Setting up an investment account

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

On Mon, July 25, 2016 9:29 pm, Elmar Schmeisser wrote:
> OK - I entered TSP for symbol, etc. and behold!  the OK lights up :)
>
> But now it gets complicated once I am past that stop point.
>
> Now I am lost again.  I think I want to put in equity:opening balances
> the cash value of the fund as of the end of last year, and in the TSP
> account, use that cash to buy the correct number of shares and the
> correct price for 1JAN16.  But GC goes totally weird on me at this
> point, seeing the beginning balance as shares rather than money, and
> adding a whole bunch of splits that make no sense to my ignorant mind.
> Obviously I am missing something fundamental here ...

Yeah...  So enter it in from the fund account.  When you enter it in, only
enter in TWO of the three options (#shares, price, value).  GnuCash will
compute the third for you.  Note that GnuCash only stores the #shares and
Value; the price is computed on the fly so it may, due to rounding, change
from what you enter.

So for your opening balance, I would suggest you enter in the #shares and
total value as of Jan 1 as a transaction from Equity:Opening Balances.

> - Elmar

-derek

>
> On 7/25/2016 8:56 PM, Derek Atkins wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Mon, July 25, 2016 8:47 pm, Elmar Schmeisser wrote:
>>> Your reply fills me with hope - yes, it says USD.  But if I select,
>>> say,
>>> FUND, and go to "new"  I hit a dead end.  TSP L-income has no symbol
>>
>> then make one up...
>>
>>>       and
>>> no code that I am aware of, nor any quote source.  See
>>> http://www.tspfolio.com/tsplincomefund
>>
>> Again, not an issue.  It's not a requirement.
>>
>>> I also see "Warning:Finance::Quote not installed properly" - Elmar
>>
>> Also not an issue; a warning you can safely ignore.
>>
>> -derek
>>
>>> On 7/25/2016 8:31 PM, Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I'm back at a keyboard now.
>>>>
>>>> So if your "Account Type" has "Mutual Fund" selected, then up in the
>>>> Identification section of the Edit Account  dialog should have a
>>>> Security/currency selected -- what is in that box?  My guess is that
>>>> it's
>>>> USD, which would cause your issue.  If it's NOT USD, then what exactly
>>>> does it say?
>>>>
>>>> -derek
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, July 25, 2016 7:55 pm, Elmar Schmeisser wrote:
>>>>> Mutual Fund
>>>>>
>>>>> - elmar
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7/25/2016 7:44 PM, Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>> Under Edit Account, what is the Account Type?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent on my mobile. Please forgive any typos.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----- Reply message -----
>>>>>> From: "Elmar Schmeisser" <eschmeisser at nc.rr.com>
>>>>>> To: "Derek Atkins" <derek at ihtfp.com>, "GNU Cash User"
>>>>>> <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>>>> Subject: Setting up an investment account
>>>>>> Date: Mon, Jul 25, 2016 6:11 PM
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To be specific, this is the federal Thrift Savings Plan, and
>>>>>> specifically the L-income fund, so I have no idea what the
>>>>>> "commodity"
>>>>>> is or how to set it.  All I see under "edit account" that might
>>>>>> apply
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> "smallest fraction - use commodity  value".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 7/25/2016 6:02 PM, Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>>> So account type is mutual fund and the account commodity is....???
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sent on my mobile. Please forgive any typos.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ----- Reply message -----
>>>>>>> From: "Elmar Schmeisser" <eschmeisser at nc.rr.com>
>>>>>>> To: "Derek Atkins" <derek at ihtfp.com>, "GNU Cash User"
>>>>>>> <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>>>>> Subject: Setting up an investment account
>>>>>>> Date: Mon, Jul 25, 2016 5:49 PM
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yes - it is set as a mutual fund
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 7/25/2016 5:33 PM, Derek Atkins wrote:
>>>>>>>> Did you set the commodity on the account to your stock/fund?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sent on my mobile. Please forgive any typos.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ----- Reply message -----
>>>>>>>> From: "Elmar Schmeisser" <eschmeisser at nc.rr.com>
>>>>>>>> To: "GNU Cash User" <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>>>>>> Subject: Setting up an investment account
>>>>>>>> Date: Mon, Jul 25, 2016 5:24 PM
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I am trying to set up an investment account that has an opening
>>>>>>>> balance
>>>>>>>> of "x" shares at "y" price resulting in "z" cash value.  But when
>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>> enter the actual price per share and the number of shares into the
>>>>>>>> mutual fund line, GC forces the share price to 1 rather than what
>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>> entered and teh number of shares to the cash equivalent.  Why does
>>>>>>>> GC
>>>>>>>> do
>>>>>>>> this and how can I get it to let me insert the price per share? -
>>>>>>>> Elmar
>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>> -----
>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>


-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant