TradeKeeper
© 1999-2006 AmericanWare, Inc. All
Rights Reserved. Designed & Developed in the U.S.A.
FREQUENTRY ASKED QUESTIONS AND TIPS
Here is the quick outline of the procedure you need to follow to get up and running in TradeKeeper. For step-by-step instructions please consult the User Manuals.
1. Decide if you want to baseline your positions or will you be importing all of your entire past history.
What is
baseline and how to set it up:
Baseline refers to making trade
entires that would effectively create open positions to match what
was in your portfolio at the beginning of the tax year. In addition,
you will not need to import any past history prior to your baseline
year. To set up the baseline for 2002 you will need to know positions
you had open on Jan 1,2002 and make equivalent trade entries in TK to
create those open positions. You can find out what positions you had
open from the monthly statement of your broker. e.g. If you were Long
10 shares of QQQ and Short 5 of IBM. You would make a Bought 10
shares of QQQ entry and a Sold 5 of IBM entry in TK. You do this
using the "Add/Edit Stock Trades" feature.
Import all your past history trades (or from baseline forward if you choose to baseline). Do not import or enter any trades prior to the baseline date.
There are two ways to import your trades:
Option One:
Format or enter your data into the Spreadsheet
CSV file and then perfrom File->Import->Spreadsheet
CSV.
Option Two: We
provide data import services. Just send us your trades and we will
take care of it for you!
[Learn More]
3. Run "Process-->Process Trades". This will match buys/sells and create the final portfolio positions in TK. Look in "Portfolio", if everything was successful these positions and quantities should exactly match what you have in your brokers portfolio. Note: When you bring up process trades dialog TK initializes all accounts. You must rerun process on your account(s) even if you had your account processed previously and nothing new was imported or entered.
Use the “Edit-->Stock Splits” feature to record splits, if you had any, for the positions you held. Similarly, use "Add/Edit Option Splits" feature to record option splits and option symbol changes. Stock symbol changes due to mergers or bankruptcy can be handled using the "Edit-->Stock Symbol" feature. Again, you must run trade processing both before and after you make these changes to keep TK in sync.
6. Run "Process-->Generate Schedule-D Data" for the appropriate year.
7. In "Reports" you will find both short and long term Schedule-Ds you can print and file with IRS.
8. If you are using TurboTax or TaxCut to file your tax, you can export your Schedule-D to a TXF file and then import it into these applications.
CANADIAN AND INTERNATIONAL USERS
This software is primarily designed for United States users for reporting investment trades according to IRS Schedule D. However, many Canadian and international users also find it useful for investment tracking and reporting. Please see "Why do my open trades show as closed or expired?".
You will need to save the state of your trades and Schedule-D as of tax year end to reproduce your reports and Schedule D in the future. Use the “Tools-->Create Archive” feature make an archive.
When I try to import my trades
nothing imports. What's wrong?
If this is the first time you
are using TradeKeeper make sure you have the most current version
installed. Review the following check list:
If you downloaded the file from your broker’s website try converting it to the Windows text format using DataClipper (File->Unix-to-Windows).
If you are using the Spreadsheet CSV import make sure the file layout matches the sample_trades.csv file.
Use DataClipper utility to create a TKD file for import. This is most easy, reliable, consistent, and recommended method. You can order a filter for your specific broker format (Learn More).
How do I clear the transactions I
imported so that I can start from scratch? (without going through
delete record one at a time, but clear all at once) if
you totally have to start from scratch?
Use
"File-->Delete Transations".
The monthly statement does not have time stamps, only dates,
how does TK determine short and long trades?
TK does not
need the daily timestamps to determine short or long trades. As of TK
2.5.9 here's how trades are matched:
1. IRS FIFO (first in first out) method is used to match your buys
to sells (long or short).
2. Buys/sells for the same day are
matched (by default) in the order they appear on your statement or in
the order in which you entered them into TK. TK does not use
timestamps from daily statements because the timestamps are
non-standard time (do not account for time zone differences, e.g. on
IB statements it reflects the local time of exchange it executed on).
Therefore, TK uses the order in which the trades appear on your
statement as the trade sequence. However, you can override this my
manually entering a time in TK using "Edit" dialogs. In
this case the timestamp will take precedence over order of entry.
On the monthly statements the dates are enough to determine short trades. IRS doesn't expect you to report short/long trades on a intraday basis, that's why brokers consolidate monthly statements for historical trades. Even though TK doesn't show every individual trade on Schedule-D it is behind the scenes individually processing each long/short trade and then consolidating it upwards.
When you consolidate transactions, do you use average
cost or otherwise?
