Investment Category and Fee Category
I am ignorant of how to use the Category and Fee Category fields. So much so that I don't think I've ever entered anything into either...so for the transactions I've entered over the years either or both of them default to "Allowance" (which is, alphabetically, the first category I set up on my system).
How are these fields typically used?
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1 Posted by dwg on 14 Aug, 2023 10:38 PM
The category field allows you to categorize the transaction into income and Expense classifications, eg, Wages, interest, Utilities, fuel etc.
It is primary use is when generating Income and expense reports and of course in budgets.
Fee category is when there is an included fee and allows classification of this into a specific category.
2 Posted by dtd on 14 Aug, 2023 10:40 PM
. see next message .
3 Posted by dtd on 14 Aug, 2023 10:42 PM
Basically, both are meant as "buckets" for different spending. They can be extremely useful for determining where your spending is going.
You probably have a GIGANTIC balance in "Allowance" - Lets just say (depending on long you've used MD) - $X0000 - it represents basically EVERYTHING you've ever spent.
I have categories like "Groceries", "Gasoline" (actually even Gasoline:Car1 and Gasoline:Car2), "AirFare", etc. Here's a starting list for my categories - you can do so many reports, figure out where your spending is going, and so on.
You may notice I deleted "Allowance" and added "Anything" which I try to keep zero - gotta figure out where that 16.40 went!
As for fee category (in investments), I tend to have a category called something like "Investment:Fee Expense" - but that doesn't happen very much "these days" with zero fee transactions for stock exchange - mostly pennies.
Mostly, these fields are typically used to track "where" you spent your money to figure out where that money is going.
Hope that helps. Note from the pic, most entries are zero, but that's because I have subcategories for most of them (note the > in front of most)
4 Posted by mark on 14 Aug, 2023 11:01 PM
:blush: I may have been unclear about the Category question. I’m well aware of how categories are used within Moneydance to record income and expenses.
What I’m not clear on is how they’re used within the specific context of an investment register transaction. Which typically involves the buying and selling of a specific security, not just a receipt (sale) or expenditure (purchase).
Hypothetically, consider the purchase of 100 shares of XYZ Corp at $10 per share with a transaction fee of $7.50. How would the Category and Fee Categories play a role in accounting for the transaction? What would the overall register entry look like?
* Mark
5 Posted by dwg on 14 Aug, 2023 11:17 PM
When the action is a buy or a sell the category field will not accept the entry of anything, note that it will probably show something but it will be greyed out, this is just a placeholder, it has been suggested in the past that the placeholder not be shown but that has not been accepted so the field always remains empty in any case.
With your transaction the total amount of the transaction would be 1007.50 you show a fee of 7.50 in the fee field and select the fee category as appropriate hence the price of the shares themselves is your $10 x 100.
It is done like this because the cost base of the shares actually includes the fees so it becomes part of the capital gains calculation if/when you sell the shares .
6 Posted by dtd on 14 Aug, 2023 11:21 PM
. don't know why attachments don't work the first time, unless having a dwg comment (which is good) during my post is dropping the attachment for some reason .
7 Posted by dtd on 14 Aug, 2023 11:22 PM
Like this? Note I put XYZ Corp in Security; I could have pretended the security was XYZ, but it's understandable.
There is no category for a Buy/Sell, because the Security "is" the category, but for MiscInc or stuff like that, there would be a category entry.
I've also shown the Fee Category, with what I use for such.
Hope that helps.
8 Posted by dwg on 14 Aug, 2023 11:28 PM
@dtd Tender sometimes seems to lose attachments, it has happened to me a couple of times, mostly when I am in a hurry and try to rush.
So I cannot claim any credit, or otherwise, for lost attachments :)
9 Posted by dtd on 14 Aug, 2023 11:34 PM
I'm just certain you've placed them in a lockbox!
oh, my, where's the attachment with a picture of a lockbox?
10 Posted by mark on 14 Aug, 2023 11:57 PM
Thanx!
System closed this discussion on 14 Nov, 2023 12:00 AM.