How to handle sale of partial lots of stock?

[Derek Atkins]

Well, it's also possible that the balance sheet is screwed up..
I'm assuming you're running 1.8 and not 1.9?

-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