[GNC] Enable Online Stock Price Updating in GnuCash

[Christopher Lam]

Isn't this "unrealised gains/losses"?

Jai: the "proper" way to record transactions during shorting is still
unsolved, but should be similar to buying/selling stock, except the
balances are negative. Broker expense fees remain positive.

On Wed, 9 Jun 2021, 10:28 am Geoff, <cleanoutmyshed at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Christopher
>
> Thanks for pointing out these issues.
>
> My reasoning for the need to book a future liability for a short sell
> was to record the obligation to deliver the short sold stock at a future
> date.  Perhaps "contingent liability" would be a better term?
>
> Anyway, I'll leave that to the experts.
>
> Regards
>
> Geoff
> =====
>
> On 9/06/2021 11:34 am, Christopher Lam wrote:
> > Hi Geoff
> >
> > On Wed, 9 Jun 2021, 9:27 am Geoff, <cleanoutmyshed at gmail.com
> > <mailto:cleanoutmyshed at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> >
> >     Gnucash will permit you to run a negative balance on a stock, see
> >     attached screenshot.
> >
> >
> > The UI will allow you to record transactions when short-selling, but
> > bear in mind:
> > - the current portfolio and advanced portfolio reports cannot handle
> > negative stock balances; the reports will bail out.
> > - it's likely very wrong to record a single transaction that sells more
> > stock than your current holding; you'll need to sell current balance
> > (and record cap gains/losses) *then* record a separate short-sell
> > transaction to achieve a negative balance.
> > - recent releases (4.5? or current daily builds) have an experimental
> > IFRS cost basis report which aims to calculate the average cost base,
> > according to some jurisdictions eg Canadian. It's not guaranteed correct
> > yet.
> >
> >
> >     Note that I am not an accountant, but I think you should also book a
> >     future liability for when the short falls due.
> >
> >
> > Why?
>