Question about Lots and Capital Gains

[Derek Atkins]

"Rich Bloch" <richbl at gmail.com> writes:

> Thanks for the quick response, Derek.
>
> Is there a time frame for when lots will be fully implemented? I took a look
> at the roadmap and wishlist on the wiki, but didn't see any reference made to
> lots getting implemented (though I recall reading something about lots being
> implemented at some level as far back as 2004). Should I be looking elsewhere?

Umm, when some developer decides that they want to work on it
and finish it?

> It's a little confusing that the View Lots dialog is implemented, but no
> underlying code is functional. Unless I'm not seeing the rationale, I think it
> might make more sense to provide feature interfaces (UI) only after the
> features have been implemented.

I didn't say that "no underlying code is functional".  I said that
it's not fully implemented.  Indeed, MOST of the code is implemented,
but it's buggy as all heck and wound up causing more damage than it
fixed, so it was disabled.

The invoice system still uses Lots, so having a Lot Viewer is still
useful.

> To all, for folks that need to handle stock sales with different purchase
> costs (basis), is there a recommended procedure for how best to capture this
> kind of event in gnucash?

Compute the gain/loss manually and enter it in.  See the docs.

-derek

> Thanks again.
>
> On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 11:22 AM, Derek Atkins <warlord at mit.edu> wrote:
>
>     Hi,
>    
>     Quoting Rich Bloch <richbl at gmail.com>:
>    
>     > Hello all,
>     >
>     > I'm running 2.2.1, and I'm in the process of learning how to manage
>     stock
>     > purchases/sales. However, I'm having a difficult time understanding how
>     > "lots" work.
>    
>     Unfortunately Lots are not fully implemented at this time.
>    
>     > There's a dialog accessed by View Lots off the main account window,
>     > which--not surprisingly--permits me to scrub and view stock lots.
>     However,
>     > this dialog doesn't appear to do much else (either that, or I'm just not
>     > seeing any functional changes). So, here are my questions:
>     >
>     > --If I want to sell a stock, how does gnucash identify the stock
>     lot--and
>     > it's basis--to determine capital gains?
>    
>     It doesn't... Nor does it compute capital gains for you.
>    
>     > --What accounting policy does gnucash use for determining capital gains?
>     I
>     > believe FIFO is most typically used, though LIFO is also legal, as is
>     lot
>     > selection.
>    
>     None.  See above.  But the partial implementation is FIFO, IIRC.
>    
>     > --Are there specific docs available that address how gnucash handles
>     lots
>     > (in 2.x)? I spent some time picking through notes and conversations on
>     > gnucash.org and the wiki, and haven't really found anything definitive.
>    
>     There may be a lots.txt somewhere.  But the only definitive source
>     would be, um, the source.
>    
>     > Thanks much.
>     >
>     > --
>     > rich
>    
>     > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>     > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>    
>     -derek
>    
>     --
>           Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
>           Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
>           URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
>           warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available
>
> --
> rich
>

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available