The quality of an Adjustibl calculation depends on the information available in your transaction history.
You do not need a perfect spreadsheet before getting started. Adjustibl can recognize common brokerage formats, suggest column mappings, and help you review missing information. However, providing more complete source data makes it easier to identify instruments, reconcile amounts, calculate results, and explain where each number came from.
Prepare your file with AI
You can also use the Adjustibl plugin with your favourite AI to prepare a brokerage file before importing it.
The AI can help you:
- Match brokerage columns to Adjustibl fields
- Rename or reorganize columns
- Find missing mandatory columns
- Separate combined values
- Preserve useful optional information
- Convert the result into a cleaner CSV file
The AI should help organize the information already in the file. It should not invent missing prices, quantities, exchange rates, commissions, or other financial information. Always compare the prepared file with the original brokerage statement before importing it.
Files shared with an AI plugin are processed through the AI company's servers. They do not remain only inside Adjustibl. The AI company's privacy, retention, and model-training policies may apply to anything you share.
Before uploading a file to an AI, remove account numbers, names, addresses, or other personal information that is not needed. Adjustibl does not require your brokerage account number.
Mandatory columns
When importing a CSV file, Adjustibl asks you to map seven mandatory columns:
| Column | What it tells Adjustibl |
|---|---|
| Transaction date/time | When the activity happened |
| Transaction type | What happened, such as a purchase, sale, dividend, or fee |
| Description | The brokerage description or memo for the activity |
| Currency | The currency used for the transaction |
| Quantity | The number of shares, units, or contracts involved |
| Symbol | The brokerage symbol for the instrument |
| Net amount | The final cash amount of the transaction |
Mandatory means that you must identify a CSV column for each of these fields before continuing.
It does not mean every row must contain a value in every column. For example, an account fee may not have a symbol or quantity. A dividend may have a symbol but no meaningful quantity. Adjustibl uses the transaction type and the available information to decide what a particular row needs.
A row may still require review if information needed for that type of transaction is missing.
Requirements depend on what happened
Different transactions need different information.
A purchase or sale usually needs:
- An instrument
- Quantity
- Currency
- A cash amount
- Enough amount information to understand the purchase cost or sale proceeds
A dividend, interest payment, fee, or tax-withholding entry may only need:
- Date
- Transaction type
- Description
- Currency
- Cash amount
A split, transfer, option transaction, or other less common activity may need additional information to describe what changed.
This is why a blank quantity or symbol is not automatically an error. It depends on the transaction.
Optional columns
Optional columns are not required to start an import, but they can make the resulting records much more useful.
Instrument information
- Instrument name
- Instrument type
- Exchange
- Expiry or contract month
- Contract multiplier
These fields help Adjustibl identify the correct investment. They are particularly helpful when a symbol is used on several exchanges or when the transaction involves an option or futures contract.
Transaction amounts
- Price
- Gross amount
- Commission
- Fees
- Tax withheld
A net amount tells Adjustibl the final cash movement. The additional fields explain how that number was reached.
For example:
Gross amount
- Commission
- Fees
= Net amount
When these values are available, Adjustibl can reconcile the transaction and show the components behind the calculation. If only the net amount is available, some detail may have to be derived or left for review.
Adjustibl does not silently invent a missing commission.
Dates and foreign exchange
- Settlement date
- Transaction timezone
- FX rate
- FX rate date
The transaction date records when the trade happened. The settlement date records when it settled.
Timezone information helps preserve the correct order when several transactions happen close together.
For transactions in another currency, the FX rate and its date help explain how the Canadian-dollar amount was calculated. Without them, Adjustibl may need to use its exchange-rate service or ask you to review the conversion.
Source information
- Source row ID
- User note
A source row ID helps match the Adjustibl transaction to the original brokerage record and can help identify duplicate imports.
A note can preserve context that is not obvious from the other columns.
More data makes review easier
Optional does not mean unimportant.
Suppose a brokerage row only contains:
Sell GOOGL
Net amount: USD 1,180
You know cash was received, but several questions remain:
- How many shares were sold?
- What was the price?
- Was commission deducted?
- Which exchange rate was used?
- Which GOOGL instrument was sold?
A more complete row might include the quantity, price, gross proceeds, commission, currency, exchange, and FX rate. That gives Adjustibl enough information to reconcile the net amount and explain the resulting gain or loss.
More complete information also makes it easier for you, your accountant, or a connected AI to investigate a number later.
Missing information
Do not invent a value simply to fill a column.
Map the information that exists in the brokerage file and leave unavailable row values blank. Adjustibl may be able to derive a missing amount when the other values support one clear answer.
If it cannot, the row can remain visible for review rather than being silently accepted with a guess.
Conflicting information also needs attention. For example, if the gross amount, commission, fees, and net amount do not reconcile, Adjustibl will flag the transaction so you can compare it with the source statement.
Keep the original brokerage detail
Try not to remove useful information before importing a file.
Keep:
- The original transaction descriptions
- Currency codes
- Commissions and fees
- Tax-withholding entries
- Transfers
- Dividends and distributions
- FX transactions
- Brokerage transaction IDs
- Exact transaction dates and times
A file containing only purchases and sales may miss activity that changes ACB, income, cash, or report totals.
You do not need to include your brokerage account number. Upload the file from the correct Adjustibl account, and the imported transactions will belong to that account.
If you have files for several brokerage accounts, import each file into its corresponding Adjustibl account.
Before you import
A good source file should:
- Have a clear header row
- Keep one activity record per row
- Preserve the original currency
- Include all transaction types, not only trades
- Retain optional amounts when the brokerage provides them
- Keep the original file available for comparison later
You can still begin with incomplete data. The important thing is to know what is missing and review it before relying on the calculations or reports.