How Do I Record Income Or Capital Gains?
By Stephen Nelson
To record investment income such as dividend or interest income, or a capital gain
distribution made by the mutual fund company, take the following steps:
1. Display the investment account register.
Click the Accounts & Bills link, and then select Account List so that Money dis-
plays the Pick An Account To Use window. Then click the investment account.
Money displays the account register for the mutual fund.
2. Tell Money you want to record a purchase.
To indicate that you want to record the purchase of additional mutual funds shares,
click the Investment Transactions link. Money then adds the transaction entry area
to the bottom of the account register. To record a new transaction, click the New
button.
3. Describe the date the income or gain is received.
Enter the date on which the income is received or the capital gain distribution is
made in the Date box. Enter the date directly into the Date box, or click the Date
box's button to display a pop-up calendar that you can use.
4. Name the mutual fund.
Click the Investment box's button, and then select the mutual fund from the list
of mutual fund investments.
5. Specify the transaction as an income or capital gain transaction.
To identify the transaction you are entering as an income or capital gain transaction, click the Activity box's button and select the appropriate activity from the list
box. If you are recording interest, select Interest. If you are recording a dividend,
select Dividend. If you are recording short-term capital gains, mid-term capital
gains, or long-term capital gains, select one of these items.
NOTE Don't select any activity that references reinvestment of interest, dividend, or
capital gain amounts unless you are reinvesting the monies received. The next
question-and-answer discussion describes the steps for recording reinvestment
transactions.
6. Identify the account into which you will deposit the money.
To do this, click the Transfer To box's button and then select the account into which
you will deposit the interest, dividend, or capital gain check from the list of accounts.
7. (Optional) Describe the deposit in more detail.
Describe the interest, dividend, or capital gain transaction in more detail in the
Memo box. You might identify the amount as a quarterly distribution, for example.
Or, you might identify the reason for depositing the money in a particular account.
8. Specify the income amount.
Specify the amount of interest, dividend, or capital gains received in the Total box.
Enter an amount directly into the Total box, or click the box's button to display a
pop-up calculator that you can use to calculate or enter an amount.
9. Record the transaction in the register.
After you have described the interest, dividend, or capital gain transaction in
detail, click the Enter button. Money records the transaction in the investment
account register and the transfer account register.
NOTE Interest, dividends, and capital gains transactions for a mutual fund appear in
the investment account register, but don't actually affect either the number of
shares held or the account value amounts. These transactions belong in the
mutual fund's investment account register because they stem from the mutual
fund investment, but the amounts appear only in the Transfer To account. | 
