Re: [GNC] More Fun with Lots
Geoff, Thanks for the directions. I'll give them a try. One thing I'm having trouble with is that I don't see how to handle a sell that covers more than one lot. If I have a Sell for 200 shares, and I assign it to a 50 share lot, the manager notes that the lot has (150) shares available on it, but does nothing to allow them to go to other lots. How do you convince the manager to release the remaining 150 shares to assign to a different lot, other than Scrub? You mention that the ">>" creates Gain transactions; I have found that clicking on a lot to view its contents can also trigger this process, resulting in multiple spurious and duplicative transactions for the same gain. I find this annoying. All of this is exacerbated by the fact that my brokerage has a penchant for combining multiple lots into one gain value, leaving me to try and figure out WHICH small lot combination will give me the same final result as theirs. Believe me, when you have one value on the statement that incorporates two gains and one loss, it gets *very* confusing, especially since GnuCash orders the splits debit-credits (or vice versa--I can never remember which). My eyes glaze over at trying to figure out which figure goes where. My current approach is to go back and combine the different gains and losses into a single transaction, which then allows for a single amount to transfer to the proper income account. This at least allows me to use GNC's mathematical functions to verify the final amount. Of course, if I get it wrong, then I have to go back and delete all the spurious gains, recombine the spuriously-split sell transactions, and try again. In addition, I have a number of corner situations in which GNC calculates basis differently from my brokerage. For example, when a stock split results in a cash in lieu transaction, my brokerage reduces the underlying basis by the original basis for that fractional share, whereas GNC reduces the basis by the total amount received from the cash in lieu transaction. So, if I sold off a half share for $10 that had an original basis of $5, the brokerage reduces the basis by $5, while GNC reduces it by $10. I'm not sure which approach is proper, but I'd tend to vote with the financial institution who reports my capital gains (and that of all its other customers) to the government. As I write all this, I begin to think that it might just be easier for me to drop GNC's lots functions altogether and create the gains manually based on the broker's assertions. That obviously violates that whole "these are MY books, not my broker's, and the two should independently agree"--but then again, on all of this, I end up trusting the broker's numbers anyhow. I do appreciate that it is mostly possible to use these features to confirm the numbers, but it's the 5% that don't line up that render the entire enterprise less than successful. Thanks anyway, David On 8/25/2020 10:17 PM, Geoff wrote: Yes David there are some "interesting" behaviours within the Lot Viewer, however with patience and perseverance you should be able to master it, and one day you will sit back and wonder what all the fuss was about. I have successfully used Lots for all sorts of corporate actions including returns of capital, fractional consolidations, demergers, dividend reinvestments, and partial sales spanning multiple lots. It can be relied upon to calculate the correct capital gains/losses on each lot. One of my accounts has over 200 lots in it. The only weakness I have encountered is that it doesn't include brokerage and other charges, and there is a workaround for this (nett pricing). Here are some tips: Read (and re-read) this excellent guide: https://codesmythe.gitbooks.io/gnucash-guide/content/en/ch_invest.html. The team that wrote it deserve a medal! NEVER EVER click on "Scrub Account" - unless you have a simple series of Buys & Sells that you are happy to treat on a FIFO basis. Start with a blank slate. Everything the Lot Viewer does is completely reversible. Delete all of the "Realized Gain/Loss" transactions it creates in your register, and then delete all the Lots it created by selecting them one at a time and hitting the Delete button in the Lot Viewer. Manually create a new Lot for each of your "Buy" splits: (1) Use the "New Lot" button (2) Select the newly created Lot (in the top panel) (3) Select the "Buy" split (in the bottom left panel) (4) Hit the ">>" button. Manually allocate all of your "Sell" splits to your newly created Lots: (1) Select the "Buy" Lot (in the top panel) (2) Select the correct "Sell" split(s) (in the bottom left panel) (4) Hit the ">>" button - this is the magic step that calculates the Gain/Loss and creates a corresponding "Realized Gain/Loss" transaction in the register. Resist the temptation to click on the "Scrub" button. Review all the "Realized Gain/Loss" transactions in the register. Replace the
Re: [GNC] More Fun with Lots
