Question about Lots and Capital Gains

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

Quoting Rich Bloch <richbl at gmail.com>:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm running 2.2.1, and I'm in the process of learning how to manage stock
> purchases/sales. However, I'm having a difficult time understanding how
> "lots" work.

Unfortunately Lots are not fully implemented at this time.

> There's a dialog accessed by View Lots off the main account window,
> which--not surprisingly--permits me to scrub and view stock lots. However,
> this dialog doesn't appear to do much else (either that, or I'm just not
> seeing any functional changes). So, here are my questions:
>
> --If I want to sell a stock, how does gnucash identify the stock lot--and
> it's basis--to determine capital gains?

It doesn't... Nor does it compute capital gains for you.

> --What accounting policy does gnucash use for determining capital gains? I
> believe FIFO is most typically used, though LIFO is also legal, as is lot
> selection.

None.  See above.  But the partial implementation is FIFO, IIRC.

> --Are there specific docs available that address how gnucash handles lots
> (in 2.x)? I spent some time picking through notes and conversations on
> gnucash.org and the wiki, and haven't really found anything definitive.

There may be a lots.txt somewhere.  But the only definitive source
would be, um, the source.

> Thanks much.
>
> --
> rich

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-derek

-- 
       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
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