Can't reconcile with version 11.2

[sollner]

Since I installed version 11.2 I cannot reconcile my Fidelity accounts. It seems to download activity OK (no activity, but no error messages), but when I try to reconcile by "retrieve from broker/fund company" I get the error message
"position information not available in OFX data". I never got this message with earlier versions of Fund Manager. Has Fidelity changed something, or has Fund Manager?

[sollner]

Update: I reinstalled version 11.1 and get the same result. Any help with this error would be appreciated.

[Mark]

Hi sollner,

Take a look in the "xmldump.txt" log file, and see if you have a section that starts with:

INVPOSLIST

That section lists the positions. Maybe for some reason Fidelity is not providing them... Nothing has changed in this area from Fund Manager's perspective.

For help finding log files, see "Technical Details" section at the bottom of this page:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/tintrtv.html

[sollner]

Mark,

Thanks for the pointer. xmldump.txt doesn't have the section you mentioned. Below is the full text. It seems to have an invalid date range error. I do not see a place to specify a date range in the reconcile sequence. Is there somewhere I can set this?
...........
- OFX
- SIGNONMSGSRSV1
- SONRS
- STATUS
- CODE (0)
- SEVERITY (INFO)
- MESSAGE (SUCCESS)
- DTSERVER (20110519072743.815[-4:EDT])
- LANGUAGE (ENG)
- FI
- ORG (fidelity.com)
- FID (7776)
- INVSTMTMSGSRSV1
- INVSTMTTRNRS
- TRNUID (9819-FM7-20110519072743-105)
- STATUS
- CODE (2027)
- SEVERITY (ERROR)
- MESSAGE (Invalid date range)

[drwehby]

Just installed 11.2 and I also get same error message ("position information not available in ofx data") when attempting to reconcile Fidelity. Upgraded because in my prior 10.x had recently (within last week) been unable to retrieve reconcile info from Fidelity: 10.x would list all my positions at Fidelity brokerage as zero (although Fidelity website correctly lists my positions). No problem reconciling with my Scottrade account. Where is xmldump.txt file located? I could not find it.

[Mark]

Hi sollner and drwehby,

We see this same problem with this server. We're currently working on a solution, and will post back here when one is available. I expect this to be today.

[Mark]

Hi sollner and drwehby,

This issue has been fixed with version 145 of the transaction module that has just been released.

To download this update select "Help / Fund Manager on the Web / Check for Updates..." from within Fund Manager.

Please let me know if you still have any issues reconciling with Fidelity once you download this update.

[drwehby]

Downloaded the 145 module, and can now reconcile my Fidelity accounts. Thanks for your rapid work!

[sollner]

Mark,

I downloaded transaction 145, and now life is all good
You folks are the best! Many thanks.

[paul3nt]

Mark:
Help ! I have FM 11.2, Personal, and Transaction Ver. 146, and my Broker is Fidelity . . . and I still have problems reconciling. Yes the "OCX" bug is now fixed - thanks - but reconciling portfolios is unstable.

I ONLY reconcile on week-ends or NYSE holidays when the market and Fidelity is closed. Here's my problem:

I reconcile "automatically", get a small discrepancy- - - say 10 - 200 shares of a mutual fund that issues a automatic re-investment dividend every month. Then I attempt to correct the discrepancy by "transferring-in" the difference in shares to the FM portfolio. Then I manually save everything, the portfolio and transaction ( why is this necessary can't it be made automatic?). Then to check the correct change was made I reconcile again, within 2 to 5 minutes of the first reconcile. And guess what? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Also on the 2nd reconcile a different asset - not appearing in reconcile 1, may appear as not reconciled. Needless to say this is extremely vexing!

Two questions:
1) What am I doing wrong ? How to fix the problem.

2) More important, We need a tutorial on Reconciling properly, How to do it, exactly or approximately. IMO, Reconciling is the MOST important topic because without proper reconciling FM is worthless.

