My investing journey has been about as ‘DIY’ as it gets. I’ve never worked In finance, nor do I have a financial qualification (yet). Everything I know about investing has been self-taught. So, when it came to tracking my portfolio, I figured I could teach myself to do that too.
Naturally, I started off tracking my portfolio through a spreadsheet. That’s until I discovered Sharesight’s impressive portfolio tracking platform and decided to ditch the spreadsheet forever.
Keep reading to learn more about why I think a spreadsheet isn’t a genuine Sharesight alternative.
Contents
- Know your portfolio beyond surface level.
- Run mulitple insightful performance reports
- Manage your portfolio anywhere, any time
- Tax time made simple
- Track your cash accounts
- Track multiple portfolios
- Jesses verdict
- Get Sharesight free for 4 months!
If you’d like to be notified when my latest articles drop + stay in the loop with recent business/investing stories I’ve found most intriguing, sign-up for my bi-weekly newsletter. It’s free and you can even read a sample before subscribing.
1. Get to know your portfolio beyond surface level.
Unless you’re a spreadsheet wizard, it can be difficult to track the underlying performance of your portfolio through a spreadsheet. Thanks to Sharesight, understanding the true performance of your investments has never been easier.
Sharesight enables users to import historical trades from over 200 brokers worldwide through their simple four-step process. Getting started with Sharesight was just a matter of downloading the CSV files from Commsec, and Stake that documented all data associated with my previous trades, and uploading them to Sharesight. Within minutes, I could analyse my capital gains, dividends, currency gains and more across multiple timescales, and exchanges.
But wait, there’s more. Sharesight will also allow you to compare your portfolio against your chosen benchmark over multiple time periods. You can even choose to account for open, and closed positions!
I’m not sure about you, but my spreadsheet skills only go so far! Without knowing how to write complex excel formulas, it would be near impossible for me to replicate the features above within a spreadsheet in a short space of time. Sharesight to the rescue!
2. Easily run multiple insightful performance reports
Depending on your chosen plan, Sharesight subscribers can run up to 7 performance related reports within seconds.
Sharesights multi-period reporting function (a personal favourite), will allow you to break down the performance of your portfolio over any time period. With multi-period reports, I can understand exactly what returns (total and capital gain) my portfolio generated, what I earned in dividends, and any currency gain/losses incurred over any time period. It gets better. I can also analyse previous years or months against a comparable period of my choosing. And that’s just the beginning!
Based on your Sharesight plan, you can create reports documenting the total return of each of your holdings (past & present), upcoming dividends and interest payments, portfolio diversification, unrealised capital gains taxes + more!
Use the table above to understand what performance reports are included in each plan. For more detail, check out Sharesights pricing and plans page.
3. Want to manage your portfolio anywhere, anytime? Spreadsheets won’t cut the mustard as a Sharesight alternative
Opening and updating a spreadsheet on the go can be a cumbersome process. Believe me, I’ve tried. With Sharesight, managing your portfolio while you’re on the move is as simple as downloading their free app.
The Sharesight app, available for both Android and iOS operating systems compliments the desktop version seamlessly. With a few taps, you’re able to view your portfolio’s broad performance, and hone in on specific information related to your individual holdings including capital gains, dividend income generated, and currency gains.
Sharesights app isn’t as sleek as their desktop site, or other apps that we’ve become accustomed to for that matter. That said, if you’re simply looking for a brief portfolio check-in, then the Sharesight app is very serviceable.
4. Take it easy at tax time
Whether you file your own tax return or employ an accountant, meeting your tax obligations becomes a simple, easy, and efficient exercise with Sharesight. With a few clicks, Sharesight gives you the power to generate taxable income, capital gains, historical cost (handy for balance sheet preparation), all trades, and unrealised capital gains reports.
All that data will give you everything you’ll need to breeze through the tax process, saving you hours of calculations and data collection!
Housing all of your investment portfolio information within Sharesight will also allow you to share reports directly with your accountant through the platform, which will save your accountant time while saving you money!
To read more about the benefits of utilising Sharesight come tax time, click here.
5. Track Your Cash Accounts.
Having a cash position is handy for capitalising on any market, or company sell-offs. That’s why I like to keep some dry powder up my sleeve. Sharesight users are able to account for cash, and multiple classes like fixed interest, or investment vehicles like stock options.
Being able to track your cash position, and other custom holdings is an insightful feature that will give you a holistic picture of your overall financial position. Personally, I find it handy to understand my cashflow movements, amount of investable capital, and asset allocation between cash and, other asset classes.
For those using Xero, Sharesight also offers integrations with any bank, or brokerage account using Xero feeds.
6. Create, and track multiple portfolios
Another nifty feature Sharesight users have access to is the functionality to track multiple portfolios. Personally, I use this feature to combine my partner’s holdings with my own. Because our shares are held individually, it can be difficult to track how our combined portfolio is performing. With Sharesight, this is no longer an issue.
Creating multiple portfolios will also give you the capability to track your retirement portfolio separately from your other portfolios or to track investments made for family members.
You can even roll all portfolios up into a consolidated view to track performance across all portfolios!
Still convinced a spreadsheet is an adequate Sharesight alternative? Why not try it for free and see for yourself?
Sharesight is offering readers of The Money Pal 4 months of a premium subscription for free! Sign up to Sharesight using this link, and you can explore Australia’s best portfolio tracker free for four months!
Jesse’s Verdict – Is a spreadsheet a serious Sharesight alternative?
In short, no it’s not.
Life can get busy. Really busy. Sharesight aids investors serious about keeping track of their investments all in one place, but without the time, or skills to develop a complex tracking spreadsheet.
Prior to signing up with Sharesight, I was confident I could mould my DIY spreadsheet into a genuine Sharesight alternative. After trialling Sharesight, it quickly became apparent that I was way out of my league.
Considering the practicality, functionality and convenience Sharesight offers, it’s difficult to consider a spreadsheet as a genuine Sharesight alternative.
About The Writer
Hi, I’m Jesse, but you can call me Jes for short. My passion is simple, I’m on a mission to make the world of investing easily understood by removing the ‘too hard basket’ stigma that surrounds it. P.S. I’d love to meet you on Twitter or Insta or both.
Want to see more articles like this? You can sign up for my newsletter to get free content first by e-mail!
Disclaimer: This website (the “The Money Pal”) is published and provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The information in the Blog constitutes the Content Creator’s own opinions and it should not be regarded as financial advice.
