Hi, Jay.
Still fighting that AT&T History puzzle? :-[
Remember some of our grade-school arithmetic lessons. When adding or multiplying, the sequence of the numbers doesn't matter. 3 * 4 * 5 = 60 is the same as 5 * 3 * 4 = 60; 3 + 4 + 5 = 12 is the same as 4 + 5 + 3 = 12. But, when subtracting or dividing, the sequence makes a BIG difference! 5 - (4 - 3) = 4 is much different from (5 - 4) - 3 = -2! And (3 / 4) /
5...well, you get the idea.
In tracing stock histories, so long as we are just buying more shares, the sequence might not matter much. But when we sell some (but not all) shares, the sequence becomes important. And when there is a split (think: division), the sequence is critical. When we combine splits with partial sales, then there are no shortcuts. :>(
All the transactions must be dated in the proper chronological sequence. And, when deleting transactions to re-enter them correctly, the deletions must be in strict REVERSE chronological order. Otherwise, we may be trying to split shares that we've already sold, or to sell shares that we don't own yet. Recording a split, then another split, then a sale, will get you a different answer than recording a split, then a sale, then another split.
Let's try a simple example and see what we get. Buy 100 on 1/1/2001. Split
2-for-1 on 1/1/2002. Sell 50 on 1/1/2003, leaving 150. Split again 3-for-1 on 1/1/2004. Now hold 450. But, if we didn't know about the sale in time to record it, we would show 100
* 2 * 3, for a total of 600. Now we learn about the sale. If we record the sale of 50 as of today, we are left with
550, which is obviously wrong. Because of the missed split, we would have to record a current sale as 150 shares, to get us down to 450. That fixes the number of shares, but what about the BASIS? If the original cost was $10 per share, the basis for the 50 we sold after the first split would have been $5; our basis in the remaining 150 shares would have been $750 ($5 per share). After the final split, our 450 shares would still have the $750 basis, or $1.67 (5/3) per share. We could mis-calculate basis in several ways if we try to record the missed sale out of sequence. We might record the sale of 50 at the original $10 basis if we didn't know about the first split. Then our remaining balance would show as 50 shares at a remaining basis of $500, and our later split would give us 450 shares at the $500 total cost, or just $1.11 each. And, of course, the gain or loss we reported on the sale of the 50 shares would be wrong and we would need to file an amended return for that year. If we don't, then our gain or loss will be reported wrong when we sell some of all of the remaining 450 shares.
The only good way to fix our accounting in Quicken is to delete the last split, then record the sale, and then enter the split again.
All this stuff is not hard. It's just tedious. But, as the old saying asks, "Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time? But there's always time to do it over again." :>(
At least, that's my opinion. Others may disagree.
RC