Reconcile a practice portfolio: four trades, two shares and closing cash

Prepare two registers in a 25-minute session

Record starting cash of SEK 3,000 and zero shares of A and B. Use whole shares, the same currency and no borrowing. All four trades are completed in our paper model, with cash and shares recorded immediately. Fees, dividends, taxes and outside deposits are absent. These are exercise rules, not a real broker’s settlement arrangements.

Create a cash register and a quantity register. Purchases get a minus sign in cash; sales get a plus sign. In the quantity register, a purchase increases only its relevant holding, while a sale reduces it. Have the checking person read each trade aloud before completing the next row. Keep the sequence even when the ending price differs.

If the table does not fit, scroll it sideways.

Give the quantity register its own answer check

A starts at zero, receives ten shares in the first purchase and loses four in the sale, leaving six A. B receives first six and then two, leaving eight B. Do not multiply the old purchased quantities by ending prices. A sold share is no longer part of the holding that needs valuation.

Cash must be 3,000 − 800 − 300 + 340 − 110 = SEK 2,130. The sale’s 340 is the entire receipt in this model, not the trade’s profit. If a separate balance card says 2,090, there is a difference of 40. That difference alone does not identify which row or piece of information is wrong.

Value only what remains in the account

A common ending card supplies A at SEK 90 and B at SEK 52 at the same model time. Six A are worth 540 and eight B are worth 416. Closing value is 2,130 + 540 + 416 = SEK 3,086. Do not add purchase payments again: those payments already moved cash into holdings.

The difference from the original cash is +SEK 86, approximately +2.87 percent of 3,000. No outside cash flows occur, so this simple starting-value comparison works within the rules. The ending card is a valuation input, not a completed sale. Other models require checking costs, payment timing and missing prices before applying the same conclusion.

Swap roles and find the first discrepancy

Ask the checking person to rebuild both registers without looking at the final answer. When a discrepancy appears, locate the first row where cash or quantity differs. Correct closing cash does not prove quantities are right, and correct quantities do not prove every cash flow is present. The reconciliation requires both registers to agree with their underlying information.

Investor.gov’s statement guide distinguishes holdings from transaction information. We apply that principle to original fictional data without importing US account rules. Investiq’s portfolio guide shows the described simulation. The task requires neither an export feature nor automatic reconciliation in the app: both registers can be written on paper.