[GNC] Incorrect Trial Balance Amounts

[John Ralls]

> On Jun 13, 2021, at 5:39 PM, Volker Englisch <volker at englisch.us> wrote:
> 
> Hi there,
> 
> I would like to check if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm correct in my assumption that the Trial Balance report isn't displaying correct amounts in all cases.
> 
> I'm using Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS with GnuCash 3.8.
> 
> I started keeping track of some stock and entered the number of shares on Jan. 1, 2021, for example.  Let's say I have 100 shares worth $2 each.
>    Asset:Investment:MyStock                200 (for 100 shares at $2)
>                Equity:Opening Balance                    200
> 
> After a while (April 1st) I sell all shares and enter the corresponding transaction.  The price for the shares increased to $3 since I started tracking (I wish!):
>     Asset:Current Asset:Checking Account        300
>                 Asset:Investment:MyStock 300 (for 100 shares, $100 realized gains)
> 
> When I run the trial balance report for the day I first entered MyStock everything looks good: $200 debit / $200 credit.  The same is true for the day I sold MyStock: $300 debit / $200 credit, the difference is my gain.  However, when I run the trial balance for 03/01 for instance, the trial balance shows $300 debit / $300 credit with $100 listed as unrealized gains.
> 
> What seems to be happening is that the TB calculates the value of the stock based on the last price entered in the price editor rather than using the last price prior to the date for which the TB is run.  With two entries in the price editor DB, one for 01/01 and one for 04/01 I would expect the price for 01/01 to be used until 03/31.
> 
> Am I doing something wrong?  It's possible I'm not understanding precisely how the TB is coming up with the numbers.
> 
> Thank you!

Did you record an income split for the capital gain? You mention the gain but I don't see the split for it in your example transaction. See https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v4/C/gnucash-guide/chapter_capgain.html for details about how to record capital gains/losses and why you should do so.

As for price, the default in the Trial Balance Report is Average Cost (which isn't really, but the algorithm behind it is tailored specifically for the Trial Balance Report). That looks at the actual amounts and values in the splits; the Nearest in Time and Latest Price price sources consult the pricedb and won't balance, so don't use them.

Regards,
John Ralls