GAINSKEEPER USER MANUAL
Contents
1. Export sts E veation check up Tax Center Schedule D Generation Ganskeeper recommends using the Check a analyzer etra your Schedule D TE WI analyze your trada activity and wart you of any incorect data that may coteciers Step 1 Background Information Not Required Lagal Name En xp ppm Frac Year ST Lass Frar Year LT Loss roses namaen es encarar eor 1i usosto pepo tra Serede D nevea ctore Renee Stop 2i Gi Select Tax vor 2989 Doa Schedule D Generation D amp Realized Ataehmon Di orate Sci The most important area of the Tax Center is the Schedule D 1040 report The Schedule D is the IRS form where you declare your capital gain loss figures for the year If you re an investor you ll need to complete a Schedule D GainsKeeper s service will help you accomplish this challenging task with just a few mouse clicks Each year people spend bundreds or even thousands of dollars preparing a Schedule D They basically hand their year end statements to an accountant who then goes through cach trade to calculate the capital gains and losses on each sell It s long complicated process and the longer it takes the more expensive it is In fact it usually takes so long to complete that this one aspect of a tax retum causes many investors to file tax extensions in order to allow for enough time to get the job done Having an accountant2. eran impor a partea rarge af choched rarsacee pasen change the rangs bl retentions tom Jaa Fraa Use the above process each month to update your GK portfolio with your current trading activity In order to avoid importing duplicate trades be sure to enter a Start Date that is equal to the last time you updated your GK portfolio Note GainsKeeper will automatically update your Start Date using the date of your last import but you may wish to change this in special situations Use the Find Duplicate check box to be sure that you are not importing trades that have already been recorded in your GK portfolio The entire process should only take a few minutes to complete once you are familiar with your brokerage firm s procedures Once you successfully complete an import from your brokerage you will be able to keep your GK Portfolio up to date by using the OFX shortcut link next to your account Simply click the lightening bolt link next to your account to initiate future imports from your brokerage GainsTracker Overview Sy erease Trade Limit My Portfolios Bugs 18 2002 129657 AMK 04228 922002 64499 Add isa swni 2029 nag wewpakte TU 2734872 617 nao Snas 708s Vegas panos 3215 Brokerage Import Troubleshooting Any errors that occur during the import are highlighted in red Normally an error results from a sell
3. or tax preparer compile your Schedule D can be very expensive There are tax preparation companies charging 4 00 5 00 for each transaction If you make a 100 trades in a year that can be very expensive come tax time With GainsKeeper you generate your own Schedule D quickly and easily GainsKeeper s Schedule D generation is one of the easiest ways to save money and time Once you fill in the background information and select the appropriate Year from the pull down menu click on the Generate button In order to view and print your Schedule D with GainsKeeper you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on your computer Acrobat Reader is free product used to view PDF files Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from the Adobe web site by clicking the link at the bottom of the Schedule D page Once you click on the Generate button you are taken to the page seen below Schedule D and Realized Report Attachment For 1a fling purses print the Schedule D and Realized Report Attachment Step 1 Schedule D Dick Schedule lto Step 2 Realized Report Attachment Click Realized Raport Attachment D 1 to This serves in place ofthe Schede D 1 form Notice there are two steps on this page This is because there are really two different reports you ll need to print for your tax return The first form in Step 1 is the actual IRS Schedule D form The second form in
4. Record Trades page to record your trading records into GainsKeeper This page is accessed by clicking on the Record Trades link in the GainsTracker area or the Add link next to your brokerage account from the GainsTracker Overview page Record or Import Your Transactions Wou recons you transactions manually or import tham direct Por your Brokerage Quen amp MS artem les Sec Templare Te the choose Ine rom he GameTracker menu I you nasd quince using cone the Hey menu end alia 23 Manually racord your trados for Sok In summary there are two ways to enter trading data into your GK portfolio 1 Automatic Import from various sources Brokerage Excel and QUE 2 Manual entry into your portfolio Importing Trades from Your Brokerage In the Record Trades area of GainsTracker the top row of icons show you the various sources from which you can automatically import your executed trade information The most convenient one is often your brokerage firm Import from your Brokerage The other sources are imports using Excel Quicken MS Money ete Each import icon contains instructions on how to perform these downloads Simply click the appropriate icon you wish to use Automatically import your trades poit mpor using mo