Hi Geoff, feel free to analyse the Lot Viewer report (visible with gnucash --extra) and offer any suggestions. It was designed to assist AP/AR lot usage, and could be augmented to assist STOCK use of lots (afaik is optional for this). On Wed, 26 Aug 2020 at 02:19, Geoff wrote: > Yes David there are some "interesting" behaviours within the Lot Viewer, > however with patience and perseverance you should be able to master it, > and one day you will sit back and wonder what all the fuss was about. > > I have successfully used Lots for all sorts of corporate actions > including returns of capital, fractional consolidations, demergers, > dividend reinvestments, and partial sales spanning multiple lots. It > can be relied upon to calculate the correct capital gains/losses on each > lot. One of my accounts has over 200 lots in it. The only weakness I > have encountered is that it doesn't include brokerage and other charges, > and there is a workaround for this (nett pricing). > > Here are some tips: > Read (and re-read) this excellent guide: > https://codesmythe.gitbooks.io/gnucash-guide/content/en/ch_invest.html. > The team that wrote it deserve a medal! > > NEVER EVER click on "Scrub Account" - unless you have a simple series of > Buys & Sells that you are happy to treat on a FIFO basis. > > Start with a blank slate. Everything the Lot Viewer does is completely > reversible. Delete all of the "Realized Gain/Loss" transactions it > creates in your register, and then delete all the Lots it created by > selecting them one at a time and hitting the Delete button in the Lot > Viewer. > > Manually create a new Lot for each of your "Buy" splits: > (1) Use the "New Lot" button > (2) Select the newly created Lot (in the top panel) > (3) Select the "Buy" split (in the bottom left panel) > (4) Hit the ">>" button. > > Manually allocate all of your "Sell" splits to your newly created Lots: > (1) Select the "Buy" Lot (in the top panel) > (2) Select the correct "Sell" split(s) (in the bottom left panel) > (4) Hit the ">>" button - this is the magic step that calculates the > Gain/Loss and creates a corresponding "Realized Gain/Loss" transaction > in the register. > > Resist the temptation to click on the "Scrub" button. > > Review all the "Realized Gain/Loss" transactions in the register. > Replace the default description with some details of the Sale (eg cut > and paste the description from the Sale transaction). > > DELETE the "Orphaned Gains-XXX" account and move its transactions to > your regular Capital Gains / Losses accounts. > > Rinse and repeat. > > > Good luck! > > Geoff > = > > On 26/08/2020 12:44 am, David T. via gnucash-user wrote: > > Hello, > > > > Having now fiddled with the Lots features some more, I have encountered > > some issues with its implementation. > > > > First, if I open up the lots viewer to see what it is doing with lot > > allocations, the interface appears to automatically recalculate the gain > > in the entire account, and it does this silently when you simply click > > on a given lot (e.g., to see its allocation). I discovered this issue > > because I was attempting to clean up several accounts in which a stock > > split had occurred at some point in the past, and for which I still had > > active holdings. Attempting to adjust the transaction for the stock > > split to account for an adjusted cost basis caused all gains to become > > adjusted--even ones that had been manually entered to match my > > institution's accounting. > > > > Second, I am having troubles with the Scrub feature. While manually > > assigning a sale to a particular lot, when I clicked Scrub (not Scrub > > Account) I found that the viewer would automagically assign subsequent > > transactions to the lot--even though I had specifically assigned only > > particular transactions to a lot. For example, I have one account where > > I had two purchases (i.e., two lots), followed by a partial sale (which > > could be assigned wholly to the first lot with remaining shares in that > > lot), followed by a reverse split, followed by another sale. For reasons > > that were not clear, when I assigned the first sale manually to a > > particular lot and then clicked Scrub, the subsequent transaction for > > the reverse split kept getting added to the lot. It appears that the > > scrub function insists on adding all subsequent share transactions to > > the lot. Given that there is no way to process the lot without using the > > Scrub in one of its forms, the user is left having to either delete all > > subsequent transactions and reconstruct the account step by step, or > > abandon the lots altogether for that account. This leaves the user with > > the unfortunate situation of having to remember which accounts use lots, > > and which don't. > > > > I am not sure how best to proceed for my own accounts; I generally like > > the lots features, and hope to find a way to use them even in this > > particular use case. I welcome
Re: [GNC] More Fun with Lots
Yes David there are some "interesting" behaviours within the Lot Viewer, however with patience and perseverance you should be able to master it, and one day you will sit back and wonder what all the fuss was about. I have successfully used Lots for all sorts of corporate actions including returns of capital, fractional consolidations, demergers, dividend reinvestments, and partial sales spanning multiple lots. It can be relied upon to calculate the correct capital gains/losses on each lot. One of my accounts has over 200 lots in it. The only weakness I have encountered is that it doesn't include brokerage and other charges, and there is a workaround for this (nett pricing). Here are some tips: Read (and re-read) this excellent guide: https://codesmythe.gitbooks.io/gnucash-guide/content/en/ch_invest.html. The team that wrote it deserve a medal! NEVER EVER click on "Scrub Account" - unless you have a simple series of Buys & Sells that you are happy to treat on a FIFO basis. Start with a blank slate. Everything the Lot Viewer does is completely reversible. Delete all of the "Realized Gain/Loss" transactions it creates in your register, and then delete all the Lots it created by selecting them one at a time and hitting the Delete button in the Lot