Each trade is individually accounted for each different order price fill. e.g. if your QQQ filled for 27 and then some for 27.50 (intraday or monthly) TK will match shares traded using IRS FIFO method and make two entries into the Schedule D for each sales price and cost basis matched for the shares (FIFO). This is better than average cost, because avg cost value will never appear on your transactions (since you never actually bought or sold anything for that particular price), so it creates more confusion. The TK way makes it easier for both IRS and you to reconcile the consolidation to individual trades if needed.
Do you plan to add "Futures" function in
addition to options and stocks? (IB's Future statement has different
format than stocks/options?
Futures support is now available.
P/L Tracker doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?
Please review the following checklist.
1. First import all your trades and run
"process trades" to create an accurate view of your
portfolio. If all you trades were imported or if you correctly
baselined them then the portfolio in TK should match your brokers.
2.
In TWS under Configure->API->Enable ActiveX and Socket clients
should be checked (turned on).
3. In TWS under Configure->Socket
Port the port number should match with the port number in TK PL
Tracker.
What is TradeKeeper_V2.mdb file why is it so huge and keeps getting larger?
TradeKeeper_V2.mdb file is the database file that stores all your trade data and processing information. Use the Tools->Defragment Data menu item to defrag the file. It will reduce the size significantly.
How secure is TradeKeeper/DataClipper?
Security of your data is important and will never be compromised. The application is not an adware, nagware, spamware, or spyware. The application runs on your PC and your data is stored locally on your PC. The applications do not communicate any data to the AmericanWare server.
1099-B Sales Proceeds Reconciliation
There are several reasons why your Schedule D Sales Price total may not match to your broker's 1099 Form. In some cases it may be valid. Also, note that your Profit/Loss figure may not match the totals on your broker's statement because you broker may or may not include certain securities in the total figure (such as Options, Forex, or Options on Futures). Please use the following checklist to review possible causes. We recommend generating Schedule D without wash sales to reconcile to your 1099 form. It makes it simpler and easy to follow. You can also export your Schedule D to Excel (a spreadsheet file) and review it in a spreadsheet program so you can add up the numbers easily to compare. When you have the sales proceeds matching to the 1099 you may turn wash sales on.
1. Check short sales that were opened in the prior year and closed in the current year. If so, the sales price total for these entries is not included in your 1099 sales proceeds reported by your broker. However, IRS requires you to report these trades when realized. Make note on your Schedule D for the amount of sales price from prior short open positions for IRS. Subtract this value from your reconciliation sales proceeds.
2. Check short sales opened in the current tax year but not closed in the current tax year. If so, the sales price total for these entries is included in your 1099 sales proceeds reported by your broker. This amount will not be included in the Schedule D for current tax year. Add this value to your reconciliation sales proceeds.
3. When generating Schedule-D, try doing it with the checkbox for "...gross proceeds less commissions..." either checked or unchecked to verify that the number you are trying to match to on your 1099 form either includes or excludes commissions. We have had cases where the broker's 1099 stated that it was less commissions but it actually wasn't!
4. Do any of your statements or import files have broker adjustments or corrections to your trades, if so make the correction in TK using the "Edit" dialogs to correct the original trade transaction for the adjustment or correction made by your broker.
5. Check the “Portfolio” in TK to see if it agrees with your current status. The Portfolio show open positions after all buy/sells are accounted for. If this list doesn’t match your account status, review the trades for symbols in error. Use the "Transactions by Account" or "Transactions by Month" reports in TK to compare with your broker statements to see if any trades are missing.
6. Do not include Stock Options or Futures on Schedule-D. Your 1099 will not include these trades. Run a separate Schedule-D for your Stock Option trades and Futures trades.
7. Some brokers do not pass on stocks delivered or acquired by option exercise/assignment as a trade transaction. If this is true for your broker make the trade entry in TK using “Edit” dialogs.
8. Do you have any mutual fund trades or fractional (decimal) shares. If so, due to the rounding that your broker may have done the Schedule-D will be slightly off. TK does not do rounding when performing P/L calculations. The figures are displayed in reports using 2 decimals, but internally TK still stores the numbers to several decimal places. Since brokers may chose to do rounding to different decimal places (subjectively) there is really no correct way that TK can handle it. If you find that this is the reason your 1099 is off you can make a dummy round trade (buy/sell) entry in TK and enter "Rounding Adj" as the symbol.
10. Do you have any securities transferred into or out of your account(s), if so, these situations need be handled as follows:
Transfers In: Should be recorded as "bought" trade in TK manually. If you used QIF file import the “transfer in” will be automatically converted to "bought" trades by TK. Note: If you intend to consolidate the two accounts between which transfers occurred you do not need to record a transfer because your original buy/sell trades will take care of it.