5. TradeStation American Eases Brokerage Morgan Stanley lt Amman Fun Ex Panewenher Van arene E hareBuildar mm When you click on your brokerage name a login screen appears for that broker s server Because the records you are accessing are confidential and specific to your brokerage you will always need to login using your brokerage User ID and Password not your GK LoginID Many times this User ID and Password are the same credentials you use to access your online brokerage account but not always Check with your broker if you have problems logging in Read and follow the importing instructions carefully If you have questions or don t understand the instructions contact support gainskeeper com However GainsKeeper is not able to assist you in getting your User ID and Password from your brokerage firm The brokerage s customer support staff should be able to assist you with this process if you have any problems Simply ask them what User ID and Password you need to us to dawnload your trades via their OFX server Once you have the proper User ID and Password enter that information into the required fields and click on the Next button This initiates the first step in the import process During the download process you ll be asked for a Start Date This is the date where you wish to begin importing trades from It may be the first day of the year like 1 1 2002 However if you re importing for the fir
6. perspective so taxable accounts are the most advantageous ones to add to your GK portfolio However this does not mean you shouldn t enter your IRA or 401K brokerage accounts into your GK portfolio Once you ve completed each field click on the Continue button at the bottom of the screen Settings The My Settings area is accessed by clicking on the My Settings tab on the top menu of GainsKeeper This is where you can check your subscription status add new owners brokerage accounts and change your personal information like LoginID or Password here Parenter EERE Settings Maintain Accounts GK Account Info Maintain your account Login I Tony T erase Trede Limit Cunen Statuse eben Edt Brokerage Account slt Dat sge Account parta phe Mom Brokerege Trade Count Limit 100 c Entered Trades 124 Tota Mf since 04000 d Nae Dune Available Trades 1376 Edi ishing Owar alate Estilo Settings Changing Your Temporary Password If you would like to change the temporary password that GainsKeeper emailed you during registration use the Change Password feature in the My Settings section of GainsTracker ene RECORDING TRADES All of GainsKeeper s calculations are based on the information you import or manually record Therefore itis important to accurately reflect your trading activity in your GainsKeeper portfolio Use the
7. record that can t be processed because you don t have enough shares in your GK portfolio to apply the sell against GainsKeeper must match each share of proceeds to the corresponding share of cost sold If sell trade can t be matched to a holding it appears to GainsKeeper as if you re selling shares you don t own This is the case for a SellShort transaction but GainsKeeper must distinguish between short and long transactions when processing the trade An easy solution should you get any errors in the import is to simply leave the Include check box blank Then refer to your statements and trading records and enter those transactions manually Another common cause of the not enough shares error message could be that you have buy transactions with trade dates prior to your Import Start Date You need to ensure that your portfolio is re built before you enter import your recent transactions For example if you are importing transactions starting 1 1 03 you need to make sure all your holdings own on 12 31 02 are fist recorded in your GK portfolio For more help on this topic see baselining in the Help section of the site An error of Symbol not recognized during an import often occurs on fixed income securities For any bond transactions in a brokerage import simply deselect the include check box during the import After the import you ll need to manually record your fixed income trades using the Record Tra
