Let's looks at how to enter a Portfolio Account in the Irish Software.
Start by clicking the plus menu (+), bottom-right, select Savings & Investments, and then select Investment.
Owner: Select the account owner(s) - either individual or joint - as appropriate.
Type: Select Portfolio Account (CGT).
Name: Enter a name, or brief description of the account.
Balance €: Enter the current balance of the account.
Purchase Value: Enter a 'purchase value' for the account (see below).
Note: The purchase value reflects the current 'cost basis' for the account, which, of course, will determine the size of any 'gain' that is realised for a given withdrawal. The purchase value should reflect any money invested into the account, to date, plus any capital gains realised to date. With the correct 'cost basis', the software will then be able to calculate CGT, as appropriate, taking account of any carryover losses and the owner's annual gains allowance.
In the following example, Tom invests €1,000 per annum into his portfolio account, and intends to continue doing so until he retires.
Contribution Type: Select Amount.
Contribution Amount €: Enter €1,000.
Frequency (the “Annually” dropdown): To the right of this field, leave Annually selected to indicate that this is a yearly contribution amount.
Select the Timing tab in the left navigation.
Your selection on the Timing tab will be used to schedule when contributions to this investment account are to begin and end. Tom plans to invest in this account from now until his retirement. Let’s begin with the start event.
- Contributions Start: Select from the timeline an event to schedule the start of these contributions.
Either – Click the plan “Start” event icon and select “Set as Start Event” (as shown right).
Or - Select the event icon for the "Start" event in the timeline and drag and drop the icon into the Contributions Start box above the timeline (as shown right).
- Contributions End: Next, select an event to schedule the end of these contributions.
Either – Click the icon for "Tom’s Retirement" event and select “Set as End Event” (as shown right and below).
Or – Select the event icon for the "Tom’s Retirement" event in the timeline and drag and drop the icon into the Contributions End box above the timeline (as shown right).
With your contribution events now selected, the Timing tab should now highlight the selected contribution period, the selected contribution start event (the plan’s Start) and end event (Tom’s Retirement).
Select the Growth tab in the left navigation.
Grow this account by: Leave the default Entered Interest Rate
Interest Rate: Leave the default value of 6% in place. (For the purpose of this example)
Capital Gains Realised Annually, Dividends, Interest and Reinvest Yield: Leave these fields blank or in the case of Reinvest Yield, set to its default of Yes.
Click the Done button, top-right, to save your changes.