Supported and Unsupported Securities and Transactions
With the number of different investments a club might make, it's important to note that there are a few types of transactions and securities that our club accounting system does not support. Listed below are Unsupported transactions and securities. Following this is a list of securities that are not considered common stocks (Google, Walmart, Exxon, etc.) but are still supported by our accounting system.
Unsupported Transactions
Buying and selling short, on margin, and options trading of securities. Tracking property ownership or rental. Tracking personal/private loans. While some clubs may have found ways to accommodate these transactions, they are not supported in our accounting system, and we cannot offer advice on how to enter or otherwise account for these transactions.
Unsupported Securities
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency is currently treated as property per IRS regulations. However, recent changes to personal tax forms mean Individual taxpayers must report cryptocurrencies separate from other securities on their personal taxes. We don't have a way to separate gains/losses from cryptocurrency in our tax printer, so we suggest holding off investments.
Further Complications:
Cryptocurrency may not carry a ticker symbol, or may not use a ticker symbol our system recognizes. In the first case, the club will need to create a placeholder ticker symbol, such as bit.coin when entering a Buy, Sell, or other transaction. In either case, the accounting system will likely not be able to get regular price updates. This means that the price will need to be manually entered when creating new valuations.
Our system does not have a specific designation for Cryptocurrency, so after the first Buy, the club would need to edit the security, and change the Type to Other, or Other Publicly traded.
When entering a Buy, enter # of Coins purchased as shares purchased, if the currency was purchased directly. If purchased via a fund, use # of fund shares.
Commodities: (Gold, Silver, Iron, etc.): Club Accounting does not support commodities because currently the capital gains are reported differently for commodities than for stocks. The maximum rate on commodities is 28% rather than the 15% on stock gains. This can also be an issue in some ETFs that hold commodities as their only asset. The IRS rules state these types of ETF should be treated as if the shareholder actually held the commodity.
Royalty Trust: A Royalty Trust is a type of corporation usually involved in mining, and therefore energy (coal, gas, oil, etc). It is taxed according to special regulations, whereby its profits are not taxed at the corporate level, provided a certain high percentage of profits (e.g. 90%) are distributed to share holders as dividends. The dividends are then taxed as personal income. This system, similar to real estate investment trusts, effectively avoids the double-taxation of corporate dividends.If you have received a royalty from your stock, please contact a local tax consultant for your club's tax returns.
Limited Partnerships (LP )and Master Limited Partnerships (MLP): As a unit holder in an LP or MLP, your club is considered to be operating a business in any state where that partnership operates a business. Your club and each of your members may be required to file non-resident income tax returns in each of those states. The LP or MLP would provide additional information with its K-1. Club Accounting 3 and the Online Accounting at myiclub.com are designed on a cash-only basis generally used for stocks, mutual funds, and fixed-cash investments such as CD's. Because the accounting and tax treatment is particular to each LP or MLP, they are unsupported in the current system.
For more on LP and MLP securities, including how to handle situatons where the club may have invested in one without realizing it, please see FAQ 10, on our site at: https://www.iclub.com/faq/Home/Article?id=10
Supported Securities and Transactions
Common Stocks: All common stocks are supported in our club accounting system. Keep in mind that stocks with a per share value less than .01 may be difficult to keep an exact value for, due to their low price per share. These include stocks traded on OTC (Over the counter) markets. They can be referred to as OTC, Penny Stocks, Pink sheet, or .PK stocks.
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT): REIT is a tax designation for a corporation investing in real estate that reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their income, which may be taxable in the hands of the investors. The REIT structure was designed to provide a similar structure for investment in real estate as mutual funds provide for investment in stocks.
Complications: May provide different information on dividends and gains on 1099 at the end of the year.
American Depository Receipt (ADR): An ADR is a method of purchasing foreign stocks on an American exchange. Theses stocks will have a ticker symbol, and have prices updated the same as common stocks on the U.S. market.
Complications: Foreign stocks mean foreign taxes, and sometimes fees. Check the user manual for your copy of club accounting on how to handle foreign taxes.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF): An ETF is a collection of stocks sold as under a single ticker symbol. Data: has a ticker symbol, prices updated through CSI, but not tracked in S&P or StockCentral.
Complications: May provide different information on dividends and gains on 1099 at the end of the year.
Standard and Poor Depository Receipt (SPDR or 'Spider'): This is the same as an ETF.
Unit Investment Trust (UIT): A UIT is a US investment company offering a fixed (unmanaged) portfolio of securities having a definite life. Complications: Has no ticker symbol and therefore is neither updated through CSI nor tracked in S&P or StockCentral. Also, it may allow average cost method. If so, make sure to mark as a Mutual Fund. If it does not, mark as Other.
Mutual Fund: A Mutual Fund is a form of collective investment that pools money from many investors and invests their money in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. In a mutual fund, the fund manager trades the fund's underlying securities, realizing capital gains or losses, and collects the dividend or interest income. The investment proceeds are then passed to the individual investors. The value of a share of the mutual fund, known as the net asset value per share (NAV), is calculated daily based on the total value of the fund divided by the number of shares currently issued and outstanding.
Closed end funds can invested in, but special care should be taken that the fund is not investing in any of the non-supported security types listed earlier in this FAQ.
Data: Has a ticker symbol, prices updated through CSI, but not tracked in S&P or StockCentral.
Complications: May provide different information on dividends and gains on 1099 at the end of the year.
Fixed Cash Investments
Bonds - A Bond is a debt security in which the issuer owes the holders a debt and is obliged to repay the principal and interest (the coupon) at a later date, termed maturity. Other stipulations may also be attached to the bond issue such as the obligation for the issuer to provide certain information to the bond holder, or limitations on the behavior of the issuer. Bonds are generally issued for a fixed term (the maturity) longer than ten years. U.S. Treasury securities issued debt with life of ten years or more is a bond. New debt between one year and ten years is a note, and new debt less than a year is a bill.
Treasury Bills (T-Bills) – T-Bills are like Bonds, but mature in one year or less.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs) – CDs are similar to savings accounts in that they are insured and thus virtually risk-free; they are "money in the bank." (They are insured by the FDIC for banks or by the NCUA for credit unions.) They are different from savings accounts in that the CD has a specific, fixed term (often three months, six months, or one to five years), and usually a fixed interest rate. It is intended that the CD be held until maturity at which time the money may be withdrawn together with the accrued interest.