Verifying what the tool produced
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 6 min
In short
Always test a tool's output from an independent angle before you use it: reconcile closing balances, re-check the settings, and hand-trace a few representative transactions end to end. If a figure still does not make sense after that, do not file on it — have a tax accountant look at it.
Key points
- Reconciling closing balances against actual holdings is the core check
- Re-check the settings — method, opening balances, period — after the run
- Pick a few representative transactions and reproduce them by hand
- Do not file on a figure you cannot make sense of
Definition
Checking the numbers a calculation tool produced by independent means, to find errors before they reach a return.
Start from the closing balance. Take the year-end quantity the tool reports for each asset and compare it with what the exchange or wallet actually shows. A match means the import broadly worked. A mismatch tells you where to look by its direction: more on paper than in reality means outgoing records are missing; less means incoming ones are.
Then re-check the settings. Even if you checked before the run, adding data or touching a setting since can have changed things. After the output, confirm again that the cost basis method is the one you intended, that opening balances are present, and that the period is right — especially if you changed a setting and recalculated partway through.
Third, hand-trace. Pick a few transactions and work them through yourself from acquisition to disposal, then see whether your figure matches the tool's. You do not need to do this for everything: one straightforward purchase and sale, one crypto-to-crypto swap, one reward receipt — a representative of each type is enough to expose a difference in reasoning.
Fourth, continuity with last year. If you calculated last year too, confirm that last year's closing balances equal this year's opening balances. A gap there undermines the cost basis assumptions for the whole year. Do not skip this in a year you switched tools.
If a figure remains unexplained after all that, do not proceed to file on it. Chase the cause, and if it still will not resolve, organise what you investigated and what remains unclear and ask a tax accountant. The fact that a tool produced a number is no guarantee that the return is correct — the responsibility is the filer's.
Watch out for
- · This page is a general orientation, not tax advice
- · Do not file while a figure remains unexplained
- · Even with automatic calculation, responsibility for the return remains with the filer
Frequently asked questions
Two tools gave me different figures. Which is right?
Different cost basis settings, different sets of imported transactions, or different type inference will all move the result. Compare the settings and the import counts first to locate where they diverge. If the divergence sits on a judgement question, take it to a tax accountant.