Reecording stock buys

[Derek Atkins]

Richard <Solar.Debris at Verizon.net> writes:

> I'm truly confused about recording stock transactions. And, for that
> matter, the way Gnucash handles stocks and brokerage accounts.
> 
> 
> If I have a brokerage account, would I set up two accounts in gnucash
> (one for cash and one for stocks). The way the sample accounts are set
> up seems to imply that I'd have an account for each different stock
> within my brokerage account. 

That is correct.  Gnucash requires one account per commodity.

> When buying a stock, how do I record it the purchase and the commission?
> I tried making the appropriate entries under Shares and price, but
> gnucash likes to calculate the result then replace shares with that
> result and the price with "1". It's just weird. Do I use a split
> transaction to record the commission? 

This is because you failed to set the commodity in the stock account.
In the account tree window, select the stock account, then click on
the "Edit" button.  You'll see an entry for the account commodity.
You need to "Select" that item and create a commodity for each stock
(and set the commodity for each stock account).

To answer your final question: yes, you do use a split transaction to
record the commission.

> Richard <Solar.Debris at Verizon.net>

-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
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available