Stock splits commonly occur when a company decides its stock price is too expensive for individual investors to buy the stock. Splits have the effect of lowering the price of a single share while keeping the value of shares owned by investors who have already purchased shares.
GnuCash uses the Stock Split assistant to record stock splits. This provides a way of entering the
details of the stock split and also any change in stock price or cash disbursement as a
result of the stock split.
The Stock Split assistant is accessed by going to → .
The Stock Split assistant opens with a screen that briefly describes what this assistant does. The three buttons at the very bottom of the screen will not change while using the assistant.
The button is used to exit the assistant and cancel entering the stock split information. Any selections you have made in this assistant up to this point will be lost.
The button will bring up the previous screen so you can change a selection made on that screen.
The button will bring up the next screen so you can continue though the assistant.
The next screen allows you to select a Stock Account. Select an account from the list to record a stock split or merger.
Account: Lists the GnuCash account name for the stock.
Symbol: The stock symbol for the stock associated with this account.
Shares: The amount of shares that have been purchased in the account.
The next screen lets you set the Stock Split Details. The top part of the screen contains details used in creating the stock split transaction.
Date: Choose the date of the stock split.
Share Distribution: Enter the amount of shares gained from the stock split. For a stock merger enter a negative number.
Description: Enter a description or leave as the default.
The bottom part of the screen contains details used to record a price for the split (optional).
New Price: Enter the price of the shares on the day of the stock split.
Currency: Choose the currency of the shares.
The next screen lets you enter a transaction for a cash disbursement (Cash In Lieu) as a result of the stock split (optional).
Cash Amount: Enter the amount of the Cash disbursement.
Memo: Enter a memo or leave as the default.
Income Account: Choose an Income Account for the disbursement.
Asset Account: Choose an Asset Account for the disbursement.
The last screen gives you a list of three choices to finish the assistant.
The button is used to exit the assistant and cancel creating the Stock Split transactions. Any selections you have made in this assistant up to this point will be lost.
The button will bring up the previous screen so you can change a selection made on that screen.
The button creates the transactions for the Stock Split.
You should now have successfully entered the Stock Split or Merger.