Can I adjust stock Basis?

I've recently setup my portfolio in Money 2006.
I've entered all holdings w/ a purchase date of 8/31/05 (not accurate, but I
don't have prior info).
Now, when i enter a stock sold, the basis in Money doesn't equal my
brokerage account info.

If Money shows a new basis of $10,000 and
my brokerage account shows it is $8,000,
is there a way that I can adjust the basis in Money?
I tried doing a Return of Capital for $2,000, but now my cash account is
incorrect.

via_newsgroup
Tue Oct 11 09:49:54 CDT 2005

In microsoft.public.money, Nick wrote:

>I've recently setup my portfolio in Money 2006.
>I've entered all holdings w/ a purchase date of 8/31/05 (not accurate, but I
>don't have prior info).

How did you do that? With a Buy, or an AddShares?



>Now, when i enter a stock sold, the basis in Money doesn't equal my
>brokerage account info.

If you had several buys, that is pretty much never going to happen.
The broker would be remembering what each lot cost (from the time it
started tracking) and it would assume that you were selling the
first-acquired shares in each case-- the IRS default.


>
>If Money shows a new basis of $10,000 and
>my brokerage account shows it is $8,000,
>is there a way that I can adjust the basis in Money?

Yes, but how you best do that will depend on various factors.

How did you come up with the data that caused your basis to be
$10,000? You were supposed to be keeping track of that.

>I tried doing a Return of Capital for $2,000, but now my cash account is
>incorrect.

The broker's data may not be correct if you held the stock longer
than the broker was providing that service, or if you sold some
shares using specific identification of shares. Recognizing this,
your broker's page may have the ability to let you correct the
broker's info. Click Edit, or some such, if it is available.

Nick
Tue Oct 11 10:11:12 CDT 2005

Thanks for the response. You asked several questions, which I have responded
below:


"Cal Learner-- MVP" wrote:

> In microsoft.public.money, Nick wrote:
>
> >I've recently setup my portfolio in Money 2006.
> >I've entered all holdings w/ a purchase date of 8/31/05 (not accurate, but I
> >don't have prior info).
>
> How did you do that? With a Buy, or an AddShares?

===i recorded them as a buy. the brokerage has accurate basis (see below),
so I used their current basis as the cost.

>
> >Now, when i enter a stock sold, the basis in Money doesn't equal my
> >brokerage account info.
>
> If you had several buys, that is pretty much never going to happen.
> The broker would be remembering what each lot cost (from the time it
> started tracking) and it would assume that you were selling the
> first-acquired shares in each case-- the IRS default.
>
===Correct.


> >If Money shows a new basis of $10,000 and
> >my brokerage account shows it is $8,000,
> >is there a way that I can adjust the basis in Money?
>
> Yes, but how you best do that will depend on various factors.
>
> How did you come up with the data that caused your basis to be
> $10,000? You were supposed to be keeping track of that.

===I came up w/ my basis info from the brokerage stmt. the brokerage
accounts were opened w/ cash (i.e., no holdings transferred in) and they kept
track of basis from day 1, so they should be accurate. We've always used the
basis from the brokerage stmts and haven't deviated from that.
>
> >I tried doing a Return of Capital for $2,000, but now my cash account is
> >incorrect.
>
> The broker's data may not be correct if you held the stock longer
> than the broker was providing that service, or if you sold some
> shares using specific identification of shares. Recognizing this,
> your broker's page may have the ability to let you correct the
> broker's info. Click Edit, or some such, if it is available.
>
===N/A

Question: assuming i was correct in entering the stock as a buy, when i set
it up in money, How do I now adjust the basis?

Thanks.
NIck

via_newsgroup
Tue Oct 11 11:11:36 CDT 2005

In microsoft.public.money, Nick wrote:


>Question: assuming i was correct in entering the stock as a buy, when i set
>it up in money, How do I now adjust the basis?

To do that, I would modify the total on your initial cumulative
"Buy" to be (what the broker says your current basis is) + (the
proceeds of any Sell transactions) for that stock. Enter a
compensating cash transaction to account for the difference in the
cash account. Date that compensating transaction the same date as
your "Buy", and note the purpose in the memo.

If you sell part of your holdings in the future, you may have to
adjust again. That is because the broker may be keeping track of
multiple lots and assuming you are using FIFO. In Money you will
have all of your shares as the same price for one big lot. In fact,
check the broker's web site. Perhaps it has the lot info available
to you.