Forum Topics Sharesight 2024
lowway
Added 3 months ago

So, I have made the giant leap to doing a free trial with 1 x portfolio (my SMSF account) and it looks ok in Sharesight, but, of course, only using 10 of the stocks in my portfolio. There was a lot of fixups required after dumping all of the transactions from Selfwealth from the past 5 years, as I was with Commsec and others for many years prior to SW, so Sharesight couldn't match some of the sell transactions with anything until I manually corrected with old buy entries and DRP entries, etc. Probably 4-5hrs to get it accurate.

Before I go nuclear and pay for the full Investment Subscription, I noticed this lovely prompt in the accounts section:

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So, does anyone know if it's possible to download or backup a version of Sharesight in case either they have a cloud computing issue, go out the backdoor, etc. or I decide I like another program better and take on a different program for share tracking? At least with my current version that is PC based, I can do a full backup. Granted, it will only work with that program again and once I cancel that subscription (to Maus Stockmarket Plus) that data is no longer able to be utilized unless I started a new subscription at some time I the future. Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, but I do have to keep 7 years of data for 4 x portfolios for the ATO as a minimum and have share trades dating back 20+ years (including old DRPs, capital returns, share splits, etc.) that have to be maintained until sold.

Do my fellow SM members simply rely on Sharesight to never miss a beat and to never be hacked or loss any important data (and to pay Sharesight whatever they may ask for annual fees for the term of your portfolio's natural life)?

Love any opinions or thoughts from current users??



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Bear77
Added 3 months ago

Good question @lowway - I always figured that backups were their responsibility seeing as I'm paying them a subscription fee every year, but I guess that's a naive approach. In reality, if they lost my data, I could repopulate it from historical contract notes - which can be emailed to them and they automatically extract the data, as long as you are with one of the brokers that they cover for that part of their service (all of the major ones as far as I can tell are covered, plus Selfwealth and a few of the newer ones have an option which allows you to set up automatic contract note sending to your own Sharesight account in addition to your personal email) - however it would be time-consuming for sure to email all of those through manually, and then there is all of the SPPs, rights issues, etc., where there is optionality around how much (if any) you add to your position. Sharesight is 99% accurate with automatically calculating dividends and if you participate in DRPs you can nominate that on your holdings within Sharesight and they'll take care of that also, but with SPPs and RIs they need you to tell them how many shares you purchased/added, and often at what price.

SPPs and Rights Issues are NOT automatically calculated within sharesight because there is so much optionality around participation in them.

I do keep a physical file for each company I invest in - in my office - and I add the CHESS statements and physical copies of contract notes to those files as well as documents around SPPs and RIs that I participate in, so that I can choose how to calculate my capital gains and losses - as FIFO isn't always the best method and you do have optionality around how you calculate those - as in you can nominate which shares you are selling when you sell - they don't always have to be the ones you bought at the earliest date that haven't already been sold - so I can repopulate Sharesight from those files - but, again, that would be very time-consuming and annoying to have to do, particularly closed out trades in companies I am no longer exposed to where those physical files have been moved into storage.

Plus most people are probably keeping all of their records purely digitally now - so that might make it trickier. I don't have a total faith in technology, so I still like to have physical backups of important data, such as CHESS statements and contract notes. Brokers do tend to keep your contract note data for decades but it can get tricky when you've changed brokers and no longer have access to a broker you used to use. I had that with a couple of companies that were not CHESS sponsored holdings, likely because they were delisted from the ASX at some point and were trading on an alternative exchange, and PPKMEG (PPK Mining Equipment Group) which was spun out of PPK back when I held some PPK and PPKMEG was never listed on the ASX but was still a company limited by shares, with shareholders. I think two of those positions ended up with CMC Markets and I'd never traded through them so that took some time to get access to when I wanted to offload those to tidy up stuff. Just getting my SRN from CMC took a week and then transfering the shares across to my Commsec account took another week. First World problems...

Anyway, yeah, good question, I'd never really given that a great deal of thought but it would be a big pain if it was to happen...

6

Arizona
Added 3 months ago

@lowway I feel your pain. I have been uploading 10 plus years of data from Westpac into Sharesight the last couple of days.

Getting used to the operating system and gaining how to knowledge that I'll probably never use again.

Storing DRP data has been the big one for me.

I'm not having fun

Re the account closure:

I had assumed that your account could be downgraded to free and your data would be saved.

But if you "cancelled" your account there would be no account and no data.

This is all speculation on my part. Hopefully those with greater experience of Sharesight can answer you question far more usefully and accurately than I can

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PabloVic
Added 3 months ago

Interesting question which I've never considered, maybe I have too much faith in technology or same as @Bear77 maybe I'm naive. Looking at Sharesights FAQ's, they do say they have multiple backup locations and multiple levels of redundancy: https://help.sharesight.com/au/how-sharesight-protects-your-data/

However if you want to keep your own records you could always export the "All Trades" report to excel / google drive and keep it somewhere safe.

Account Closure

As @Arizona said, if you downgrade to a free account your data is retained. I'm assuming they delete data if you close your account due to data privacy rules which I think is a good thing. I'm not a fan of companies retaining data forever on customers as it just adds a bigger target to try and be hacked.