Transfers Out: Do not need to be recorded. If you used QIF file import the transfer out will be ignored.
11. The 1099 from you broker will not include your options and/or futures trades. It only reports stock and fund trades. If you imported your data using QIF file or CSV that included options trades as "stock" trades, it will be loaded into TK as "stock" trades because these file formats do not support options and software/brokers include them in these files by treating them as stock trades. So, TK is unable to filter them out of your Schedule D. To get around this problem you can assign a different account name to these trades so you can exclude them from your processing or simply delete them from TK using “Delete Transactions”. The easiest way to assign a different account name is to filter them using TK “Add/Edit” dialog and copy/paste the trades into a spreadsheet. Delete them form TK. Edit your account name in the spreadsheet and then copy/paste the trades back into TK “Add/Edit” dialog from the spreadsheet (be sure you don’t duplicate your trades when pasting them back).
12. Section 1256 Contracts / Mark-To-Market contracts are not reported on your Schedule D. Do not include these trades on your Schedule D. See How do I report Section 1256 contracts/MTM?
13. Make sure you entered Multiplier values for your "Options on Futures" trades. You do this in DataClipper in the Tools->Multiplier dialog. Note: You will not get the "missing multiplier" message for these because they defaulted to 100.
14. If your Sales Proceeds total or Profit/Loss totals are still not matching most likely your broker is either excluding or grouping certain securities differently than you are. Try to isolate the problem by generating separate Schedule D for Stocks, Options, and Futures. If you traded "Futures on Options" they are included in the Options in TradeKeeper but they may be excluded by your broker.
15. You should contact your broker to understand and verify your statement if your number do not match after all the above checks. It may be that your statement has errors.
Problem Description: TK crashes with runtime error
2147217887(80040e21) or "delimiter not found or missing"
during process trades.
Cause: AmeriTrade doesn't provide
symbols of securities on statements, it instead provides long company
description/name. Some of the descriptions are sometimes too long or
contain an invalid character (e.g. apostrophe).
Solution: Go
into "Edit-->Stock Symbols". TK loads all the unique
descriptions from AmeriTrade into this dialog. For each company
name/description enter a valid stock symbol in the "symbol"
field. TK will then translate the descriptions to the symbol you
entered when doing trade processing. This feature was designed to
translate old symbols of stocks, if a
stock merged or went
bankrupt, to the new symbol without having to change it on every
trade transaction.
If you do not have an AmeriTrade account and encounter the above problem check your trades for missing or invalid information in one or more of your trade fields. Most likely you have a blank trade entered. Check in "Edit-->Stock Trades", "Edit-->Stock Options Trades", and "Edit--> Futures Trades".
Runtime Error 94 Invalid Use of NULL
This is generic error is caused by bad data.
1. Check the “Process Trades” dialog for a blank line showing in the account list. If there is blank line appearing, look for a blank trade(s) recorded in the TK Edit dialogs and delete it (check both stocks and options).
2. Check your import files/trades for possible missing or inconsistent data. Such as blanks in columns where there should be data. E.g. quantity, dates etc. Check the broker transaction code column on the trades to see if any are different or new.
3. Using cut/paste from a spreadsheet into TK dialogs can also cause this error because some spreadsheets reformat the data. If you have options trades the MS Works spreadsheet converts the short months to long names for option contracts (e.g. JAN to January). Use a notepad to edit your trades instead of the spreadsheet.
Runtime error 430 when try to startup TradekKeeper or DataClipper
Under certain Windows configurations (Win 98 usually) you make get a runtime error “430”. To resolve this problem download and install the MDAC 2.8 from Microsoft.
Please review the following check list:
When running "Process Trades" be sure to select the account(s) you want to process. An "X" will appear next to the account selected. Click on the "select" bottom at the top of the dialog to make a selection.
After trade processing you need to "Generate Schedule-D data". Make sure to enter the correct Tax Year when generating schedule d, it defaults to the prior year. Also, make sure you have selected the appropriate data to include in Schedule-D. E.g. stock, options, etc.
If you are importing an HTML file make sure when you save it in Internet Explorer to select the “HTML Only” file type option (not the regular HTML page). Open your HTML file in Internet Explorer and make sure you can see your trades in it.
