[GNC] How to record a stock spinoff?

[John Ralls]

> On Feb 13, 2026, at 14:52, Kalpesh Patel <kalpesh.patel at usa.net> wrote:
> 
> Attached is how I entered spinoff of BHF from MET in 2017, which I don’t think is right as all cost basis listed are not correct …

You’ve also recorded fractional BHF shares instead of the cash-in-lieu you got.

Applying the ABC News columnist’s closing price method, on July 18 2017 BHF closed at $70.00 and MET at 49.32; you got a share of BHF for every 11 MET you owned, so the aggregate is 11 * 49.32 + 70 = 612.52. 70.00 / 612.52 = 0.114 so that’s the portion of your basis in MET that transferred to BHF, and your basis in MET is reduced by the same amount.

If the original basis in MET was $14.25/share then the new basis is .886 * 14.25 = 12.626 and the basis in BHT is .114 * 14.25 * 11 = 17.87.

107.22 + 18.39 - 112.09 = 
Supposing that you got $70/share for the .2627 shares of BHT your capital gain was (70.00 - 17.87) * .2627 = 13.70. 

You could record all of that in GnuCash with 

Spin off BHF 6.2727 shares               Assets:Broker:BHF          6       17.87        107.22
Reduction in Basis                             Assets:Broker:MET                                                       112.09
Cash-in-lieu on .2727 shares             Assets:Broker:Cash                                      18.39
                                                           Income:CapGain                                                             13.52

It didn’t quite add up right — there’s an 18-cent difference that I took out of the cap gain split to get it to balance.

Regards,
John Ralls