How to handle sale of partial lots of stock?
Derek Atkins
warlord at MIT.EDU
Thu Mar 16 10:41:16 EST 2006
Aha. See, this is why we ask that people create entries in bugzilla
and attach patches there -- so they wont get lost in inboxes.
Yeah, I see your patch now.. It got lost. (funny that!)
-derek
Quoting David G Hamblen <dhamblen at adelphia.net>:
> I ran into this problem a year ago, and was able to hack the source
> to get it working the way I liked. I posted to the developer group
> on 3/10/05 with the title "weighted average in Balance Sheet (patch)"
> At this point I don't recall what version of Gnucash it applied to,
> but I had various versions that applied to 1.8.10 and 1.9.x. My
> solution had to do with removing absolute values from the
> calculation. The files affected were
>
> commodity-utilities.scm
> report-utilities.scm
>
>
> In that same (or similar) thread I had posted a simple test file that
> demonstrated the problem
>
> Dave
>
> Derek Atkins wrote:
>
>> Okay, looking at the balance sheet in 1.9/SVN, when I reset to "Most Recent"
>> in the Price Source, it displays the 100 shares -> $2000, which is correct.
>> But yes, the Unrealized Gains are incorrect at $333.33.
>>
>> So... Could you file a bug report in bugzilla and attach this
>> data file to the bug report?
>>
>> -derek
>>
>> Quoting John Schoffstall <john.schoffstall at pobox.com>:
>>
>>> Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>
>>>> Could you send me the test data file you're using? Feel free
>>>> to send it off-list and just attach it to the message.
>>>
>>>
>>> Attached.
>>>
>>> Thanks for helping with this!
>>>
>>> == John
>>>
>>>> -derek
>>>>
>>>> Quoting John Schoffstall <john.schoffstall at pobox.com>:
>>>>
>>>>> Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Well, it's also possible that the balance sheet is screwed up..
>>>>>> I'm assuming you're running 1.8 and not 1.9?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 1.8.10, the version being distributed with Debian etch.
>>>>>
>>>>> == John
>>>>>
>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>
>>>>>> John Schoffstall <john.schoffstall at pobox.com> writes:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> You're using Weighted Balance for the stock price. Don't do that.
>>>>>>>> You want to use the "most recent pricedb entry" and make sure you
>>>>>>>> have a pricedb entry for the $20/share
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Okay, I did that. Now the balance sheet looks like this:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Assets
>>>>>>> Assets $0.00
>>>>>>> Investments: $3995.00
>>>>>>> Assets $3995.00
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Liabilities
>>>>>>> Liabilities $0.00
>>>>>>> Unrealized Gains(Losses) $333.33
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Equity
>>>>>>> Equity $0.00
>>>>>>> Opening Balances: $2000.00
>>>>>>> Retained earnings: $0.00
>>>>>>> Net Profit: $995.00
>>>>>>> Total Equity: $2995.00
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Liabilities & Equity: $3328.33
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But Unrealized Gains should be $1000, not $333.33. Price db
>>>>>>> entries are $10 for 3/14 and $20 for 3/15-present.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> == John
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>> Quoting John Schoffstall <john.schoffstall at pobox.com>:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Um, it should work just fine if you put in the correct
>>>>>>>>>> gain/loss splits.
