[GNC] Tracking capital gains, commissions and the Trial Balance report

[Daniel Torstenson]

Yes, I should be clear that I don't really see a problem with GnuCash,
rather the "problem" is in understanding how to handle these things. I
wonder if maybe the wiki should mention it since I think anyone who is used
to tracking investments in personal finance software like Quicken or Money
or whatever, will be expecting to just enter commissions and capital gains
and can get confused when the Trial Balance report doesn't balance. In
fact, in those threads, it seemed some people thought the Trial Balance
report was wrong, or that GnuCash was broken because it wasn't doing what
they expected.

So right now, I have two "commissions" accounts: (1) Expenses:Commissions
(expense) and (2) Capital Gains:Commissions (income)

Using Chris' method, I would have (1) Expenses:Commissions (expense) and
(2) Expenses:Commissions:Less Applied to Basis (expense)

It looks like you're suggesting (1) Assets:XYZ:Commissions, but I'm not
sure what the other account to balance it would be. A subaccount of capital
gains, or a subaccount of commissions?

Thanks for helping a new guy.



On Tue, Dec 21, 2021 at 7:46 AM Michael or Penny Novack <
stepbystepfarm at comcast.net> wrote:

> On 12/20/2021 9:34 PM, Daniel Torstenson wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I've been looking into tracking my capital gains and commissions for a
> > brokerage account, and I'm running into an issue that I see others have
> run
> > into. Namely, I'd like to account for my commissions and also keep track
> of
> > my capital gains, as my brokerage reports them (and as the IRS expects
> > them).
> >
> >   I found a few threads on this topic, but didn't really see a good
> > resolution.
> >
> Your actual problem is not in TRACKING how much spent on commissions but
> in assuming that you need have it grouped with expenses as well as being
> part of the basis of the investment << as needed for capital gains tax
> purposes >>
>
> And yes, this not a specific gnucash "problem" but a double entry
> problem as you are allowed only one CoA hierarchy.
>
> Something to keep in mind that you perhaps haven't realized. One of the
> things you can usually change with "report options" is the title of a
> report. So let's say that you have a number of investments and each has
> an associated "commissions" sub account. That means you can show your
> commissions cost by running a report that will allow you to select JUST
> these accounts and you can make what shows as the title of the report
> "Total Cost of Commissions" or whatever you like.
>
> No, not under "Expense" because it isn't an expense (legally, for
> reporting purposes) but part of the cost related to acquiring the asset.
>
> Michael D Novack
>
>
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