8. 07 FeuEnal enelion reste Lagin m Es Easg Sante Aner Ema Your GK password wil be sent to your email address does nol sell or distribute emal addresses or personal ration Use your LoginlD and Password to access your GainsKeeper GK portfolio by entering them in the appropriate fields at www gainskeeper com If you ever have a problem recalling your LoginID or Password use the Forgot your Password GainsKeeper will email the information to the address you are registered under GK Login Len Setting Up Your GK Accounts When you registered with GainsKeeper you also completed the Brokerage Account Setup procedure There you selected the name of your brokerage representing the first brokerage account you wanted to track in your GK Portfolio GainsKeeper enables you to aggregate all of your brokerage accounts with in your GK portfolio To add another brokerage account to your GK portfolio click the Create Account link under My Settings EXT Hy serino Maintain Accounts CreatgAccount Referrals p My Settings Create a New Account For acourte tax Jot aecourting and record keeping 8 recom mondi thet you organize your GK Porti inte Accounts that tepresent your actual brokerage ment your cuter holdinge cr past trades fom your Oring Brokerage nea Otherwise continue to crasta
9. GAINSKEEPER USER MANUAL CCH GAINSKEEPER is a Product of CCH INC es provided at www gainskeeper com Table of Contents INTRODUCTION QUICK START Loccvc Your GK SETTING Up YOUR GK ACCOUNTS My CHANGING YOUR TEMPORARY PASSWORD RECORDING TRADES IuronisG TRADES YOUR BROKERA 7 BROKERAGE IMPORT TROUBLESHOOTING D MANUALLY RECORDING TRADES 12 GAINSTRACKER GANSTRACKER OVERVIEW 5 GANSTRACKEA GK PORTFOLIO GANSTRACKER SYMBOL DETAILS s TAX CENTER SciiEDULED 20 HELP GK E INTRODUCTION One of the biggest challenges faced by individual investors is keeping good records of their portfolios for tax filing purposes This challenge requires the investor to not only keep track of cost basis adjustments due to corporate actions like splits spin offs and mergers but it also requires cost basis adjustments due to the IRS wash sale rules To make matters worse the Tax Relief Act of 2003 requires a Schedule D that is more complicated than ever before The IRS requires not only traditional tax lot matching but also post May 5 capital gains characterization GainsKeeper s tax lot accounting service characterizes investors capital gains and losses as pre post May 5 and populates the IRS Schedule D The tax rules associated with corporate actions and wash sales can also be very complicated and smart investors would achieve better re
10. S 61306330 C Bustong N 1280 5141338 Current Status 14 119 39 Above is an example of the symbol details for EMC Notice the original buy trades for 100 shares However GainsKeeper has automatically adjusted for a wash sale two 2 1 stock splits and merger into MCDTA GainsKeeper use the icon ato identify wash sale adjustment and the icon ca to identify a corporate action adjustment If you want to see what your cost basis position is in MCDTA simply click the MCDTA link to view the below details on McData Cumulative Date Transaction Shares Cost Shares Cost CA DiembuloSpnOTEMC TOMCDIA 141888 25281 441884 328261 Curent Status 2928 This tells you that by owning 1 200 shares of EMC you were allocated 44 1684 shares due to a 2 8 01 spin off of a new company called MeData GainsKeeper makes adjustments due to corporate actions to both your cost and shares TAX CENTER The Tax Center is the area where reports can be generation based on your GK portfolio data There are four specific tools in the Tax Center Tax Center Submenu Descriptions Schedule D IRS specific reports for tax filing Custom Reports Custom date range report generation Export Data Export to tax preparation software programs Education Tips on how and why taxes impact your investments Check Up Analyzes your trade activity and wams you of any incorrect data Schedule custom
11. Step 2 is your Realized Gain Loss Report detailed attachment for your IRS Schedule D known as the Schedule D 1 To print your Schedule D simply click on the Schedule D button in Step 1 This opens Acrobat Reader and displays your Schedule D in the browser window Click the Save icon at the top to save your Schedule D to your computer Stop 1 IRS ready Schedule D SCHEDULE o apital Gains and Losses 2003 gi er Form 2 che gn oa fan Tom ct pU in AN tede sande Above is an example of a Schedule D that was generated in the GainsKeeper Tax Center tool It is the actual IRS Schedule D Form 1040 with your realized capital gain loss data ready to be printed and included with your tax return Simply include the printed Schedule D with your other tax forms for filing or pass it off to your accountant Afer you print your Schedule D you ll need to click Back in your browser to generate your Realized Gain Loss Report This report should accompany your Schedule D when filing your taxes Click on the Realized attachment box in Step 2 to generate the report Step 2 Realized Gain Loss Attachment Report Schedule D 1 GAINSKEEPER Once aga
