Importing from Quicken

[Richard Ullger]

Charles Day wrote:
> 
> That is a good question. I have not tried to enter shorts or covers in
> GnuCash. Off the top of my head, it seems like you would need a "Borrowed
> Shares:Security Name" liability account for which the underlying "commodity"
> (GnuCash term) is the security being sold short. Transfer shares from that
> account into your portfolio and immediately sell them. That would be the
> short, leaving you with the cash you got from the sale plus a liability of
> the borrowed shares.  For the cover, buy shares for the liability account.
> 

When you short shares, your broker borrows the shares on your behalf and 
sells them. You do not actually realise any cash for the sale so you do 
not have that cash to go and buy more shares. When you buy to cover you 
receive the difference between the sale and the cover if there was a 
gain or your account is debited with the difference if there was a loss.

Richard.