Track dividends, franking and fund statements

• For each dividend a share or ETF pays, the units you held the day before the ex-dividend date are counted.
• The amount is the cash dividend, before franking credits.
• Overseas dividends are converted to Australian dollars, and are never franked.
• Reinvested dividends aren't added as new units. Record each DRP allotment as a purchase.

Open Dividends to see them by financial year, by investment or by payment. On Plus and Pro you see every amount, each year's total and a download. On Free you see a preview of how many payments and holdings there are.

Franking credits are part of Plus and Pro. Most companies frank every dividend the same way, so set it once per holding:

1. Open the investment from Holdings, or find it on the Dividends page.
2. Beside Franking, select Add from your statements.
3. Choose Fully franked (100%), Partly franked with the percentage, or Unfranked (0%), as your dividend statement shows.

If one payment was franked differently, select the pencil beside it and enter the percentage franked or the franking credit in dollars from that statement. The credits and grossed-up amounts then appear by financial year and in the tax-time pack. Background: franking credits explained.

ETFs and managed funds send a tax statement after each 30 June. Its capital gains go into your yearly capital gains, and its cost base amount changes the cost base of your units.

1. Open the ETF from Holdings. Annual tax statements are under the Summary.
2. Select Add an annual statement and choose the financial year.
3. Copy the figures you have from the statement: gross cash distribution, Australian income, franking credits, capital gains (discounted gains as the grossed-up amount), foreign income and other amounts. Each field shows the tax return label it usually matches.
4. Under Cost base, enter the AMIT cost base net amount and choose Excess (it lowers the cost base) or Shortfall (it raises it). On an older statement that isn't an AMIT, enter the tax-deferred amount as an excess.
5. Save. You can edit or delete a statement later.

Background: how ETFs are taxed in Australia.

A dividend is missing

Check that you held the shares the day before the ex-dividend date, with the right trade dates. A dividend announced but not yet past its ex-dividend date doesn't show yet.

The amount differs from my statement

Usually the units are different, often because DRP shares haven't been recorded. Your statement is the figure to use on your tax return.

I can't add franking

Franking is on Plus and Pro, and only for Australian dividends.

• Capital gains and the tax-time pack: How each sale's gain is worked out, the discount, losses, and the pack for your accountant.
• Getting started with Portfoli.au: Create an account, get your first trades in, and find your way around.
• Import trades from your broker's file: Upload a CSV or Excel file, check the preview, and fix rows that can't be read.
• Email import: forward your contract notes: A private address for contract notes, how to forward them, and confirming each trade.
• All help, or the guides to investing and tax.

Still stuck? Email support@portfoli.au. New to Portfoli.au? Create a free account, with no credit card needed.