12. an account below Account Ovmers Nama Tomy Flagg E Account Type Regular Tune E E stoe iet ox eve sete m arte i dte Tn C Adi Naw Brokerage AB Watley Amarican Cantu Express lamoncan Funds MumberDeseription Example 280288157 mo Ames Bronco crase TONNERRE SA A pull down menu is provided that lists many of the most popular brokers Simply scroll through the list and make your selection by clicking the Brokerage If you don t see your brokerage listed in the menu click on the round radio button to the right of Add New Brokerage and type in the name of your brokerage firm in the space provided The next step is to enter a brokerage description Many use their actual account number as the description although this is not required If you plan to create multiple brokerage accounts in GK portfolio it is important to enter descriptions that enable you to tell the difference between each account For example descriptions like My IRA or My Options Account provide a description of the account s function that will help distinguish the accounts when recording trades in them ua Desgian 9109831847 Account Tyan rani The final field is where you specify the account type whether it is taxable or non taxable Keep in mind that GainsKeeper is designed to help you manage your investments from a tax
13. des gt Manually Record Bonds feature For more information on GainsKeeper s treatment of bonds see the Fixed Income section of Help Manually Recording Trades Ifyou choose to manually enter your brokerage trades simply click the corresponding instrument icon stocks mutual funds options bonds cash ete in the second row of the Record Trades page Then choose the type of trade you wish to enter buy sell short sell cover short et See an example below import your ados Import tom Import using impen OF fle Manually racord your tradas for Sek Muusfun Oston Deposit Haustea hot Afer choosing the type of trade you wish to enter choose the corresponding brokerage account in your GK portfolio where you want to store the trade Since GainsKeeper allows multiple brokerage account tracking make sure you are in the correct account before entering the trade The account into which you are recording the trade is displayed at the top of the page If you want to record the trade in a different account use the drop down menu at the top of the trade entry screen to make your selection Stock Buy Transaction Entry in Acocunt Ese Goo OK When recording Option transactions with trade dates prior to 10 1 01 manually add the option symbol to GainsKeeper This can be done by clicking the Add Option Symbol link Note This is only necessary if the trade da
14. gh various areas of the web site and to access specific tools The blue tabs GainsTracker Gains Advisor Markets Tax Center My Settings Help and Logout represent the major areas of the web site while the gray links below are the sub categories for the specific area you are in EEA ciao Markets Tax Center MySettings Help ES Deerview Whati Tanl Sell rates Analytics Tar Smer Summer Carp Actions Quotes Watch List Resources Broker Rating Schedule D Casta Reports Export Data Educason Chesil SE seio TTT Maintain Accounts crane Aecourt The first section is GainsTracker The second row of links displayed on a gray background are the submenu items of the GainsTracker product GainsTracker Submenu Descriptions Overview Described in detail above View Accounts Displays your Unrealized Long amp Short and Realized views Record Trades Used to enter import new trades into your GK portfolio Transfer Shares Used to transfer a position between brokerage accounts Trade Log Displays a list of all trades recorded in a brokerage account Symbol Details Displays the audit trail of trade history on a symbol Check Up Analyzes your trade activity and wams you of any incorrect data Gains Tracker View Accounts Once you enter your GK account you will see a default view of your Unrealized Long Positions These are the holdings you own today They are derived fro
15. in the Acrobat Reader software will display your Realized Gain Loss Report The report has two parts The first partis a cover page containing a summary of the totals of your short and long term gains and losses the net result of your trading for the year TThe second partis on the pages following the cover page This information is what serves as the basis for the tax calculations on your schedule D If you simply scroll down the page you ll see the details of each sell with its cost sold and capital gain loss characterized as long term or short term Once these reports are displayed print or save them and include them with your tax tetum They are ready to file without any extra work hassle or expense HELP If you ever encounter a problem or task you are unable to solve please use the Help section at the far right side of the top navigation menu In this area there are instructions on the various sections of GainsKeeper Chances are that most of your questions have already been answered Please use the Q amp As Questions and Answers as an online resource in the Help area before contacting GainsKeeper Support GK Support 1f you don t find the information you need in the various parts of Help Getting Started FAQ or Demo sections you can contact GainsK eeper Customer Service directly via email To access specific contact information click on the GK Support link in the submenu under the Help sectio