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Ipsum
Added 3 months ago

I don't backup my Sharesight account. So yes, I guess I do rely on them being responsible and not losing anything. I'm not too worried about this, because all the data in Sharesight has come from my Commsec transactions. So Commsec is really the source of truth for me, Sharesight is just a reporting layer on top.

If Sharesight lost everything it would be incredible annoying, but I'd just be back to creating spreadsheets from my Commsec transaction history. I can't think of anything that's in Sharesight that didn't originate somewhere else.

Regarding downloading your data: You can do an "All Trades" report in Sharesight and then export that to Excel. I don't know if that counts as "all data" but I'd suggest giving that a try and see if anything is missing. PDFs you have uploaded might not be included, for example.

(As I write this I'm thinking doing this myself every six months is probably a good idea.)

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lowway
Added 3 months ago

This post reinforces to me the beauty of this creation by @Strawman and the enablement it gives premium to bounce around anything that is good, bad or indifferent. Case in point being the extremely helpful responses from @Bear77 @Arizona @PabloVic @Ipsum (did I miss anyone?) that pretty much cover off on my concerns. My dot point take from these responses that now make sense to me or at least in some way allay my fears on data storage are as follows for Sharesight:

  • Sharesight is technically a reporting system only and all data has been provided from other sources
  • Almost all recent data (last 5 years in my case) can be sourced from the online broker (Selfwealth for me)
  • I do keep physical files for every company with all CHESS statements of movement and dividends for 7 years minimum
  • A Sharesight CSV dump makes sense every 6-12 months (didn't know this was possible, but guessed as much)
  • Not sure if it's possible to revert to just the free version as suggested, but even if I did, that would give me real access to only 1 portfolio and 10 shares, which is kinda useless for me

Hopefully there will be no glitches with Sharesight into the future, at least no long-term issues. I don't know if I will be a lifetime member or if they will exist for my lifetime, so all of the responses have helped to clarify my concerns about using a permanent cloud provider for these types of services......thanks to all!!

11

Arizona
Added 3 months ago

@lowway I think there is probably something in there for all of us.

The CSV dump could be a good idea regardless of what platforms we are using.

Its not out of the realms of possibility that any of the brokerage platforms (for example) go down at some point.

Good discussion

6
lowway
Added 4 months ago

Thanks for raising this forum article @Arizona . I've been meaning to do something about my share tracking software for some time, but like all things, it was left to do at some time in the future (that never comes unless prompted e.g. your forum post and the responses from everyone).

I've been using a program by Maus called Stockmarket Plus. I've been using it for many years (originally called StockEasy) as a standalone software installation on a PC, but 2 years ago, Maus followed everyone else and changed their one time subscription into SaaS. Reckon did exactly the same (annoying) thing with my accounting program and somehow they both totally ignored the EULA I had agreed to when I purchased the one time, free-to-use-forever programs. It was done simply by Reckon stating they needed to unlock the program every few years and they were turning off their servers that perform this function (so bad luck). Stockmarket Plus was a little more clandestine by offering a cheap trial for 12 months, only to advise the software could not be reversed at the end of the year to a standalone product again. Both sad examples of reaming the customer for the greater good (of the Supplier).

I would still be happy to stick with Maus Stockmarket Plus, but they now charge $41/mth (I have to manage 4 x portfolios separately) and it is still a standalone product with a single instance only licensed for this fee, so no ability to use on multiple PC's, laptops or mobile app.

Because I've had some shares for a very long time across various brokers before moving to Seelfwealth, I'll need a fair bit of work to get Sharesight up to scratch, but I'll start by trialing the free version with my SMSF portfolio for a week, and if comfortable, will use the SM discount for the Investor option. I still have until June 2025 paid in advance for Maus Stockmarket Plus (which had all of the reporting and portfolio management I needed) but will changeover to the better priced and better featured Sharesight for $29/mth over that time.

Cheers for the push @Arizona and the responses and feedback from everyone else!!

BTW if anyone is wondering why I don't use Xero instead of Reckon, it's simply that the 4 x separate entities add up to being an expensive monthly fee on Xero and I'm happy to manually add most of my transactions anyway. Maybe if Xero offered a better price for a 4 x entity subscription down the track I will head in that direction.


Footnote: Just realised the free 4 months for being a SM member is actually a bit of marketing nonsense. Yes, you get a 33.33% discount (not 4 months for free), but off the standard monthly fee, not the standard annual fee. In other words, you pay ~$310 first year as a SM member instead of $348. Not exactly 4 months for free at $29/mo, but I guess it's something. Just wish that was a bit clearer upfront!!

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PeregrineCapital
Added 3 months ago

Shameless plug warning:

As a registered BAS Agent and Xero partner I have access to Xero Ledger ($6.50 p/m) and Xero Cashbook ($15 p/m) which are useful for Accounting/Tax purposes, dependent on your needs.

Xero Ledger doesn't have client access capability but Cashbook does.

If anyone is interested in some general information on either product or you'd consider some bookkeeping services send me a message.

