Importing Data into Simply Track

All you need to do is login to your online broker account and go to account History and Download the Trades into .CSV (Comma Separated Values) or Excel format and Import Into Simply Track. You can even Copy and Paste from Your trade history log into Simply Track import window. During the import Simply Track automatically matches your Buy Trades with Sell Trades and Vice Versa so that you can generate schedule D with Wash Sale Calculations.

Please read the following Example, which shows how you can import from Ameritrade/Datek history trades. For other online brokers the process is similar except file layout and column definitions of the history log is different. Sample layout each online broker is outlined below.

Step By Step Importing Instructions with Screen Shots.

Following screen shots explains how easily you can import your trades into Simply Track. In this example we are importing from Ameritrade/datek trade history into Simply Track and we are generating Schedule D for 2004 Tax year. In this Example we will Generate Schedule D With Wash Sale Adjustments and export Schedule D report into PDF and also Export Schedule D into .TXF (Tax Format File) file. We will also Time each step to see How long This process takes and How much time you will save by using this Tool.

In this step we will download trade data from Broker's website. To do this login to Ameritrade/Datek new web site and then click on Account History, You Should See something like this

In order for Simply Track to properly match your trades for a given tax year, your input file should include positions held open from the previous tax year. Instead of you manually figuring out all 2004 open positions just give all 2003 and 2004 trades to Simply Track tool and let Simply track figure out 2004 open trades and also match all 2004 trades automatically.

To download 2003 trades from Ameritrade website Simply Key in your Date Range as shown in the above picture and click on Download(CSV Format) and save the file into your hard drive. Ameritrade only allows you to download 12 months at a time, So you need to download all 2003 trades into One File and all 2004 trades into other file. Also note that in order for Simply Track to Properly calculate wash sale you need January 2005 trades too, So you will also download all 2005 trades till current date into another file. Now you have all trades for 2003, 2004 and January 2005 trades (you also include Feb 2005, March 2005 etc)

Now Open 2004 and 2005 trades files and Cut and Paste these trades at the end of 2003 trades file. Now you should have one file with all trades for last 2 years, We will save this File C:\Ameritrade_trades.CSV

At the end of this step you will have all your trades into one file like this, Click here to see the Sample file.

Time taken to do this process it 10 minutes

To do this Step, Launch (Start>Programs->Simply track) Simply Track Program and Click on File->New, then Key in any name for your Data File, in this example we will call it 2004_TRADS and then Click on save. As soon as you create new data file Simply Track automatically creates a default Portfolio called "New Portfolio", if you want you can go rename this portfolio by clicking on Portfolio->Save as Option.

Now we have our Trade Date and an empty portfolio called "New Portfolio" , we will go ahead and import all our trades into "New Portfolio" . To do this Simply Click On File ->Import, You should see a screen Like This

In the Above Screen we will select Input Data Format as "Ameritrade/Datek" and Leave the rest of the fields as defaults. Note that we are not checking the Box where it says "Automatically Adjust Stock Splits" , The reason for this is, Input Data from Ameritrade already has Stock Split Info. If your data file does not has split info then check this box so that Simply track figure out Split Info from Internet free quote server.

Also note that we are leaving "Ignore Closed Trades Before the Tax Year" as checked (default), The reason for this is Our data contains all 2003 trades and we want Simply track to ignore 2003 tax year trades.

In short, During this step You Selected you Online Broker , Then click Next

In this screen we will click on open and browse our input file that we have prepared in step 1 and select C:\Ameritrade_trades.CSV, Then click on Import Button.

During this Step Simply track does following things

• During the import Simply track maps your trades in First In First Out (FIFO) format
• Matches All your buys and sells as Sold Long (Closed Long)
• Matches All your Sells and Buys as Sold Shot (Closed Short)
• Buy trades with no matching Sell Trades are flagged as long
• Sells trades with no matching Buy Trades are flagged as Short

In short, During this step you selected you Input File, Then click Next

During this Step you can delete unwanted trades by selecting check box as shown below.

Also note that if Stock Ticker Symbol changes During the Year Those Trades may not be Mapped Correctly. To Fix this Issues you need Edit your input file and repeat Step 2 to Step 4. Click On Ok Button to Import Your Trades into Simply track.

At the End of step 5 All your trades should be successfully imported into Simply Track as shown below.

You can sort your trades by Sell Date, Buy Date or Ticker Symbol, You can Edit any trade by clicking on any sell and then Right Click to edit.

To Generate Schedule D , All you need to do is Select Reports->Generate Schedule D Option, You will see following Screen

Make sure You select "Check to Perform Wash Sale Adj " Option. Click On Schedule-D button to generate Schedule D. You Can Print This Report and Attached to your Tax Return. You can also click On PDF button to Generate PDF FILE. Click On this image to See Simply Track Generated PDF file.

Click On Reports->Then Click On Export Schedule D to Tax Software Format Option to Export your Trades into .TXF file Format. Use This File to Import Your Trades into Tax Software's such as Turbox and Taxcut etc.

Total Time taken for this entire process is 22 minutes. To do this Process Manually It may take at least 2 days to map the trades manually and 2 days to calculate Wash Sales manually, Just think of How Much time You saved By Simply Using Simply Track . If you haven't purchased a Copy of Simply Track Click Here to Purchase.

General Importing Importing Instructions ans various File Formats.

Your Sample trades should look like this

Using generic file import options you should be able to import your trades from any excel spreadsheet or text file. You will have to tell Simply Track column numbers from spreadsheet for fields like Trade date, Action, Symbol, Quantity, Price, Commission. Please take a look at this Demo how you can import your trades using generic file import option. Click here to see the demo

• Go to File>Import.
• Type the portfolio Name.
• Under Input type Drop down list select your file type.
• If your trades already split adjusted then uncheck the Split Adjusted Check box.
• Click on import button to import all your trades into Simply Track. During the import simply track automatically connects to Internet Quote server to determine stock splits for each symbol and applies split adjustments to your trades.
• During the import Simply track maps your trades in First In First Out (FIFO) format.
• Upon successful completion of the import simply track display all the mapped trades , Current holdings and error. You can delete the trades that you think are not mapped correctly.
• Also note that if the trade is a short sale and covered on the same day simply track has no way to know that these trades are shorts, hence it maps these trades as long. Make sure you correct these trades by going into Stock>Edit option.
• After successful import into Simply track, you can click on Reports to generate various reports like Schedule-D, Portfolio analysis and more.