GNUcash has a very interesting abstraction: each account has a single fixed
"value token" (they call it "commodity") for all transactions but may also
have subaccounts. In this model, each fund/commodity/investment vehicle is a
token with its own subaccount. Thus a brokerage accounts might be in USD but
have subaccounts in shares of MSFT and FCNTX and ounces of gold and AUD or
barrels of oil or space bucks or whatever. For purposes like yours, they can
mask all of this with the UI. Note, also, in their model, account and
category (Money terms) are both derived from Account.

I like this model a lot in terms of a simplified object decomposition but am
still struggling with how to morph my Money data into a similar model for
the next iteration of my Project Dinero schema. I also haven't figured out
how GNUcash deals with things like reinvested dividends. I also haven't
figured out if they really support entering transaction in arbitrary value
token and converting to the transaction of the account in question. (Ability
to enter any transaction in any currency and convert--at a transaction
level, not account transfer level--is a requirement I've set for PD.)

"Cal Learner-- MVP" <via_newsgroup[at]please.tnx> wrote in message
news:c1q882pipeko3rofqvveerkn3kr3ei5ika[at]4ax.com...
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"Cal Learner-- MVP" wrote:
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Yes, it's accounting correct.

In microsoft.public.money, J. Delage wrote:

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So does the IRS.

The other problem in doing that is that my purchases (from my checking
account) are recorded by my bank as a fund-specific event. It's not a huge
issue to manually reconcile those of course.

"Cal Learner-- MVP" wrote I would much prefer a single account with the various investments in
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One thing I noticed is that Money treats fund share exchange (exchange
$,1000 from fund X into fund Y) as 2 distinct events: a sale for cash, and an
immediate cash purchase.

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Money 2006

Thanks for your response!

In microsoft.public.money, J. Delage <J.
Delage[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

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I would much prefer a single account with the various investments in
it. It seems much more orderly. The tracking of selling a fund and
buying another with the proceeds seems much more natural.

I would not want to have a bunch of accounts added to the
AccountList.

On Sun, 4 Jun 2006 21:23:02 -0700, J. Delage <J.
Delage[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

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I WISH Money 2005 Standard would give me this option, as I would take
the separate accounts, but it doesn't so I have given up trying to
track my Vanguard accounts in Money. What version are you using?

One pro I can think for separate accounts is easier basis accounting
when you sell shares. Also, that's how its done on paper and just
seems logical to me.

All,

I have a taxable Vanguard investment account where I have several funds.
When I download the data Vanguard proposes to structure the data so that each
fund be its own account, or to consolidate the data into one account (in such
a case the fund information is still captured correctly). What are the pros
and cons of doing one vs the other?

Thanks!