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Write what the values include
Suppose a security starts at 100, ends at 103 and pays 4 in income at the end. The price gain is 3, while total gain including that distribution is 7. If the ending account value already contains the income as cash, adding 4 again would count the same income twice.
Separate a receipt from added capital
A dividend generated by the investment and a deposit supplied by its owner can both appear as cash credits. They play different roles in a performance calculation. Classify the transaction from its economic source instead of identifying every positive ledger entry as investment income.
| Record | Question |
|---|---|
| Starting value | Which assets and cash belong to the base? |
| Ending value | Is distributed income already included? |
| External transfers | When did the owner add or remove capital? |
| Costs | Which charges are included in the value? |
Retain actual dates
An endpoint change over three months is a holding-period return. Converting it to an annual rate changes the rate description, not the observed holding period. Missing dates can therefore prevent a meaningful annualization even when endpoint values are known.
Report the chosen result
A useful statement names total or price return, the period, the external-flow method and the currency. It does not imply tax treatment or future repeatability. These original cases deliberately use supplied fictional data rather than a market performance claim.