If your exchange platform does not report all transaction data, then the only solution may be to add an adjustment for the missing transactions to achieve the correct final portfolio balance.
What causes incorrect balances
Incorrect final balances can be caused due to a number of common issues:
Missing historical transactions: To calculate the correct balances and tax outcomes, the entire transaction history on the platform is required. If you only import the current financial year, then the calculated balances won't be correct.
Solution: Import all transactions starting from the date your account was first opened.
Duplicate transactions: If you're importing multiple transaction files, then it's possible for duplicates to occur.
Solution: Delete duplicate transactions that have been imported.
Exchange does not report certain transactions: Many exchanges do not provide complete reporting of all transactions that have occurred. While standard trades, deposits and withdrawals are usually well reported, we've found that special events such as airdrops, distributions, re-denominations and others can simply be missing from the transaction export.
Solution: Missing transactions need to be manually added.
Exchange restricts access to historical transaction data: Some exchanges restrict the historical transaction data that you are able to export or sync.
Solution: Reach out the exchange platform's support to request an export of your entire historical transaction data.
Inaccurate transaction data: Because there is no transaction reporting standard for exchanges, it's not uncommon for the data reported by some exchanges to be inaccurate, or have rounding errors.
Solution: If the errors are significant, then the affected transactions can be manually edited in Syla.
How Syla determines the calculated balance
Syla calculates your final portfolio balances on each data source by adding up the effect of each individual transaction.
For example, imagine you imported the following transactions to one of your data sources in Syla:
Syla will add up each transaction to calculate the final balance of each asset:
Final Balance of AUD = $1,000 - $200 + $400 = $1,200 AUD
Final Balance of ETH = 0.1 - 0.1 = 0 ETH
If a single transaction involving AUD is missing, then the final balance calculation will be incorrect. For example, if the Deposit of $1,000 AUD from the example was missing, then Syla would instead calculate the final balance to be $200 AUD.
Tip: You can easily detect when there are missing transactions on your account by comparing the calculated balances in Syla to what you actually have on the platform. A difference between the two indicates missing transaction data.
How to view your calculated balances
Go to the Data Sources page.
Click on the data source to expand the row.
You'll be able to see the calculated final balances. This is the final balance after all transactions on that data source have been summed.
How to solve incorrect balances
Resolving duplicated transactions
To resolve duplicated transactions, you can check through your account and delete any duplicates. You can also avoid duplicate transactions by ensuring you only import each transaction once.
Resolving missing transactions
Missing transactions can only be solved by retrieving additional information about your transactions from the original platform. Otherwise, there's just no way for Syla to know what happened.
Manually adjust export date range: When downloading your transactions from the platform, check if you can manually adjust the date range of the export. This may allow you to export older transaction data that you missed the first time.
Alternative transaction exports: Check if there are any other alternative transaction exports available on the platform. Different transaction exports may contain additional transaction data.
PDF account statements: Download any PDF account statements that are available. These can sometimes have additional transaction data available.
Ask customer support: Many exchanges can assist you with exporting your transaction data. Reach out to their customer support and request a "full export of your transaction history for tax purposes".
Copy and paste transactions: Some exchanges do not let you export the transaction history in a CSV file, however, the transactions may still be visible on the platform's website under your order history. Navigate to the page that shows the transaction history and take a screenshot for your records.
Email confirmations: If the platform is no longer operating, you can still search your email history for details of deposits, withdrawals, trades or any other transactions.
Following these steps gives you the best opportunity to recover the missing transactions. Once you've found the missing transactions, they can be imported into Syla using either the standard File Import for that platform, or by using Syla's Custom CSV Template.
The platform does not report some transactions
If you've followed all the steps to retrieve your full transaction history, but some transactions are still missing, then you'll need to make manual adjustments to achieve the correct final balances.
Note: For tax purposes, there is a clear requirement to keep a record of every single transaction. Manual adjustments are only recommended when the original transaction data can not be recovered, and there's no better approach available.
Step 1 - Determine the correct balances
First, you need to know what the correct balances should be on the platform. Your goal in entering manual adjustments is to get the same balances in Syla as those that are on the platform.
To get an accurate snapshot of your current balances, log in to your exchange platform, and take a screenshot of your dashboard. You now have a record of what your balances are today. You should name the screenshot with the current date and time.
On some exchanges, it's also possible to get a historical snapshot of your balances at key points in time. Check if your exchange provides the ability to export an account statement, holding statement or balance statement. These statements will often have a historical snapshot of your balances.
Step 2 - Calculate the adjustment quantity
For each asset, you need to calculate the quantity that you need to adjust the balance by.
Adjustment quantity = actual balance on the platform - calculated balance in Syla
For example, if your actual balance of XYZ on Binance is 10 XYZ, but the calculated balance reported in Syla is 9 XYZ, then the adjustment quantity required is 10 - 9 = 1 XYZ. You'd then make an adjustment of 1 XYZ.
Step 3 - Determine the date to enter the adjustment
Adjustments should be made as close to the date of the missing transaction/s as possible. For example, if the missing transactions are known to be in the 2022 financial year, then you should use a date in the 2022 financial year instead of using a date in the current financial year.
Step 4 - Determine the transaction type to use for the adjustment
You'll need to consider the tax implications of the adjustments you are making, and decide which is the most appropriate in the given situation.
Positive adjustments
If you're making a positive adjustment to increase the balance, then you'll use a Receive transaction in Syla.
Reward (Most Conservative) - This is the most conservative ledger type for tax purposes, as the adjustment will be reported as Ordinary Income. You can also use any of the other ledger types that result in Ordinary Income.
Acquisition at Zero Cost - Use this ledger to record the adjustment as an acquisition of the asset at zero cost base on the specified date. No Ordinary Income will be reported, but the asset will have a zero cost base, resulting in a large capital gain when it is eventually disposed.
Capital Invested (Least Conservative) - This is the least conservative option, as it will result in the acquisition of a CGT asset at market value on the date of the transaction. Because the exact date of the missing transaction is not known, the market value may be very different to what it should be.
You can also consider using any of the other ledger types in Syla.
Negative adjustments
If you're making a negative adjustment to decrease the balance, then you'll use a Send transaction in Syla.
Disposal at Market Value (Conservative) - This adjustment will result in the disposal of the CGT asset at market value. This will result in a capital gain or loss being reported.
Unrecoverable (Rarely Recommended) - This will result in the disposal of the CGT asset at zero value. The asset is assumed to be a total write-off resulting in a capital loss that can be claimed. Only use this when there's additional documentation to show what happened. For example, the missing transaction is a known delisting on the exchange platform.
Other Loss (Not Recommended) - This will result in a revenue loss. This usually isn't appropriate to use for adjustments.
You can also consider using any of the other ledger types in Syla.
Step 5 - Check the balances after the adjustments
Syla will re-calculate the balances once you've entered the adjustments. Wait for the calculations to finish and check that the final balances are now correct.
Additional help
Our support team at Syla can only help you with imports of transaction data. For example, if you have a transaction file that Syla is not importing transactions correctly, then please reach out to our support team, and we'll help you to get the transaction data imported correctly. There's no cost.
Our support team can not assist with preparing or entering manual adjustments for you, we also can't assist with rebuilding missing transaction data.