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Adding an Investment Account (Estates)

There are two ways to add an investment account for Estate Accounting. The method you choose depends on whether you plan to track holdings.

Ailsa Kennedy avatar
Written by Ailsa Kennedy
Updated over a week ago

Method 1: Adding an Investment Account with Holdings

Use this method if you want detailed accounting that tracks individual holdings within the account.

Steps:

  1. Open a New Investment Account Asset

    • Click the Add New button (top right corner) of the Assets Page.

    • Select Deceased Investment Account.

    • Leave both the Date of Death Value and Market Value fields as $0.

    • Enter all additional Investment Account details.

    • Save the account.

    • It will appear in your asset list showing a $0 starting value.

  2. Enter Initial Cash Balance (if applicable)

    • Click the account and choose View Holdings.

    • Click Add Holding.

    • Select Cash Holding.

    • Enter the liquid cash balance at date of death

    • Enter each value under Date of Death Price/Unit, Market Price/Unit and Book Value (these will usually be the same for Cash).

    • Mark it as a Capital Money Type.

    • Save — the account value will now reflect this balance.

  3. Add Additional Original Holdings

    • In the same Holdings screen, click Add Holding again.

    • Enter details for each stock, bond, mutual fund, etc. held by the deceased at date of death (original assets)

    • Input the symbol (Our API Integration with the exchanges will look up values for you!)

    • Enter quantity of shares, and the date of death price per unit and market price per unit. (if not searched by ticker symbol search)

    • Save each holding.

    • Continue until all holdings are entered.

    • Also See: Adding Holdings

  4. Liquidate the Initial Cash Balance

    Once all original holdings are added, liquidate the opening cash holding to display cash value of account.

    • Go to the Assets Tab main screen, select your investment account, click Manage, and review the Opening Balance Transaction (which will correctly show $0 from the original asset profile).

    • Return to the Assets Tab, and click into the Holdings screen.

    • Click the left facing arrow on the far right hand side of your Cash holding.

    • Select the Liquidate button.

    • Liquidate the cash value with the transaction date being the date of death.

    • The account will not display the Cash Value of your account on the bottom of the Holdings screen and the applicable Capital/Principal Receipt will be created for this value.

Method 2: Adding an Investment Account without Holdings

Use this method if you don’t need detailed tracking of holdings and prefer a simpler, “cash-only” approach to your accounting.

Steps:

  1. Start a New Account

    • Click the Add New button (top right corner) of the Assets Tab.

    • Select Deceased Investment Account for your Asset Profile.

  2. Enter Account Values

    • Input the Date of Death Value and the Current Value of the account.

    • Save — the account will appear with these totals.

  3. Opening Balance Transaction

    • Click the account and select Manage.

    • The system will create an Opening Balance Transaction automatically for the Current Value of the account entered in the Asset Profile.

  4. Use the Account as Cash

    • Record receipts, disbursements, deposits, and withdrawals directly against the account. (See: Adding Individual Transactions)

    • Do not add holdings (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) in the Add Holdings screen. If you do this it will duplicate your account values.

The reason there are two different ways to enter Investment Accounts into the system, is because depending on what you need to report, the Accounting Reports will display this information differently for you.

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