Question
Can I record fractional shares?
Answer
GainsKeeper carries share amounts out to four decimal places in order to allow users to accurately record Dividend Reinvestments, Mutual Funds, and other partial share purchase arrangements. GainsKeeper will also calculate and maintain fractional shares in your account that were created by corporate actions. In most cases, your broker will allocate cash-in-lieu for fractional shares created by corporate actions. If you receive cash-in-lieu from your broker, record this transaction by recording a Stock - Record Cash-in-Lieu Transaction. For example, if you have 89.23 shares after a corporate action and your broker pays you cash-in-lieu for the 0.23 fractional shares, you should record Cash in Lieu transaction to appropriately remove the 0.23 shares.
To record a cash-in-lieu transaction, use a trade date equal to the date of the corporate action causing the fractional share amount, and use the cash-in-lieu amount received from your brokerage. By recording this transaction you will correctly remove the fractional shares from your total share position and account for the correct gain/loss on your Realized Gain/Loss Report for tax filing.
Note: This gain/loss figure is determined by the difference between your cash-in-lieu amount and the cost sold.