What should you download from Schwab?
The transaction history for your brokerage account, exported as a CSV. On schwab.com it's on your account's History page: choose the account, set the date range (from your first trade, for full cost bases), and use the export option. Menu names change; check Schwab's help and support pages if you can't find it. If you have several accounts, export each one separately.
Which columns does Worthbase use?
Schwab's export has Date, Action, Symbol, Description, Quantity, Price, Fees & Comm and Amount. The quirks your AI handles:
- Amounts include fees. A buy's
Amountis the price times quantity plus fees, and a sale's is net of fees. Your AI separates them, so fees go into the cost base and come off the proceeds. - US dates and dollar signs. Dates are month/day/year, and amounts look like
"-$4,401.00". - "As of" dates. Some rows show two dates, such as
07/15/2024 as of 07/12/2024. The "as of" date is the effective one. - Reinvested dividends are two rows.
Reinvest Dividendis the income andReinvest Sharesis the buy with it. Your AI records both: the dividend counts toward your return, and the new shares get their own cost base. - Stock splits show the added shares. A
Stock Splitrow gives the extra shares received (for example 90 shares on a holding of 10), not the ratio. Your AI works out the ratio (here 10-for-1), and Worthbase keeps the same total cost base. - Cash transfers, such as
MoneyLink Transfer, aren't trades and are skipped unless you track the cash balance.
What should you ask your AI?
Here's my Charles Schwab transaction history (CSV) since I opened the account. Add it to my Schwab brokerage account in Worthbase, including reinvested dividends and splits. Check the closing positions against my current holdings, and show me the preview before saving.
What does the preview show?
The holdings Worthbase will create, the number of buys, sells, dividends and splits, rows already recorded (skipped as duplicates), conflicts, warnings and realised gains from the sells. If you give your AI your current positions, the preview also shows whether calculated units match them. Nothing is saved until you approve.
How do you check the import?
Compare units per symbol with your Positions page. A shortfall after a split usually means the split row was outside your export's date range. For gains, compare with Schwab's realised gain/loss view: Worthbase uses FIFO by default, so if you chose a different cost basis method at Schwab (or specific lots on a sale), tell Worthbase which lots each sale used and the figures will line up.
Questions
Does Worthbase log in to Schwab?
No. Worthbase never asks for broker logins. You export the file and your AI reads it.
What about my IRA or 401(k) at Schwab?
You can import trades for an IRA the same way, or simply record the account's balance from a statement. Retirement accounts are usually tracked by balance.
Will Worthbase fill in my tax forms?
No. Worthbase gives the realised gain or loss on each sale to help you check your broker's figures. It doesn't produce tax forms or calculate tax; check that with your accountant.
Charles Schwab is a trademark of its owner; Worthbase isn't affiliated with it.
