Trading Accounts

David Carlson david.carlson.417 at gmail.com
Mon Feb 12 21:27:32 EST 2018


Be sure to compare what Gnucash generates to what your broker reports to
the government.  Gnucash has trouble calculating the net gain that the IRS
wants to see.

Many of us still use spreadsheet s to compare to the brokerage reports that
are sent to the IRS.

David C

On Feb 12, 2018 2:27 PM, "Les" <lelliott5 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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> 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>
>>> 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/~selinger/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>> 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>>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>              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>>
>>>>>>              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>>
>>>>>> 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
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                      gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>                      gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>>>>>                      <mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>>>>                      To update your subscription preferences or to
>>>>>>                      unsubscribe:
>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>> <https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user>
>>>>>>                      If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>>>>                      https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists
>>>>>> <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists> for
>>>>>>                      more information.
>>>>>>                      -----
>>>>>>                      Please remember to CC this list on all your
>>>>>> replies.
>>>>>>                      You can do this by using Reply-To-List or
>>>>>> Reply-All.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                  _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                  gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>                  gnucash-user at gnucash.org <mailto:
>>>>>> gnucash-user at gnucash.o
>>>>>> rg>
>>>>>>                  To update your subscription preferences or to
>>>>>> unsubscribe:
>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>> <https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user>
>>>>>>                  If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>>>>                  https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists
>>>>>> <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists> for more
>>>>>>                  information.
>>>>>>                  -----
>>>>>>                  Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>                  You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>              _______________________________________________
>>>>>>              gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>              gnucash-user at gnucash.org <mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.o
>>>>>> rg>
>>>>>>              To update your subscription preferences or to
>>>>>> unsubscribe:
>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>> <https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user>
>>>>>>              If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>>>>              https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists
>>>>>>              <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists> for more
>>>>>>              information.
>>>>>>              -----
>>>>>>              Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>              You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>          _______________________________________________
>>>>>>          gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>          gnucash-user at gnucash.org <mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>>>>          To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>>>          https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>> <https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user>
>>>>>>          If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>>>>          https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists
>>>>>>          <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists> for more
>>>>>>          information.
>>>>>>          -----
>>>>>>          Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>          You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>      _______________________________________________
>>>>>>      gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>      gnucash-user at gnucash.org <mailto:gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
>>>>>>      To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>>>      https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>> <https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user>
>>>>>>      If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>>>>      https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists
>>>>>>      <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists> for more
>>>>>> information.
>>>>>>      -----
>>>>>>      Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>      You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
>>>>> -----
>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
>>>> -----
>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
>>> -----
>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> gnucash-user mailing list
>> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see
>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
>> -----
>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>
>
>
>


More information about the gnucash-user mailing list