So I've been using Cointracking pretty much since the start. The website loads all my trades using the API keys for the exchanges I trade on. There are then a ton of reports I can load that show me profits, losses, tax obligations, etc..
Honestly, I love the software and so does my accountant. I just give him the reports and he figures out the rest. The software really has been a godsend.
Here's the thing though. Back in 2017 I made something like 6000 trades. Back then we had market volatility and you could buy sell and short the same coin all on pretty much the same day. It was just insanity. Manually logging each trade would have been a nightmare and the market moved so quickly, I'd rather spend my time focused on trading and charts.
Now in 2023, I'm down to making 5 maybe 10 trades a month. The volatility just isn't there anymore (depending on what you're trading I guess), I don't need heavy accounting software to pull all my trades. I think I'm more than capable of logging each trade manually.
The other issue I'm having is my trade history disappearing after a few months. IDK why exchanges insist on deleting that data. I use it all the time while trading. Again, a simple spreadsheet will fix this, and I won't have to rely on the exchange data. So if I'm going to start logging each trade anyway, why pay Cointracking when I'll already have the data?
Using spreadsheets would probably save me about $140 a year which is what I pay Cointracking for using their service. $128 Eur
Anyway, I'm curious about what you all are using. Accounting software or spreadsheets?
If you're using spreadsheets, how do you go about it? Is each coin a separate sheet? Is each exchange a different sheet? I'm guessing all I need is the date purchased and the date sold for % owed. Then tax the profits at that percentage rate. In the US any investments held a year or longer are taxed at a different percentage than day trades or anything sold under 1 year.
So, I guess I'm asking my fellow Hivers, what do you think the best system is for tracking profits and losses and figuring out tax obligations? Does anyone know of any Google Sheet templates set up for crypto traders? Are you using tracking software like Cointracking, Spreadsheet or something else?
Yes, I know many of you don't pay taxes. That's not an option for me, as much as I'd like to stiff them, considering how they treat our industry. I'd just assume not go to jail thanks. There are just too many trades to take that risk.
I don't mean to sound cheap, but for the number of trades I'm making each year, seems $128 Eur is a bit much for tracking software when a simple spreadsheet might do the same thing.