>>>>>>>>>> Can you show an example of where it's failing, please?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Create a GnuCash file with Assets, Expense, Income, and Equity
>>>>>>>>> accounts. Create a stock account under the Brokerage account,
>>>>>>>>> "Digital Datawack" (DWAK). We'll use these accounts:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Assets:Investments:Brokerage
>>>>>>>>> Assets:Investments:Brokerage:DWAK
>>>>>>>>> Expense:Commissions
>>>>>>>>> Income:Capital Gains
>>>>>>>>> Equity:Opening Balances
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Enter a transaction for 200 shares of Digital Datawack at $10 a
>>>>>>>>> share as an opening balance:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Date Action Account Shares Price
>>>>>>>>> Debit Credit
>>>>>>>>> 03/14/2006 Buy Assets:Investments:Brokerage:DWAK 200
>>>>>>>>> 10 2000
>>>>>>>>> Equity:Opening Balances
>>>>>>>>> 2000
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Our balance sheet looks like this:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Assets
>>>>>>>>> Assets $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Investments: $2000.00 Assets $2000.00
>>>>>>>>> Liabilities
>>>>>>>>> Liabilities $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Unrealized Gains(Losses) $0.00
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Equity
>>>>>>>>> Equity $0.00 Opening Balances: $2000.00
>>>>>>>>> Retained earnings: $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Net Profit: $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Total Equity: $2000.00
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Liabilities & Equity: $2000.00
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Digital Datawack doubles in a day! We'll lock in profits and sell
>>>>>>>>> half our shares:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Date Action Account Shares Price
>>>>>>>>> Debit Credit
>>>>>>>>> 03/15/2006 Sell Assets:Investments:Brokerage
>>>>>>>>> 1995
>>>>>>>>> Expenses:Commissions
>>>>>>>>> 5 Assets:Investments:Brokerage:DWAK
>>>>>>>>> 1000
>>>>>>>>> Assets:Investments:Brokerage:DWAK -100 20
>>>>>>>>> 2000
>>>>>>>>> Income:Capital Gains
>>>>>>>>> 1000
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> But now our balance sheet looks like this:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Assets
>>>>>>>>> Assets $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Investments: $3661.67 Assets $3661.67
>>>>>>>>> Liabilities
>>>>>>>>> Liabilities $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Unrealized Gains(Losses) $0.00
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Equity
>>>>>>>>> Equity $0.00 Opening Balances: $2000.00
>>>>>>>>> Retained earnings: $0.00
>>>>>>>>> Net Profit: $995.00
>>>>>>>>> Total Equity: $2995.00
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Liabilities & Equity: $2995.00
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Drilling down into the balance sheet a little, it seems that
>>>>>>>>> everything is correct, except that our remaining shares of DWAK are
>>>>>>>>> being assigned the value of $1666.67. Huh?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> So: what's going on here? What am I missing?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> == John
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Quoting John Schoffstall <john.schoffstall at pobox.com>:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> [ack, replied to Derek instead of to the list, sorry]
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for the fast reply!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Yes, I read that, and set up the splits as described. It works if
>>>>>>>>>>> I sell exactly the number of shares that I own. But if
>>>>>>>>>>> -NUM_SHARES is less than my total owned shares, my balance sheet
>>>>>>>>>>> will be unbalanced as a result. It remains unbalanced until I
>>>>>>>>>>> sell the rest of the shares of that stock account.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> == John
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> You should read the concepts guide.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v1.8/C/gnucash-guide/invest_sell1.html
>>>>>>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Quoting John Schoffstall <john.schoffstall at pobox.com>:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greetings! Running 1.8.10 on Debian etch. New GnuCash user, new
>>>>>>>>>>>>> list user, new Linux user.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've been climbing the GnuCash learning curve for the past
>>>>>>>>>>>>> week, been happy with the software, and making good progress
>>>>>>>>>>>>> until now. I've hit a snag I can't get past, though.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> How do you sell a partial lot of stock -- e.g., selling only
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 100 of 200 owned shares -- without unbalancing your balance
>>>>>>>>>>>>> sheet? I've tried creating two lots, each of 100 shares and
>>>>>>>>>>>>> only selling one, but that still whacks the balance sheet.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> The examples in the docs all seem to show only the purchase and
>>>>>>>>>>>>> sale of equivalent amounts. I've googled the net and the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> mailing list archives, but can't find an answer I can
>>>>>>>>>>>>> understand.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> This is a common situation; there must be an answer. Can
>>>>>>>>>>>>> anyone help?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> == John
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
--
Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)
URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/ PP-ASEL-IA N1NWH
warlord at MIT.EDU PGP key available
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