Thanks

Paul3nt

[sollner]

Although my problem above was fixed, I seem to be still watching this topic, so I'll add my two bits. I too would benefit from a tutorial on reconciling. I muddle through by manually adding/subtracting the small adjustments that sometimes get missed until the balance is correct, but I'd like to know how to do it properly.

Gerry

[Mark]

Hi Paul3nt,

If you have all your transactions recorded as they happened your investment should reconcile. If you are off some number of shares, look at your recorded transactions, and compare it to the transactions reported by your broker. Something is missing, not recorded right, duplicated, etc. Instead of just transferring in more shares, correct whatever transaction is missing or not recorded correctly.

When you reconcile, you will see a list of all the un-balanced investments. Select one, and choose the "Edit..." button to open the Data Register. Set the data type to "Transactions (all)", so you can see everything affecting your shares owned. Make whatever edits you need so your transactions are all recorded properly, and then it should be removed from the list of un-balanced investments in the reconcile window. Once you have them all gone, press Finish on the reconciliation wizard. If you run it again, it should still match.

You don't need to do any saving of anything at this point. When you exit, if you have "Options / Save Portfolio/Investments on Exit" turned on (which is the default), everything will be saved for you automatically.

[paul3nt]

Mark:

Your suggestion to perform an exact reconciliation is not feasible: I manage 5 portfolios, each containing some 10 - 40 assets, all resident at Fidelity. I am new to FM and so I downloaded from Fidelity all transactions from Jan 1, 2010 to present in early 2011 and have updated them all with downloads from Fidelity.

I simply do not have the time nor staff to devote to exactly reconciling all this. A huge effort would be required to uncover every small discrepancy in e.g. Mutual fund re-investments which typically take place every month.

What I --- and I believe others --- need is an approximate method, to just "patch-up" share balances to force FM to agree with the down-loaded balances from the Broker. I intend to assign approximate prices to "transfer-in" or "transfer-out" share correction entries.

What is wrong with this procedure ? Do you have a better idea than exactly uncovering the discrepancies in thousands of entries over 18 months of data ? I use FM for 2 purposes: Calculate time-weighted Returns according to GIPS standards, and to report asset allocations.

I don't believe the approximate procedure outlined above will materially distort those reports; don't you agree ? If you don't agree, please recommend a FEASIBLE alternative.

Thanks,

Paul3nt

[Mark]

Hi Paul3nt,

As you would expect, the amount of distortion depends on the relative quantity of the shares/value you adjust to the amount they own. I can understand not wanting to go back through all these months looking for a single transaction, however it might be worth it to look for 1 mis-match to understand why you're having to make an adjustment at all. If you used the New Portfolio Wizard and retrieved transactions and positions, everything should reconcile without you having to make any adjustments. Also, going forward after you are reconciled as of a specific date, all your reinvestments should come down from Fidelity automatically. There shouldn't be a reason for getting out of balance as long as you retrieve all your transactions. I would recommend finding out why you're having to make any adjustments at all. If everything is set up and retrieving properly, you shouldn't have to make any manual edits.

If you do decide you'd prefer to just make a manual entry, you can do this by recording a transfer in or out. That should work fine. If you reconcile once, and everything is balanced, and you click "Finish", and reconcile right away again, it should still be reconciled. I wouldn't expect it to change. If it is for some reason you could save the logs from your first reconcile, and then compare them to the logs from your second reconcile, and see what has changed. Fidelity should not be changing your position balances in the statement between those 2 reconciles if they are only a few minutes apart. If you decide you want to do this experiment, you can find out the log file locations/names here:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/tintrtv.html

Look at the bottom of that page. In particular, you can look at the "xmldump.txt" file between reconciles, and look at the position balances. See if they changed between reconciles. They really shouldn't, if they're just a few minutes apart.

[sollner]

Hi Mark,

Today, when I attempt to update transactions from Fidelity, I get an error message: Missing ACCTINFORS in reply
I updated to transaction module 146 because 145 was giving the same error message, but it did not help this issue.

Is this a Fidelity issue, or a FM one?

Gerry