Basis in Advanced Portfolio

[John Ralls]

On Apr 12, 2013, at 10:19 AM, Bill Michaelson <bill at cosi.com> wrote:

> On 04/12/2013 01:05 PM, John Ralls wrote:
>> On Apr 12, 2013, at 9:48 AM, "Bill Michaelson, Developer" <bill at cosi.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> I see clues about that I can change the method used for basis calculation (FIFO, average, LIFO).  But I can't seem to find the choice in the user interface to try setting it.  Seems like a dumb question, but well, there you have it.
>>> 
>>> Advice, anyone?
>> There are hooks in place for other basis calculation methods, but only FIFO is implemented.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> John Ralls
>> 
>> 
> Thanks for your reply John.  I'm disappointed because I thought I needed to change to FIFO to solve a problem.  I suspected I was getting average basis method.  I have a case where I record a spinoff by entering a split.  Prior to entering the transaction, the Advanced Portfolio report shows a basis that I expect - for the original purchase price of the share lots.  The split contains:
> 
> * a complete "sale" of all shares in the original company at the basis
>   price
> * a repurchase of the same number of shares at the new basis value
> * a purchase of shares in the spinoff company for cash equal to the
>   difference in basis
> 
> Thus, I intend to have the same basis spread over both sets of stock positions.
> 
> BUT
> 
> I find that the Advanced Portfolio report instead now shows a basis for the original company as halfway between the old and the new basis.  I can't imagine why.  I suspected it was some kind of averaging at play.  Now I don't know what to think.  I will have to keep a record of basis outside of GC, I suppose.  Can anyone explain what is happening?  Is it a bug or am I missing a key point?

Ah, sorry, I thought you were talking about the Lots mechanism in the engine. The APR has its own logic. You set the basis method in Options>General after creating the report.

Regards,
John Ralls