Viewer. Manually create a new Lot for each of your "Buy" splits: (1) Use the "New Lot" button (2) Select the newly created Lot (in the top panel) (3) Select the "Buy" split (in the bottom left panel) (4) Hit the ">>" button. Manually allocate all of your "Sell" splits to your newly created Lots: (1) Select the "Buy" Lot (in the top panel) (2) Select the correct "Sell" split(s) (in the bottom left panel) (4) Hit the ">>" button - this is the magic step that calculates the Gain/Loss and creates a corresponding "Realized Gain/Loss" transaction in the register. Resist the temptation to click on the "Scrub" button. Review all the "Realized Gain/Loss" transactions in the register. Replace the default description with some details of the Sale (eg cut and paste the description from the Sale transaction). DELETE the "Orphaned Gains-XXX" account and move its transactions to your regular Capital Gains / Losses accounts. Rinse and repeat. Good luck! Geoff = On 26/08/2020 12:44 am, David T. via gnucash-user wrote: Hello, Having now fiddled with the Lots features some more, I have encountered some issues with its implementation. First, if I open up the lots viewer to see what it is doing with lot allocations, the interface appears to automatically recalculate the gain in the entire account, and it does this silently when you simply click on a given lot (e.g., to see its allocation). I discovered this issue because I was attempting to clean up several accounts in which a stock split had occurred at some point in the past, and for which I still had active holdings. Attempting to adjust the transaction for the stock split to account for an adjusted cost basis caused all gains to become adjusted--even ones that had been manually entered to match my institution's accounting. Second, I am having troubles with the Scrub feature. While manually assigning a sale to a particular lot, when I clicked Scrub (not Scrub Account) I found that the viewer would automagically assign subsequent transactions to the lot--even though I had specifically assigned only particular transactions to a lot. For example, I have one account where I had two purchases (i.e., two lots), followed by a partial sale (which could be assigned wholly to the first lot with remaining shares in that lot), followed by a reverse split, followed by another sale. For reasons that were not clear, when I assigned the first sale manually to a particular lot and then clicked Scrub, the subsequent transaction for the reverse split kept getting added to the lot. It appears that the scrub function insists on adding all subsequent share transactions to the lot. Given that there is no way to process the lot without using the Scrub in one of its forms, the user is left having to either delete all subsequent transactions and reconstruct the account step by step, or abandon the lots altogether for that account. This leaves the user with the unfortunate situation of having to remember which accounts use lots, and which don't. I am not sure how best to proceed for my own accounts; I generally like the lots features, and hope to find a way to use them even in this particular use case. I welcome suggestions. Best, David ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@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.
[GNC] More Fun with Lots
Hello, Having now fiddled with the Lots features some more, I have encountered some issues with its implementation. First, if I open up the lots viewer to see what it is doing with lot allocations, the interface appears to automatically recalculate the gain in the entire account, and it does this silently when you simply click on a given lot (e.g., to see its allocation). I discovered this issue because I was attempting to clean up several accounts in which a stock split had occurred at some point in the past, and for which I still had active holdings. Attempting to adjust the transaction for the stock split to account for an adjusted cost basis caused all gains to become adjusted--even ones that had been manually entered to match my institution's accounting. Second, I am having troubles with the Scrub feature. While manually assigning a sale to a particular lot, when I clicked Scrub (not Scrub Account) I found that the viewer would automagically assign subsequent transactions to the lot--even though I had specifically assigned only particular transactions to a lot. For example, I have one account where I had two purchases (i.e., two lots), followed by a partial sale (which could be assigned wholly to the first lot with remaining shares in that lot), followed by a reverse split, followed by another sale. For reasons that were not clear, when I assigned the first sale manually to a particular lot and then clicked Scrub, the subsequent transaction for the reverse split kept getting added to the lot. It appears that the scrub function insists on adding all subsequent share transactions to the lot. Given that there is no way to process the lot without using the Scrub in one of its forms, the user is left having to either delete all subsequent transactions and reconstruct the account step by step, or abandon the lots altogether for that account. This leaves the user with the unfortunate situation of having to remember which accounts use lots, and which don't. I am not sure how best to proceed for my own accounts; I generally like the lots features, and hope to find a way to use them even in this particular use case. I welcome suggestions. Best, David ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@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.
