Help with transactions for sale of stock

[David T.]

David C.,

While your comments are true in general, I have found in recent experiments that the Scrub Lots feature can provide accurate gains data, and at the least provide a good point from which to build. 

The situation I have found that results in accurate gains being entered is if there is a sale of an entire mutual fund holding for which there is no commission charged. In this situation, the result is a gain transaction that matches my brokerage statement on gains.

I have hesitated to try the feature on more complex situations (e.g., stocks which have multiple lots, stocks which have changed their basis due to splits or spinoffs, etc.), since I receive gains information from my brokerage. It is easier overall for me to manually enter the gains information based on what the brokerage experts tell me, so that’s what I do.

Cheers,
David T.


> On Apr 24, 2016, at 11:40 AM, david.carlson.417 at gmail.com wrote:
> 
>    Pam,
> You have found out that GnuCash does not automatically calculate your net capital gains that you with your brokers help must report to your taxing authorities.
> The main reason for this is that there is not a "one size fits all" formula to calculate that.  To do it accurately you need to be tracking 'lots' to determine whether the gain or loss is short term or long term according to the instructions that you gave to your broker before the sale as well as knowing the exact rules where you live.
> Many of us use a separate spreadsheet to make those calculations or rely on our broker and/or accountant for those numbers.
> I use the method that results in a correct trial balance within GnuCash but I think some users use the other method.
> David C
> 
> 
> Sent from my LG G Pad 7.0 LTE, an AT&T 4G LTE tablet
> 
> 
> 
> ------ Original message------From: hppweuDate: Fri, Apr 22, 2016 12:06 PMTo: gnucash-user at gnucash.org;Subject:Help with transactions for sale of stock
> The problem I am having is with entering stock transactions so that the debit & credits are equal on the trial balance report and the capital gain matches what is reported. on my brokerage statements.I am new to this list, but have been using GC for about 1 1/2 yrs. I have read all of the documentation and have searched this list for a similar thread.  I started my books at the beginning of last year, entering all of my personal finances, including all transactions from my brokerage account.  All of my gains, losses, cost basis, etc. match my brokerage statements.  The problem is that the debit and credit are not equal on my trial balance report. In order to check that my methodology was not faulty, I started with a new file and followed the the examples in Chapter 8 - Investments, in the tutorial and concepts guide.  In stepping through it very carefully, I have found that there is an inconsistency in the: Example - Sale of stock with profit.  The text in the paragraph does not use the same values for profit as what is shown in Table 8.2  and and the screenshot immediately after it. In the text it states   . . . and finally PROFIT is $1525 (GROSS_SALE - TOTALBUY - COMMISSION).In the table and the screenshot, the value $1600 is used.The difference between the two values is whether the $75 commission is included in the profit calculation.If I follow the example using a profit of $1,525, I get the following results:    The Trial Balance report shows the debit total = $13,675.24 and credit total = $13,600.24 (a difference of $75)    The Advanced Portfolio report shows a Realized Gain = $1,525 and Total Return = $1,525    The Income:Cap Gain (Long):AMZN = $1,525When I follow the example using a profit of $1600, I get the following results:    The Trial Balance report shows the debit total = credit total    The Advanced Portfolio report shows a Realized Gain = $1,525 and Total Return = $1,525    The Income:Cap Gain (Long):AMZN = $1,600So if I include the commission expense in my profit calculation, my Income:Cap Gain (Long):AMZN account will agree with what gets reported by my brokerage statement and with what is on the advanced portfolio report, BUT my trial balance report WILL NOT balance.And if don't include the commission in my profit calculation, my Income:Cap Gain (Long):AMZN account WILL NOT agree with what gets reported by my brokerage statement and with what is on the advanced portfolio report, but my trail balance report will balance.Could anyone offer advice about what I am thinking or doing wrong?Thanks in advance,Pam_______________________________________________gnucash-user mailing listgnucash-user at gnucash.orghttps://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user-----Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
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