Trading Accounts

Les lelliott5 at gmail.com
Mon Feb 12 15:27:31 EST 2018


I ran a balance sheet for 2016 and compared the two.  Everything looks 
the same until I reach the equity account.  Here is where the difference 
occurs (and I completely missed it initially).  In the GC file without 
the use of Trading Accounts, I have unrealized gains, whereas in the GC 
file using Trading Accounts, I have trading gains.

I think I need to start using Trading Accounts, if I want to obtain a 
more accurate set of accounts.

For what it is worth, I have been relying on my brokerage accounts to 
determine gains and losses for tax purposes.

I am thinking about copying my production GC file to my test computer 
and run balance sheet and income and expense for ye 2017 and compare.  I 
think it will be significant.


Les
p.s.: I did read the the link from Christopher.


On 02/12/2018 12:05 PM, David Carlson wrote:
> If you read Christopher's links, they go into the theory behind the 
> development of trading accounts.
>
> I personally do not need them for my use, so I am not conversant with 
> how they work.
>
> I think that you may need them, based on the fact that you are looking 
> into using them, but I cannot help with details.
>
> Perhaps another user that does use them can chime in (hint Hint)
>
> David C
>
> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:12 AM, Les <lelliott5 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:lelliott5 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I use, in addition to USD. AUD, HKD, CAD, CNY and SGD.  I buy in
>     tranches for average cost.  So, not sure that means I have
>     complicated trades but I make sure I never have any orphan
>     accounts. I checked my test file for capital and it did not list
>     any. Although, at the bottom of my accounts list, there is a list
>     of currencies and exchanges with totals for each. But, again,
>     there isn't any difference in income and expenses.
>
>     Les
>
>     On 02/12/2018 08:18 AM, David Carlson wrote:
>
>         UnfOrtumately I cannot read the article that zchristofer cited
>         from my
>         clunky Tablet ant tablet really messes up mystery composition
>         skills.
>
>         I think that if you have always correctly calculated every
>         capital gain in
>         every closing transaction and never had any ambiguously
>         matched lots there
>         will not be any overall difference with or without trading
>         accounts.
>
>         I would guess trading accounts help the most for users with more
>         complicated trades.
>
>         I am sure that you would need to drill down to the capital
>         gains and
>         incomes in closing transactions to see where the  T A could make a
>         difference.
>
>         David C
>
>
>
>         On Feb 12, 2018 6:53 AM, "Christopher Lam"
>         <christopher.lck at gmail.com <mailto:christopher.lck at gmail.com>>
>         wrote:
>
>             Hi Les
>
>             Really interesting question, with a simple and a
>             complicated answer.
>
>             Simple answer: I think Trial Balance would differ if you
>             deal with
>             multiple currencies or stock (i.e. multiple conversions
>             with differing
>             dates and prices).
>
>             Complicated answer:
>
>             https://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/accounting/tutorial.html
>             <https://www.mathstat.dal.ca/%7Eselinger/accounting/tutorial.html>
>
>             https://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/accounting/gnucash.html
>             <https://www.mathstat.dal.ca/%7Eselinger/accounting/gnucash.html>
>
>             C
>
>             On 12/02/18 20:41, Les wrote:
>
>                 I have a "test" laptop with GC 2.6.17 running the
>                 latest Linux Mint.  I
>                 opened GC and tried using Trading Accounts, did check
>                 and repair, noted the
>                 totals of assets, liabilities, income and expense
>                 before and after.  There
>                 was no difference.  I then ran a Income and Expense
>                 report for year 2016
>                 (which is the same as my production GC and compared
>                 the two.  Again there
>                 was no difference in totals between the two GC files.
>
>                 So, exactly what does Trading Accounts actually do? I
>                 noticed that when
>                 viewing a stock transaction using auto-split view,
>                 there are added lines
>                 showing trading: currencies and trading: exchange and
>                 stock symbol, that
>                 does not appear without trading accounts.
>
>                 Thanks,
>
>                 Les
>
>
>                 On 02/12/2018 04:41 AM, David Carlson wrote:
>
>                     It would be more fun to make a test copy of an
>                     existing file! 😁
>
>                     David C
>
>                     On Feb 12, 2018 4:13 AM, "Les"
>                     <lelliott5 at gmail.com <mailto:lelliott5 at gmail.com>
>                     <mailto:
>                     lelliott5 at gmail.com <mailto:lelliott5 at gmail.com>>>
>                     wrote:
>
>                          Thanks, Adrien, David & Christoph for your
>                     replies.  I think
>                          opening a new GC file and testing Trading
>                     Accounts is a good idea.
>
>                          Regards,
>
>                          Les
>
>
>                          On 02/12/2018 01:40 AM, Christoph R wrote:
>
>                              And run “Actions -> Check & Repair ->
>                     Check & Repair All” to
>                              add the needed splits to existing
>                     transactions.
>
>                              Gruß,
>                              Christoph
>
>                                  Am 12.02.2018 um 01:27 schrieb David
>                     Carlson
>                                  <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
>                                  <mailto:david.carlson.417 at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>>>:
>
>                                  I think that if you want to stop
>                     using trading account s
>                                  it is difficult to
>                                  turn them off.
>
>                                  I would set up a test file to try
>                     them on until you decide
>                                  whether you like
>                                  them.
>
>                                  David  C
>
>                                  On Feb 11, 2018 5:39 PM, "Adrien
>                     Monteleone"
>                                  <adrien.monteleone at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:adrien.monteleone at gmail.com>
>                                  <mailto:adrien.monteleone at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:adrien.monteleone at gmail.com>>>
>                                  wrote:
>
>                                      Yes, you can add trading accounts
>                     (or any other
>                                      accounts) as needed to your
>                                      current file.
>
>                                      Regards,
>                                      Adrien
>
>                                      On Sun, Feb 11, 2018 at 4:18 PM, Les
>                                      <lelliott5 at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:lelliott5 at gmail.com>
>                     <mailto:lelliott5 at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:lelliott5 at gmail.com>>>
>                     wrote:
>
>                                          I have been using GC for
>                     several years, and
>                                          although I trade stocks, I
>                                          have never used the "Trading
>                     Accounts" option.
>                                          Can I just start using
>
>                                      it,
>
>                                          or would I need to start a
>                     new GC file?
>
>                                          Thanks,
>
>                                          Les
>
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