Accounting for brokerage fees (vs. commissions)

Rocket J Squirrel
Rocket J Squirrel SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
edited July 2022 in Investing (Windows)
Morgan Stanley, being a full-service brokerage, still charges fees and commissions on security sales. Quicken can handle commissions but not fees. (The "Transaction Fees" property of investment accounts doesn't work for me. My commission is 7¢/share which "Transaction Fees" doesn't handle, and who knows how the other fees are computed?)
Do you guys bother to track fees separately or just roll them into commissions? If you track them separately, how exactly do you do that?

Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.

Comments

  • q_lurker
    q_lurker SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would choose to roll all the expenses into the commission field for the transaction. $9.41 commission in your example. I have never seen that account fees table used. I am not sure why it exists other than to give the user a summary as a reminder. 
    All that said, my reality is simply entering the net transaction total $10,918.87 and not bothering with tracking fees and commissions. 
  • mshiggins
    mshiggins SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Rocket, have you considered dumping Morgan Stanley?

    Quicken user since Q1999. Currently using QW2017.
    Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list

  • Rocket J Squirrel
    Rocket J Squirrel SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    mshiggins said:
    Rocket, have you considered dumping Morgan Stanley?
    I have, but they provide me value in other ways.

    Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.

  • Sherlock
    Sherlock Member ✭✭✭✭
    We've always collected all of the brokerage's transaction fees in the transaction's commission field.  My understanding is the investment account's Transaction Fees form is informational.
  • Jim_Harman
    Jim_Harman SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    One issue in a taxable account is how the transaction and processing fees are treated for tax purposes. Commissions should be included in your cost basis, and I think the fees should be included as well.

    If you look up your cost basis on the Morgan Stanley website, does it include the transaction and processing fees? If so, then it should be proper to add the fees to the commission when you record the purchase in Quicken and you should get credit for them when you sell the security.

    Consult your tax advisor. 
    QWin Premier subscription
  • Rocket J Squirrel
    Rocket J Squirrel SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Consult your tax advisor. 
    That's you now, @Jim_Harman . :)
    Purchases cost nothing. The commission & fees are imposed on sales. But they are subtracted from my net proceeds, reducing my taxable gain just as if they were part of the purchase price.
    Snipped from MS site:


    Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.

This discussion has been closed.