Average Cost Per Share Report - Dollar Cost Averaging

Is there or can there be a Average Cost per share report. I've got transaction back to 1998 before the investing companies tracked cost basis on 1099B. Selling those is a challenge to get accurate data for gains and loses.

Is there or could there be a report that tacks cost per share or dollar cost average of a stock over time?

I think there is a gain/loss report - but I'd like to see the trend as well.

Best Answer

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Answer ✓
    Sorry, I didn't catch that you wanted to see average cost per share over time. I don't know of any way to do that in Quicken Mac. As you're aware, the reports for investments are pretty limited still, and we continue to hope that at some point the developers will deliver more robust investment reports. I'm not sure I understand the significance of tracking average cost over time rather than metrics like performance and value, but hopefully if the developers provide a robust reporting engine, that would be a parameter you could use.

    Meanwhile, the best I think you can do is to export your transaction data to a spreadsheet, do some cleanup, and create a formulas to calculate your basis and your average post after each transaction; you could then have the spreadsheet turn that into a graph. Not one-click easy within Quickness's, but you could definitely create get what you want.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993

Answers

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Yes, Quicken Mac can show your Average Cost Per Share. (But frustratingly and inexplicably, it cannot be set to use Average Cost Basis to calculate gains/losses when selling shares of securities, even though many people hold securities using Average Cost Basis with their brokerage.)

    Select the investment account (or group of investments) you want, and click on the Portfolio view. Set the first filter to Performance and the second filter to Group by Security. Now click on the column icon on the right side of the toolbar (between the graph and column headings). In the list of possible columns, you'll find Average Cost Per Share. Double-click it to move it from the left list of possible columns to the right list of active columns, and click Save. Now you have a screen with Average Cost Per Share, and you can print this as a report or export it to a spreadsheet.

    Average Cost Per Share here is simply Cost Basis divided by Number of Shares.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • Thank you, I do have this. I'm looking for a graphical progress type data set and graphs. Like Net worth or portfolio value but to chart the changes in Average cost over the decades.
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Answer ✓
    Sorry, I didn't catch that you wanted to see average cost per share over time. I don't know of any way to do that in Quicken Mac. As you're aware, the reports for investments are pretty limited still, and we continue to hope that at some point the developers will deliver more robust investment reports. I'm not sure I understand the significance of tracking average cost over time rather than metrics like performance and value, but hopefully if the developers provide a robust reporting engine, that would be a parameter you could use.

    Meanwhile, the best I think you can do is to export your transaction data to a spreadsheet, do some cleanup, and create a formulas to calculate your basis and your average post after each transaction; you could then have the spreadsheet turn that into a graph. Not one-click easy within Quickness's, but you could definitely create get what you want.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • Thank you. Part of the reason is to also project the path to bringing down a stock to a point when I might see the benefits of an increase. Long story :smile:
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