(Assuming you have successfully created
Schedule D in TK and are able to view it)
1. In
“File-->Export” select the option "Schedule-D
Data (Short-Term) To TXF" or “Schedule-D Data (Short-Term)
To TXF”
2. A "Save As" dialog box will pop up.
Type a name for your file. Do not include extension in
the file
name, also, do not select any file type from the dialog box. TK will
automaticaly add the .TXF extension to the file name. e.g. when you
enter "mysched" it will be saved as "mysched.txf"
Use the monthly statements to import your prior history and then continue to use the daily statements to keep current.
Be careful not to duplicate your trades. TradeKeeper import doesn't replace prior trades and every import adds the trades as new trades. If you need to go back and reload a day or a month, first delete the transactions from TK using the "File->Delete Transactions" option.
How do I match specific tax lots (override FIFO matching)?
TradeKeeper uses FIFO order for matching buy/sell lots. This is the method IRS regulation requires unless you specifically instructed your broker to sell particular lots. In such cases, you may override the FIFO method at an individual trade level to match the specific lots. For example:
1/1/2003 Bought 100 XYZ @ 2.00
2/1/2003 Bought 100 XYZ @
3.50
2/5/2003 Sold 100 XYZ @ 3.50 (instructed
broker to sell the 100 bought on 2/1/2003).
Locate the 2/1/2003 buy in TradeKeeper and add “(LOT#1)” to the end of the Symbol. Locate the 2/5/2003 sell and add “(LOT#1)” to the end of the Symbol. TradeKeeper will bypass FIFO and match these two particular trades. To create and match additional lots for XYZ increment the lot number, e.g. “(LOT#2)”, “(LOT#3)”…etc.
No it doesn't affect your
calculations. The columns on your printed schedule d represent the
following: date acquired = open date, and
date
sold = close date. If you keep switching your date columns based on
short/long trade you will not be able to sort your schedule d in
chronological order the way it needs be.
Does this software also handle dividends?
Dividends are not "capital gains" and they are not reported on Schedule D. You will get a 1099-DIV statement for your dividends. They get reported separately as dividend income not capital gains. So, they're not relevant to this product.
How do I report Section 1256 Contracts?
Section 1256 Contracts are not reported on your Schedule D, and therefore, should not be included on it. These contracts in general include index options and futures on indexes. Your broker will issue a separate statement similar to 1099 Form for these special contracts. The statement will include your total gain/loss from these contracts. Gain/loss is reported by account (not individual trades) to IRS on Form 6781. The gain/loss reported by your brokers is suppose to be split 60% short term capital gain and 40% long term capital gain. It is as simple as taking the total gain/loss figure and doing the 60/40 split, then plugging the numbers into the appropriate boxes on your tax form. You should make sure that you do not include these special contracts on Schedule D gain/loss or Form 4797 (for MTM traders). The easiest way to exclude them is to delete these specific trades from TK using “Delete Transactions” feature by filtering on Symbol or not to load these trades into TK in the first place. Or you could load them in TK under a different account name (so you can exclude them) when processing your trades/Schedule D. If you are not sure whether the security you traded is a 1256 contract, we suggest you contact your broker and ask them to confirm. If you have accounted for these contracts correctly your total sales price from Schedule D (without wash sales) should match the figure shown on your 1099 Form.
What are Wash Sales and how important are they?
Wash sale rule postpones your loss on certain trades into the next tax year. The rules governing what qualifies a wash rule can be very complex depending on the types of securities you traded. Often times the rules are somewhat vague about the details and open to interpretation. The important thing to remember is that you are “delaying” your loss. The idea behind it is to prevent people from dumping their losers at year end to lower their capital gains in order to pay less in taxes. So, IRS makes you carry forward these losses into the next tax year if you reestablish an open position in the same security within 30 days.
Note: We have worked very hard to incorporate the important and significant wash sale rules into TradeKeeper. However, due to the complex nature of wash sales, it is not 100% complaint (as is also true of the commercial products on the market, they just don't tell you about it). Therefore, you will probably find that any two products may produce slightly different wash sale results. Thousands of TK users have successfully submitted TK Schedule D to IRS with no issues for many years including myself.
Is there a way to avoid Wash Sales adjustments?
Yes. One simple way to avoid the wash rule is to not buy back (or reestablish a position) in a security or a substantially identical security within 30 days of disposing it at a loss. Even if you did reestablish your position in the security within the 30 day period during the year you can still avoid the rule by not doing so in December of the tax year. This is because it will break the chain of carrying forward the loss into next tax year, and then your net gain/loss for the tax year would still be the same with or without wash sales.
Second, you may want to consider electing to use Mark-To-Market (MTM) accounting method. MTM method of accounting is exempt from the wash rules. A formal IRS application and approval is required to use the MTM accounting method.
How do I do Mark-To-Market (MTM) accounting?
