I know nothing about share registries. Do they not identify the cost basis on transfer from one to the next?
On June 19, 2026 11:28:55 PM GMT+05:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]> wrote: >Well, the stock has been through three (that I can remember) different >share registries, and has never been with a broker. The latest share >registry's records only go back to 2007, so the onus on keeping the records >is on me. > >On Fri, Jun 19, 2026 at 2:10 AM David T. <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Well, yes-- but you'd have to track basis anyhow. My point was that you >> could do all the transactions in one account, split at the end, and only >> have to split the shares and basis at the end. >> >> If, on the other hand, your concern is that calculating basis and gains on >> a large series of smaller events is difficult, well, yes that's true. >> >> And the options there are: >> 1) let the GnuCash lots feature calculate gains on a lot-by-lot basis >> (works, but results in complex splits); >> 2) enter all these same details yourself manually (augh!); or >> 3) use aggregated figures provided by the brokerage. >> >> I can tell you from experience that the first two are tricky to handle, >> and even determining whether your numbers are accurate can be deeply >> challenging. >> >> I decided for myself that I wasn't going to be challenging the numbers the >> brokers provided anyway, so I might as well use their numbers throughout. >> >> IANAA and YMMV. >> >> David T. >> >> >> On June 19, 2026 12:02:06 PM GMT+05:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> For use case 1, the distribution did not happen immediately; in fact it >>> was delayed for five years (families, amirite?). In that time, the >>> original and 20 DRIPs accumulated, and for tax purposes we have to keep >>> track of the basis of the DRIPs. >>> >>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 9:55 PM David T. <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Clint, >>>> >>>> With use case 1: was the inheritance split as a percentage or as a set >>>> number of shares? If, as I suspect, it was a percentage, then why not >>>> simply take the final share count at the time of distribution and split >>>> that in half? I don't see any point in doing it the other way round. >>>> Presumably, the aggregated shares all appreciate at the same rate, and two >>>> equal holdings would have appreciated at the rate rate as well. So, half at >>>> the beginning will be half at the end. >>>> >>>> As for the stock spinoff, you "sell" the shares and "receive" a total >>>> dollar amount, then you "buy" a different number of shares for that same >>>> dollar amount. Technically, the rates don't really matter that much. Just >>>> the number of shares involved at each stage. Note that in many spinoff >>>> situations, your original number of shares results in a fractional number >>>> of new shares (you are spun back 55.3 shares, say). This is usually handled >>>> by the brokerage as "Cash in lieu." I have usually handled this in GnuCash >>>> by creating a single transaction that has the accurate spinoff amount in >>>> shares and dollars, with a separate split to sell the fractional share at >>>> the cash in lieu amount. It is then quite clear what happened, the basis is >>>> accurate, and you can derive the gain on the fractional sale easily. I add >>>> notes to the splits to explain what's going on. >>>> >>>> David T. >>>> >>>> >>>> On June 19, 2026 8:58:42 AM GMT+05:30, John Ralls <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> You can. But as you might have discovered empirically it’s not >>>>> consistently used: A rough grep finds 35 uses of >>>>> xaccAccountGetCommoditySCU, which returns the fraction set in the Account >>>>> Edit Dialog, and 104 uses of gnc_commodity_get_fraction, which returns >>>>> the fraction set in the currency editor. >>>>> >>>>> Regards, >>>>> John Ralls >>>>> >>>>> On Jun 18, 2026, at 15:49, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> What I find interesting is that GnuCash has the ability for me to set >>>>>> any arbitrary USD cash accounts to 3, 4, 5 or more decimal digits, and >>>>>> yet that ability cannot be carried over to the USD cash side of >>>>>> conversions/transfers to and from non-USD accounts. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 10:46 AM John Ralls <[email protected] >>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Clint, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Don’t sweat the pennies in stock basis, they don’t make a practical >>>>>>> difference anywhere. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> For splitting the DRIPs bases alternate the rounding so that for the >>>>>>> first one your basis is (e.g.) .45 and your sister’s is .46, the second >>>>>>> your basis is .46 and your sister’s is .45, and so on. Notice that if >>>>>>> there are an even number of such dividends you come out even and if >>>>>>> there are an odd number your sister comes out .01 ahead. That’s to >>>>>>> promote familial peace. It doesn’t actually matter, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Regards, >>>>>>> John Ralls >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Jun 18, 2026, at 09:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected] >>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hmm, I actually have two use cases, neither of which involve stock >>>>>>>> splits, sorry for the deke. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I and my sister inherited some stock from our father, split 50/50. It >>>>>>>> took several years to settle the estate, and meanwhile the stock split >>>>>>>> 2 for 1 twice and kept DRIPping. When it came time to actually >>>>>>>> distribute the stock, we had to split the original stock with the >>>>>>>> basis at the time of death, and also the subsequent DRIPs. If the >>>>>>>> total value of a DRIP happened to be odd, then the amount bequeathed >>>>>>>> to each person when split 50/50 would have a half cent. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Second use case: spinoffs. To record the split, the original stock is >>>>>>>> "sold" for the original value and basis, and then "bought" for the >>>>>>>> modified value and basis, which could be any fraction of the original >>>>>>>> value and basis (in my case, .9581688 of the original amount and >>>>>>>> basis), while the remainder value is used to "purchase" the spun off >>>>>>>> stock (in my case, .0418312 of the original value). This ain't gonna >>>>>>>> be an even number of cents... >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 8:54 AM Derek Atkins <[email protected] >>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>> <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Keep in mind that gnucash does not store the price in the register, >>>>>>>>> it stores the #shares and total $value. Are you saying you would >>>>>>>>> have a mil in the total value of the split? >>>>>>>>> -derek >>>>>>>>> Sent using my mobile device. Please excuse any typos. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On June 18, 2026 11:38:28 Clint Chaplin <[email protected] >>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> >>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]> >>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Unfortunate. My use case is stock that has split. The suggested way >>>>>>>>> to >>>>>>>>>> record this change in basis in GnuCash is to sell all the stock, and >>>>>>>>>> then >>>>>>>>>> rebuy at the split quantities at the new pricing. This will lead to >>>>>>>>>> amounts that are fractions of a penny, but simply cannot be recorded >>>>>>>>>> in >>>>>>>>>> GnuCash with the current restriction. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Even worse is when a spinoff happens and needs to be recorded. The >>>>>>>>>> basis >>>>>>>>>> of the stock needs to be modified, but the only way I can see is to >>>>>>>>>> "sell" >>>>>>>>>> and "buy" at the new basis, but the total amount per purchase cannot >>>>>>>>>> be in >>>>>>>>>> fractions of a penny. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> When I have over 100 lots to do this to, the rounding to the nearest >>>>>>>>>> penny >>>>>>>>>> will catch up... >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 2:53 PM John Ralls <[email protected] >>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> >>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]> >>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> No, no more than you can get a 10th of a penny at the bank or the >>>>>>>>>> grocery >>>>>>>>>>> store. Prices can be in fractions of a penny, amounts cannot. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Regards, >>>>>>>>>>> John Ralls >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 16, 2026, at 10:39 PM, Clint Chaplin <[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> >>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]> >>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Is there a way to set GnuCash to take USD tenths and mils on some >>>>>>>>>>>> accounts? My default is USD, if that matters... >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin >>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>>>>>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]>>> >>>>>>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>>>>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin >>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]>>> >>>>>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>>>>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>>>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] >>>>>>> <[email protected]>> >>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin >>>>>> >>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>>>> >>>>> >>> >>> >> David T. >> > > >-- >Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list [email protected] To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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