16. m the buy and sell trades you entered imported into your GK portfolio Each holding in the account is displayed in a table format with its relevant information such as cost basis current value and whether there is a net gain or loss at the present time p Ejus a Raster ST im EI a see the details of the positions you currently own purchase date shares unit cost etc click the top left plus sign as shown below Doing so expands every holding in your portfolio revealing specific lots that constitute the total posi alloy a 3b ome mas oma Deere Tu epum 8 Memes on ims mo inn zum xm Ted imt uem m The following example shows the same GK account in the detail view activated by clicking the plus sign ee ST qm PE AREE mE ame E ur a iss oen 5 mam B ador POS ris um um iay ss su Moran 58 an Sons Notice the dropdown list box that allows you to change from an unrealized view to other views Unrealized Short Realized Buy Activity and Open Short Activity To change the time filter of the display use the third dropdown list bo
17. n This allows you to email your questions or concerns directly to the GainsKeepers support staf This is the easiest and fastest way to submit a question and you will always receive a prompt and detailed reply
18. nus commission and fees for sell transactions Once you have entered the information into the appropriate fields simply click on the Record or Record amp Repeat button at the bottom of the page and your trade is processed and saved in your GK portfolio Shares Transact by Specife ID Price per Share T Soll ny fuere Cost Commission All Fees TOTAL FaOGeEEDS oR deinen sss arcana arconn netar GAINSTRACKER Gains Tracker Overview Below is the GainsTracker Overview page This is the first page displayed every time you log into you GainsKeeper portfolio This page gives you a simple overview of your brokerage account values and includes alerts relating to specific holdings that might qualify for one of the tax minimization strategies offered by GainsKeeper Gains Tracker Overview uvam ases Ammeb 7 TSO saos ai EET gem cs cse Unius T Wopom qom 7 samim sepu annuas Market Overview prem Baar picos ser Tes me Larak Chanae bantala sets The GainsTracker Overview page displays summary information foreach brokerage such as market value gain loss ete Notice the lightening bolt next to your brokerage account Thi
19. on OF fie you Brckarage Excel Template Maney Other Files Since most brokerages only provide one to three months of historical trades for download you will have to manually enter past trades before being able to importidownload recent trades from your brokerage Once you have entered historical trades update your accounts with the Import from your Brokerage function You should consider updating your portfolio inthe system on a daily or monthly basis using the automatic import feature this keeps your account current Most of the major brokerages support GainsKeeper s import but if your brokerage does not offer import capabilities you may want to contact them and suggest it Unfortunately GainsKeeper does not have any control over this We do monitor this page closely and work hard to update it whenever a new brokerage firm adds this capability Note that each brokerage listed has its own process for setting up and executing an import from their OFX servers The following screen shows list of the brokerage firms that offer their clients import capabilities As mentioned not all brokerages offer this function To initiate the import and obtain specific instructions on how to access your account records from each brokerage firm simply click on the name of that firm smi emer Fuca p HARRIS c American Century investments INVESCO Funds
20. s represents an OFX download from your brokerage Once you have done a download from your brokerage you will be able to click the to do subsequent imports This feature is a short cut to the Record Trades gt Import from Brokerage feature previously discussed There are various ways to enter your portfolio from the GainsTracker Overview page If you click the name of an owner you ll enter your GK portfolio displaying all trades tecorded in all brokerage account under this owner If you click a specific account you ll enter your GK portfolio displaying only the trades recorded in only this particular brokerage account You can add trades to a specific brokerage account in your GK portfolio by clicking the Add link to the right ofthe particular account You can view the Trade Log of a particular brokerage account by clicking the View Delete link tothe right of the particular account 1n the lower left hand corner of GainsTracker Overview page is the Personal Investment Tips section This alerts you to specific holdings in your accounts that might qualify for one of GainsKeeper s tax minimization strategies Personal Investment You have Buses lsh Sates You have 3 se hs ter hes How to Bl Pastine Each time you login to your GK portfolio you ll see a blue and gray menu bar along the top of the web site The main menu bar can be used to navigate throu
