Merrill Lynch EDGE dividend reinvestment issue

[johnkirin]

Dividend reinvestments downloaded from my Merrill Lynch Edge accounts come in to Fund Manager as the folloowng set of transactions. This applies to all stocks, ETF's etc., but I'll use Northrop Grumman as an example:

In the Northrop Grumman account:

-A dividend distribution of X dollars
-A Transfer In of Y shares at ZERO dollars

In the default cash account:

-A Purchase of X dollars, with a Memo field that reads, "(Imported) Distributed Dividend from NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP
-A Redemption for X dollars, with a memo that reads simply "NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP"

I have one informational question and (I think) one problem that I would like to know if there is a solution to.

The question is, what does "(Imported)" indicate? I would have thought it meant that the transaction was imported directly from the financial institution, as opposed to having been generated by the default cash account function, but it seems as if the opposite is true.

The problem I THINK I have is that, given that the Transfer In of shares has no price attached, the amount of the purchase does not get added to the cost basis of the position (there is none recorded when I open the transaction to look). If my suspicion is right, is there any way to make the recording of the additional cost basis automatic, or will I need to modify each dividend reinvestment purchase to add the cost of the shares (and, then, I suppose, delete either the debit to the default cash account that was downloaded, or the one that will be generated when I enter a cost for the shares purchased with the dividend)?

[Mark]

Hi johnkirin,

Yes, I believe the (Imported) is the automatic default cash entry, but I’ll double check when I get back to the office Monday.

If you’d like to email me a log file I can take a look at how your broker is reporting this, or you can look too. See “Help / Logs / Transaction Retrieve (Parsed)…”

You might need to edit the Dividend as it is retrieved, and uncheck anything else related like the sell of cash and transfer so they don’t import. Change the dividend to reinvested and enter the shares from the transfer transaction. You’ll end up with just one reinvestment and no transactions in cash. You can edit this right in the Preview Importing Transactions dialog.

[johnkirin]

I could edit while importing, if that's what's required. I was just poking around and I wondered if checking the unchecked box in this screenshot would fic things (though perhaps it might cause other problems).

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[Mark]

Hi johnkirin,

Yes, when the memo starts with "(Imported)" this is an automatic default cash account entry from an imported or retrieved transaction.

On the screenshot you sent, there is one related option, which is "Record Matching Purchase/Distribution as Reinvestment", but it won't combine a Transfer/Distribution into a reinvestment, so this wouldn't work if your broker is reporting it that way.