7

lowway
Added 3 months ago

I'll be in touch in a few weeks @PeregrineCapital when I'm back from hols early Sept.

I'm guessing Xero Ledger and Cashbook would suit my needs, but I'll need to have a play at some stage to make sure it covers all that I need. At least get some detailed info about what is included and what isn't.

I no longer need payroll for instance, so Reckon Pro is an overkill for my current purposes and different entities.


8
Arizona
Added 4 months ago

Is Sharesight a decent option?


Dear learned Straw people,


Sharesight sent me an email offer to upgrade my account.


HURRY! This offer is expiring soon — get an extra 33% discount in addition to the 25% off on yearly subscriptions!

Claim extra 33% discount on yearly

This deal runs out tomorrow 9th August 24


I know there is a 4month discount via Straman.com


I have looked back in the archives here and sharesight gets a number of positive mentions over the years. Is it the best way to go in 2024?


I love a freebie - is Investsmart's Portfolio tracker a worthy competitor to Sharesight?


Any insights or alternatives greatly welcomed.


Thanks

15

Remorhaz
Added 4 months ago

I started investing in 2020 and since then have used both Sharesight and the free Investsmart Portfolio tracker since then

I have the paid Sharesight (it's included in my Morningstar subscription)

The free Investsmart Portfolio tracker is actually quite good (and even does a few things better than Sharesight) but Sharesight is the better overall product (to be expected really)

e.g. my Investsmart Portfolio is no longer "accurate" as it slowly drifts from "reality" over time (basically because it doesn't automatically handle distributions for everything and I don't go in and correct it and it doesn't prompt or remind me to). I am not really fussed by this because I'm not using the Investsmart tool for reporting, tax, etc. It's kind of just a secondary tracker and also it's asset lookthrough capability (a good quick check to see how your portfolio is tracking against your desired asset allocation) is another thing Sharesight doesn't do. One other thing it does seem to do better than Sharesight is it's prefill daily unit prices for managed funds generally seems to be accurate whereas Sharesight generally seems to be slightly out and I have to enter the correct value from my transaction statements (e.g. if I buy more units of something)

As for alternatives - Navexa comes up a bit but I've never tried it

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Arizona
Added 4 months ago

Thanks @Remorhaz

I have the investsmart portfolio also and it has drifted into inaccuracy over the years.

I have not made many trades over the last 4-5 years. However that is changing now and I'd like to tighten up the tracking of the portfolio.

Sounds like the paid upgrade for Sharesight is the way to go.

Thanks for your insights, I appreciate you taking the time

15

Bear77
Added 4 months ago

I've been using Sharesight for around 10 years or more @Arizona - over 7 anyway, and I upgraded early on to the paid subscription because I was tracking 3 separate portfolios and I wanted to generate reports on them individually and also collectively, and Sharesight lets me do all of that - the paid sub also doesn't have a limit on positions in each portfolio - not sure if there is still a limit on positions now with their free version - and for a couple of hundred per year, which is tax deductible, it made good sense to me, and still does.

I recently used some data from two reports I generated using Sharesight to discuss here the results of a portfolio I managed for 7 years up until June this year - the one I sold up and turned to cash in June, which was necessary because it was set up within a trust structure and there were multiple trust beneficiaries, so we determined the trust and paid everybody out. My aim was to quit while I was ahead - although I ended up matching the index over 7 years rather than beating it, but I have less to worry about now because I'm managing money for less people which suits me better now.

The reports I used Sharesight to generate were to show the range of company performance results (total returns) in both percentage terms p.a. and total dollar terms - then I shared here my best and worst from each end of those reports - the software is easy to use and prompts you to check their prefilled dividend data which is almost always 100% correct - I rarely need to make adjustments. I also upload my contract notes directly to Sharesight so it populates my trades automatically also to keep my portfolio up-to-date. Very user-friendly and easy. Good software, well maintained. And don't forget your Strawman.com discount.

17

Mujo
Added 4 months ago

Agree, sharesight is one of the best tools out there. Great for tracking performance, money weighted, includes franking credits and distributions etc.

You do have to check some of the automatic distributions and process corporate actions but all fairly similar.

It does make tax time easier as can track tax parcels without paying a platform either.

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Arizona
Added 4 months ago

@Bear77 That's great feedback.

Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

9

Arizona
Added 4 months ago

@Mujo I appreciate you taking the time.

I just wanted to check with the SM team to see that there wasn't something else I should be looking at.

It looks like Sharesight is the way to go.

Many thanks

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PeregrineCapital
Added 4 months ago

+1 for Sharesight. Extremely intuitive and effective tool for tax and performance tracking.

15

Arizona
Added 4 months ago

Thanks @PeregrineCapital You and others here have convinced me.

I'm signing up now.


Cheers

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Karmast
Added 4 months ago

I use both Sharesight and Navexa for reasons not worth expanding on. Both work really well and are quite similar, with good tax reporting capabilities but I think Navexa is a bit cheaper.

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Arizona
Added 4 months ago

Appreciate the feedback @Karmast I just upgraded to "Investor" account in Sharesight.

Good to hear it works well.

I'll move my trading history from Westpac over in the next few days.

Cheers

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