You must elect and file an application with IRS before you can use MTM accounting. One of the benefits of MTM accounting is that you will exempt from Wash Sale rules. However, MTM accounting is not intended for regular individual investors. It is generally for Securities Dealers and Specialists or those who make a living on investing, such as day traders. You can not simply elect to do MTM on tax year basis, it is a permanent status and can not be easily revoked once granted without IRS approval. According to IRS publication, “the mark-to-market election must be made by the due date (not including extensions) of the tax return for the year prior to the year for which the election becomes effective. To make the mark-to-market election for 2004, you must file a statement by April 15, 2003. This statement should be attached to either your 2003 individual income tax return or to a request for an extension of time to file that return”.
To use TradeKeeper for MTM accounting you need to perform the following steps:
1) Close all your open positions as of the tax year end. That is, make a closing trade entry in TK for the last closing price of the security as of Dec. 31.
2) Enter an opening trade for the positions you closed above for the last closing price of the security as of Dec. 31.
3) When you generate Schedule D do not turn on Wash Sales.
Report Gain/Loss on Form 4797 Part II (this replaces Schedule D for MTM). Section 1256 Contracts Gain/Loss is reported Form 6781 Part I. Form 4797 will be added to TradeKeeper in a future release.
How does TK handle Wash Sales?
Please
install the most current version.
How TK handles wash sales:
1. First of all, it is recommend that you baseline (see baseline info above) your trades if you intend to use Wash Sales adjustment. This is important if it is the first time you are doing Wash Sales or using TK to do it, because you may have unrealized (washed loss) from prior tax year and it will get carried forward if you don't baseline. We advise to generate Schedule D without wash sales and match it to your 1099. When you have the totals matching, then turn on wash sales, otherwise, it will be very hard to reconcile your trades with wash sales turned on.
2. All of your trades are scanned for wash sales for 30 days prior to or after the trade for a potential wash sale. Therefore, to prepare Schedule-D for your tax year you must import all of your January trades for the following tax year.
3. Wash sales rule is applied to both short and long trades.
4. Stock options contracts trades are considered substantially identical for wash sales purposes if the underlying security, expiration month, and strike match.
5. Stock trades of the same security are considered substantially identical for wash sales. However, IRS rules for determining if a option CALL or PUT on the stock is "substantially" identical are not very clear even to the pros on wall street. Therefore, as of this release TK does not attempt to wash your stock trades based on CALL or PUT options you traded during the wash sale period against your equity trades.
Note: I have worked very hard to incorporate the important and significant wash sale rules into TradeKeeper. However, due to the complex nature of wash sales, it is not 100% complaint (as is also true of the commercial products on the market, they just don't tell you about it). Therefore, you will probably find that any two products may produce slightly different wash sale results. Thousands of TK users have successfully submitted TK Schedule D to IRS with no issues for many years including myself.
How do I fix the "missing multiplier" message?
You may get the "missing multiplier" message if you have traded Futures or Options. This means that DataClipper is unable to determine the mutliplier value for your contract and you will need to provide it.
1. First make sure you are running the most current version of DataClipper. Version 3.0.3 or later is recommended.
2. Use the Tools->Multiplier Dialog in DataClipper to enter the multiplier for your contracts. This needs to be done once for each symbol and the values are stored for future use. Match your Symbol and Securty Type in the Mutiplier Dialog to the Symbol and Security Type columns in the Results grid. Valid Security Type are: FUTURE or OPTION. You may have to run the Filter once so you can review the Results grid to identify which Symbols are missing multipliers. Generally, you will not need to enter a multiplier for Options (they are assumed to be 100 by default) unless you have a special option contract.
3. You can use a wildcard (%) in the Mutiplier Dialog. For example, when you enter "ES%" it will match any Symbol starting with "ES" in your Result grid for the specified security type.
Example Entries:
| Symbol | Multiplier | Security Type |
| ES | 50 | FUTURE |
| ESM%5 | 20 | FUTURE |
| NQ | 20 | FUTURE |
4. Apply the filter again AFTER you make the entries into the Tools->Multiplier dialog.
Why do my open trades show up as closed or expired?
This happens when your Windows date/time settings are anything other than United States. To fix this problem you will need to change the settings on your Windows XP machine as follows:
1. Start->Settings->Control Panel
2. Click "Date, Time, Language and Regional Settings."
3. Click "Change formats of numbers, dates, and times."
4. Set "Standard and Formats" dropdown to "English (United States)"
You will need to rerun trade processing.
Disclaimer:
THE PRODUCT IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THE AUTHOR FURTHER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCT AND DOCUMENTATION REMAINS WITH RECIPIENT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT.