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Breakeven

Opening balances, explained

How shares bought before your statement period are counted, and how to make them exact.

Updated 19 October 2026. 1 min read.

Short answer

Shares you held before the statement period come in as an opening balance, costed at the statement's average cost and labelled as an estimate. Edit it with the exact total if you have it.

A statement lists the trades in its period, but you may have held shares from before it. Breakeven works out how many (what you hold minus what you bought in the period) and adds them as an opening balance, dated just before the first trade on the statement.

Their cost is estimated from the average cost on the statement, so figures that depend on them are estimates too. If you know exactly what you paid, fees included, open the holding, find the opening balance in Trades and choose Edit.

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