| Balance | Description | Update Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Cash Available to Trade | The amount available to purchase securities in a Cash account without adding money to the account. Executed Buy orders will reduce this value (at the time the order is placed), and executed Sell orders will increase this value (at the time the order executes). | Intraday |
| Cash (Core) | Account settlement position for trade activity and money movement, including core and other eligible additional Fidelity money markets. Executed Buy orders and cash withdrawals will reduce the Core, and executed Sell orders and cash deposits will increase the Core. | Overnight |
| Cash Credit/Cash Debit | A Cash Credit (positive value) reflects a credit from unsettled trades or deposits that has not yet swept into the core account. In certain circ*mstances, cash credits may not be swept to your core account. When that occurs, the cash credit balance will reflect both amounts credited to the account from unsettled activity as well as un-swept settled cash balances. A Cash Debit (negative value) is an amount that will be debited from the account at settlement. | Intraday |
| Uncollected Deposit | Recent deposits that have not gone through the bank collection process and are unavailable for online trading. The normal check and electronic funds transfer (EFT) collection period is 4 business days. | Overnight |
| Committed to Open Orders | The dollar amount allocated to pending orders that have not yet been executed (e.g., Buy orders). The amount you have Committed to Open Orders decreases your Cash Available to Trade. | Intraday |
| Settled Cash | The portion of your Cash (Core) balance that represents the amount of securities you can Buy and Sell in a Cash Account without creating a Good Faith Violation. This amount includes proceeds from transactions settling today MINUS unsettled buy transactions, short equity proceeds settling today and the intraday exercisable value of option positions. Additionally, uncollected deposits may not be reflected in this balance until the deposit has gone through the bank collection process which is usually 4 business days. | Intraday |
Real-Time, Intraday, and Overnight
- Real-time: Balances updated Real-time display values that change with market price fluctuations on the underlying securities in your account. Essentially, it is a complete recalculation based on price fluctuations of positions, trade executions, and money movement into or out of the account.
- Intraday: Balances updated Intraday reflect trade executions and money movement into and out of the account during the day.
- Overnight: Balances updated Overnight display values after a nightly update of the account. In some cases, certain balance fields can only be updated overnight due to regulatory restrictions.
Additional Details
For more detailed information about your account balances, you can expand the balances table by clicking Show All or you can expand an individual section by clicking the "+" sign to the left of any section name , or just clicking the name of the section. When the table is expanded for a detailed view of individual balance fields, the "+" sign becomes a "-" sign that you can click to collapse the table and return to the summary view. If all the sections of the balances table have been expanded (because you either clicked Show All or expanded each section individually), you can collapse the table and return to the summary view by clicking either Hide All or the "-" sign to its left.
Positive/Negative and Credit/Debit
- Positive/Negative: All values in the Current column are reflected as positive values unless the calculation for a specific balance field results in a negative number or money is due to meet certain requirements. In this case, the number will be reflected with a minus sign "-" in front of it.
- Credit/Debit: Certain field names will change depending on whether the value is positive (Credit) or negative (Debit). Whether the balance field indicates Credit or Debit, the amount is always represented as a positive value. For example, if you have money due to you from the execution of trades in your Margin account, the amount owed to you is displayed as a Margin Credit. If instead, you owe money from the execution of trades in your Margin account, the amount you owe is displayed as a Margin Debit. Both values display as positive numbers, and the field name (in this example, Margin Credit or Margin Debit) reflects whether the value is a credit or debit to your account.
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Now, let's delve into the concepts outlined in the provided article:
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Balance Description Update Frequency:
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Real-Time: Balances are updated instantaneously, reflecting values that change with market price fluctuations on underlying securities. It involves a complete recalculation based on position changes, trade executions, and money movement.
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Intraday: Balances are updated during the trading day, reflecting trade executions and money movement into and out of the account.
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Overnight: Balances are updated overnight after a nightly update of the account. Certain balance fields may only be updated overnight due to regulatory restrictions.
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Cash Available to Trade:
- The amount available to purchase securities in a Cash account without adding money. Executed Buy orders reduce this value, and executed Sell orders increase it.
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Cash (Core) Account:
- It represents the settlement position for trade activity and money movement, including core and other eligible additional Fidelity money markets. Executed Buy orders and cash withdrawals reduce the Core, while executed Sell orders and cash deposits increase it.
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Cash Credit/Cash Debit:
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Cash Credit (positive value): Reflects a credit from unsettled trades or deposits not yet swept into the core account.
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Cash Debit (negative value): An amount debited from the account at settlement.
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Uncollected Deposit:
- Recent deposits that have not gone through the bank collection process and are unavailable for online trading. The normal collection period is 4 business days.
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Committed to Open Orders:
- The dollar amount allocated to pending orders (e.g., Buy orders) that have not yet been executed. It decreases Cash Available to Trade.
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Settled Cash:
- The portion of the Cash (Core) balance representing the amount of securities that can be bought and sold without creating a Good Faith Violation. It includes proceeds from transactions settling today minus unsettled buy transactions, short equity proceeds settling today, and the intraday exercisable value of option positions.
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Positive/Negative and Credit/Debit:
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All values in the Current column are reflected as positive unless the calculation results in a negative number. A minus sign "-" is used for negative values.
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Certain field names change depending on whether the value is positive (Credit) or negative (Debit), but the amount is always represented as a positive value.
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Additional Details:
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For more detailed information about account balances, users can expand the balances table by clicking Show All or expand individual sections by clicking the "+" sign.
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The table can be collapsed to return to the summary view by clicking Hide All or the "-" sign.
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This comprehensive overview should provide a clear understanding of the key concepts related to balance descriptions, update frequencies, and various account balances in the context of a brokerage account.
