Advanced portfolio

[Jethro Beekman]

I've seen a lot of discussion on Python. I think the last one that covered a lot
of aspects was in July 2011. There was not really a definitve conclusion as far
as I can tell. I'd rather spend time to get reports working in Python than
learning and working in Scheme. Thoughts?

Jethro

On 14-12-12 17:01, John Ralls wrote:
> 
> On Dec 14, 2012, at 3:56 PM, Jethro Beekman <gnucash at jbeekman.nl> wrote:
> 
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I've seen numerous requests over the years for a better advanced portfolio
>> report, also known as a brokerage statement. It would include other assests such
>> as cash and fixed assets. For example
>> http://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2008-February/023818.html and
>> https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=662118 . I don't think any progress
>> has been made, so I thought I'd get started on the improvement myself.
>>
>> Am I correct in assuming that no one is working on this? Are there any oddities
>> I should look out for while working on this?
>>
> 
> No, I don't think anyone is working on this.
> 
> Don't call it a "Brokerage Statement", though. That's a document from your broker telling you what they think is in your account and what transactions occurred over a given period (usually a month). It's one sort of source document that you'd use to reconcile your Gnucash accounts.
> 
> Some immediately obvious pitfalls:
> * There are (at least) 3 ways of accounting for realized gains/losses: Splits inside the sell transaction and splits outside of the transaction using or not using the "lots" mechanism.
> * There is no good way to tie dividend or interest income to an investment.
> * Some people (incorrectly under US tax law) book commissions and fees as separate splits to an expense account instead of netting them into the cost/proceeds.
> * There is no standard way to account for covered options.
> * There is no standard way to account for pass-through entities like S-corps and partnerships (limited or otherwise).
> * It is for most users a manual operation to update prices. It *can* be scripted, but few Gnucash users have the technical ability to do so.
> 
> It's not going to be easy. Searching Gnucash Reports in Bugzilla for "investment" || "portfolio" || "stock" in comments returns 23 open bugs.
> Good luck!
> 
> Regards,
> John Ralls
> 
>