Hi, Eric.
Q has always handled splits correctly for me, including Wal*Mart, Dell,
Microsoft, etc., which have had several successive splits each. Of course,
you must be meticulous in recording the transactions in chronological order.
Watch out especially for a split, followed by a sale, then another split of
the remaining shares. Or a split, then a purchase of more shares, then
another split. Keeping the separate bases for the separate lots can be a
challenge.
Or are you talking about multiple simultaneous spin-offs, like many users
had to deal with a year or so ago? That is, one parent spun off two
subsidiaries at once. (Was it AT&T Wireless?) We were able to get Q to
handle the basis properly only by treating it as successive spin-offs,
making sure to include fair market values of both the parent and one new
company when calculating the new basis for the other new company. I don't
recall the exact steps, but it's all in the archives, I'm sure.
You do have to watch out for terminology in Q's Easy Actions. They ask us
to input the answer to get the answer. :>( For example, Q2004 asks for
"Cost per old share (post spin-off)", and for "Cost per new share". What we
really need to enter is the Fair Market Value of the shares, immediately
after the transaction, NOT what those shares cost us back when we bought
them. The Help file helps very little; it does hint that we are looking for
market values ("closing price per share of your original security, on the
date of the spin-off"), but repeats the definition of "Cost per new share"
as "the cost per share of the new security...on the date of the spin-off".
What we really need here is the market value immediately after the deal,
which may have been the opening trade on the day after the spin-off. The
best source for these values is usually the statements made by the company a
few days after the transaction; we usually can find these on the company's
website under "investor relations".
RC
