account, Quicken adds a placeholder entry to make up the difference. This often happens when Quicken doesn’t have a complete transaction history for the account, such as after downloading transactions for the first time or reconnecting an investment account.

Placeholder entries:

• Appear only in an investment transaction list.

• Show in the Placeholder Entries section under the investment register for the account.

• Identify the security name and the number of shares added to or subtracted from the account (for example, 50 shares of Intuit).

• Don’t include a purchase date or price.

Because placeholders don’t include a date or price, Quicken can’t use them for performance reporting or tax planning tools. If you want accurate performance, gains, or tax reports, continue with the steps below.

How Do I Find Placeholders?

Before troubleshooting placeholders, you need to identify them in the account.

1. Open the account you want to review.

2. Go to the Transactions tab.

   • If the Transactions tab isn’t available, your financial institution may not support Detailed Investment Transactions in Quicken. In that case, you’ll need to disconnect the account to continue troubleshooting placeholders.

3. Click the Columns icon at the bottom right.

4. Check the box for Memo/Notes.

Note: Sorting by the Memo/Notes or by Date column can make placeholder entries easier to spot.

Placeholder entries appear in gray text and include the word “Placeholder” in the Memo/Notes column.

How Do I Resolve Placeholders?

If you identified placeholders for your investment accounts, you probably have the correct number of shares, but also a missing cost basis.

Why placeholders cause missing cost basis? To make your share totals match, Quicken creates a placeholder adjustment for the difference. Placeholders fix the share count, but they don’t include purchase dates or prices. That’s why you can see shares in your holdings, but Quicken can’t calculate accurate gains for those shares until you add cost basis information.

Note: To resolve placeholders in Quicken, your account must be set to use the Detailed investment tracking method. If you’re not sure which method your account is using, please refer to the article “Investment Tracking Methods: Simple Investing vs. Complete Investing”.

Method 1: Add the Missing Transactions (Recommended for Accuracy)

This method provides the most accurate performance and tax reporting. Use this option if you know when and how the shares were originally purchased.

1. Open the account you want to review.

2. Go to the Transactions tab.

3. Double-click the placeholder entry.

4. Click the Add Transactions button.

5. Select the type of transaction you need to enter from the drop-down menu at the top.

6. Enter the details appropriate to the transaction.

• Transaction date (should be earlier than the placeholder date).

• Total Cost.

• Number of shares.

7. Click Save.

Repeat these steps for all the missing transactions and the shares unaccounted for in Quicken.

Important: If the security has splits, reverse splits, stock dividends, or other events that impact the total share count for the security, you'll need to enter those transactions separately.

Method 2: Enter a Guesstimate (Use When History Is Unavailable)

If you no longer have access to the original transaction details, you can estimate the cost basis.

1. Open the account you want to review.

2. Go to the Transactions tab.

3. Double-click the placeholder entry.

4. Click the Add Guesstimate button.

5. Enter the amount for Average Price/Share or Cost Basis.

6. Click Save.

Fixing a $0.00 Cost Basis Without Placeholders

You may see a $0.00 cost basis even when no placeholder entries exist. This usually means an existing transaction is missing cost basis information.

1. Open the investment account you want to review.

2. Click the Portfolio tab.

3. Locate the security showing a $0.00 cost basis.

4. Click the drop-down arrow next to the security name to view its lots.

5. Note the date of the lot showing a $0.00 cost basis.

6. Switch to the Transactions tab.

7. Locate the transaction for that security on the same date (this is often a "Buy Shares" or "Add Shares" transaction type).

8. Double-click the transaction to edit it.

9. Enter the missing cost basis amount in the Total Cost field.

10. Click Save.

If multiple investment lots show a $0.00 cost basis, repeat these steps for each affected transaction.