Cost basis not matching Fidelity

[Sbux]

Hi there,

I'm brand new to Fund Manager. I've just completed Importing Transactions to set up my first portfolio. I've audited all investments to make sure they sync to my Fidelity portfolio, and have two questions

1) There's one security that isn't matching Fidelity on cost basis: AMLP (ALPS ETF TR ALERIAN MLP ETF). It appears Fidelity has subtracted dividends from the cost basis, but Fund Manager has not. Fund Manager appears consistent in not subtracting dividends from cost basis, but it appears that Fidelity has done this for this security in particular for some reason. In the transaction history it doesn't say it's a distribution of capital, so I'm confused. Any suggestions?

2) I would appreciate any advice on best way to treat your cash account. When I receive dividends in fidelity, there is no "destination account" in my imported transactions, so it seems the best way to manage this account is using the Fund Manager default "offsetting account" as my Cash account. But, when I receive interest on my cash balance through fidelity, then it's logged in my transaction history with an account number. So, this is a minor incovenience -- I can always just manually move the interest from the Fidelity cash account number in Fund Manager to the Fund Manager default cash account. But, just wondering if there is an easier way.

Thanks for your help!

[Mark]

Hi Sbux,

1) Fund Manager tracks 2 types of cost basis, the "tax" cost basis, and an "Out Of Pocket (OOP)" cost basis. That tax cost basis is not reduced when you receive a dividend, but the OOP basis is reduced by dividends. If the distribution is of the type "Return of Capital", this reduces both tax/OOP basis amounts. I would suggest asking your broker why they are reducing the tax basis due to dividends. This isn't normal. Maybe they are also showing you some other type of basis, like our OOP basis, or maybe those were really Return of Capital distributions, and not dividends? I'm not sure, but it sounds like a question that you'd need to ask your broker about.

2) Where do the dividends go when paid? Are they sending you a check each time, or are they deposited into some sort of cash balance? Fund Manager doesn't have it's own special cash account, it may have just been something created to track your cash when importing. I'm not sure. If you have a cash balance/account then you would want to have a cash investment to track this, and it would likely be designated as your default cash account. If you are receiving the dividends as a check you can still use a default cash account, and the dividends would be deposited into cash, and you could record a sell or transfer out to withdraw the proceeds. You might like to watch this tutorial on tracking cash:

https://youtu.be/K_OJEOWoqX4