21. st time you may need to manually enter any trades not provided by your brokerage discussed above this is because most brokerages only allow downloads for the past 3 months of trade history Import Transactions Import all transactions starting with trade dete 1172002 During the import process GainsKeeper will display all the trades that it was able to download from your brokerage in Data Confirmation Page Use this confirmation page to make any changes to the data before saving them to your GK portfolio Notice the box in the column labeled Include If there are transactions you do not want to import but want to enter manually uncheck the box next to that trade This excludes the transaction from the import When you are ready to process and save the trades to your portfolio scroll to the bottom of the Confirmation Page and click the Import Data bution See the following example Please Confirm Your Data Wem ete meer ew Aloe Paez farses per fam fan gee Eee user peusen E Soe 0 Em ewe puso foes em m FD for fon for press NC CERES OVERSHOT for em pe prs TEN RO SU Ex ris moe FERT ra fas TEN For pe fos
22. sults by spending their valuable time focusing on making good investment decisions rather than the arduous task of tax lot accounting Unfortunately accurate tax lot accounting is not only required to file your year end capital gain loss Schedule D but more importantly accurate tax lot accounting provides the information necessary for investors to maximize their after tax returns Many investors assume that good cost basis record keeping is the responsibility of their brokerage firm or accountant but few of the top brokerage firms are able to provide this service to the investor Once investors have accurate cost basis information there are many things investors can do to reduce their tax burden and GainsKeeper s products were developed specifically to meet this need GainsKeeper s flagship product GainsTracker provides investors with tool that shields them from the burdens and complexities of cost basis tracking and capital gain loss determination GainsTracker serves as the foundation for GainsKeeper s second product GainsAdvisor GainsAdvisor identifies simple trading opportunities that minimizes your capital gains taxes and subsequently maximizes your after tax returns That means more money in your pocket on an after tax basis QUICK START Logging Into Your GK Portfolio When you registered with GainsKeeper you created a LoginID and were emailed temporary password Tet about yoursett ecd
23. te is prior to 10 1 01 Options Buy to Open Transaction Entry Symbol WEBNS is not ognized or s not ie pn Sumo in Account s Action Eroen E wie Chain Symbol Transaction Date immi EB Use the features on the record page to identify special trades like Average Cost sells See the below example Mutual Fund Sell Transaction Entry etn ome Deca reas ion ceo E rco Transaction Dae Ad Shares Prica per Share ee Commission All Fuse Giteucart vorat enoceeos OR C Proceeds There are two ways to record the cost or proceeds information into GainsKeeper 1 Enter the shares per share price and any applicable commissions and fees 2 Enter the total transaction amount Cost or Proceeds The information can be found on either your monthly brokerage statement or on the individual trade confirmation slip you receive from your brokerage The easiest way to enter this information is by using the Total Cost option for a buy transaction or Total Proceeds for a sell transaction To do this click on the round button next to the Total Cost Proceeds field and then enter the total cost proceeds of the transaction This number includes costs basis plus commissions and fees or proceeds mi
24. x as shown in the below example poen Gies Sl Ben as B srcurnessa 0 rine mone D ise oon GainsTracker Symbol Details EEO crineacvirar Tor Center uy settings eip NN View Recni Trades Troneer Shares Trade Log Strate tele Cheep The Symbol Details feature displays the complete audit wail ofa particular holding This audit tail will show the details of each buy and sell far a symbol as well as any corporate action adjustments or wash sales adjustments that GainsKeeper has made to that symbol The adjustments to cost and shares are updated without you having to do a single thing You ll never have to struggle to figure out how many shares you own and What your cost basis is after things like mergers or stock splits GainsKeeper takes care of al of this for you You can access the details of each holding by clicking on the yellow icon to the left of each lot or using the Symbol Details submenu item Cumulative Date Transaction Shares Cost Shaes Bu Longe doa 880000 100 1 88000 Fa Yiash Sale Adi 100 272200 Sioc SMit BHC 408 om 8279200 C Daniam Buy Lange a sasao 3 siam 060200 Eni EMC am s4300 C 07712000 Buy LangEMC LEN NND f 2908 2000 Bu Longe 8837601 1200 51335000 Diebutentpi OFEMC t MCDI O ga
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