The short answer is no - Topshare was designed for Windows operating systems (Win 95 or later). There isn't a Macintosh version.
However, it is possible that Topshare will run on a Macintosh if you are running a PC Emulation package. If you try this, we'd be interested to hear about your experiences.
If you have Windows XP's firewall enabled, or if you are running another firewall program such as Norton Personal Firewall, Sygate, or ZoneAlarm, you must set it up correctly. The default operation of these firewalls is to block any access to the internet by all software. If Topshare is blocked in this way, several Topshare features won't work properly:
With any firewall product, the first time Topshare attempts to contact the internet you'll be asked whether to permit it. You must answer Yes. If you answer No, Topshare will be permanently blocked (you won't be queried next time). If this happens, you'll need to enter the Firewall configuration area to unblock Topshare.
Furthermore, anytime you update to a new Topshare version (either manually or using Topshare's Auto Update feature, the firewall will see this as a new program and you'll be asked again whether to permit access.
The Incredible Charts site has a good section on configuring firewalls in this situation, with explicit examples for each of the common programs.
While there is no absolute limit on the number of portfolios recorded, Topshare is designed for the private investor with a small number of separate portfolios - perhaps one each for a husband and wife, and one for a super fund. Provided you have a fast computer you should not have too much trouble running up to 8-12 portfolios, particularly if they are not transaction-intensive; however, any more will probably result in unacceptably slow performance.
Historical price data may be available from your broker, or from a commercial supplier. We can also supply some historical data, for a fee - please send some details of your requirements if you're interested. There are also internet sites that make these data available from time to time. Some relevant links are shown below:
From version 1.12, Topshare has a dedicated Backup function available from the File menu.
Topshare uses its Stock Prices Database to complete details in a number of reports and charts. In each case, what's actually requested is something like "get the most recent price available in the database, for stock xxx, as at date xxx".
Now, if the most recent price available is actually dated say six months prior to the request, it's probably not very reliable. For this reason you'll be given a warning "Old price data for xxx". The age threshold for this warning is 30 days by default, but you can change this in Edit | Preferences.
One outcome of this system that may not be immediately obvious, is in the Holdings Report. I get a lot of queries from people who say they see the "Old price data" warning on this report - yet, they know that their prices are up-to-date. The reason will be that they've selected the "Div % calculation" option "% price at Div Pay Date". With this option, Topshare needs the share price that was current at the time each dividend was paid (for those divs paid within the 12 months prior to the report date). This is used to calculate the dividend rate displayed on the report. Even though you've entered current prices, you may not have entered regular prices going back 12 months - so when Topshare needs to report on a dividend that was paid 12 months ago, it can't retrieve an appropriate price. In this case, you can stop the warning by choosing the other option "% price at Report Date" - this will display the dividend rate compared to the current share price.
One final note: if there are no entries at all for a particular stock in the price database, Topshare will use the original purchase price of the stock. Of course, this is very likely to result in the "Old price data" warning.
Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, navigate to the folder My Documents\Topshare Data. Delete all the files in this folder - about 40 of them, with *.db and *.px names. Be careful not to delete any of the subfolders.
Next time you start Topshare, it will display a warning that no database files were found, and offer to create a new, empty database.
The Topshare Utility is a separate program that performs some support functions in a Topshare system. Importantly, the Utility can run even if there are problems with the Topshare environment that are stopping Topshare itself from running properly. With the current version of the Utility, you can:
To download and use the Topshare Utility, follow the instructions on this page: downloads3.html
Your first avenue is to see if you can recover using a database Snapshot. Think of Snapshots as being like "Undo" in Excel or Word. Here's a brief description of Topshare's Snapshot system - you can read more by clicking Help after running File|Data Snapshots|View/Restore from Snapshot.
The first time Topshare exits on any particular day, a complete copy of the database is saved - this is a Snapshot. By default, the most recent 5 Snapshots are retained. When you run File|Data Snapshots|View/Restore from Snapshot you can get Topshare to temporarily disconnect from the normal database, and instead, connect to a Snapshot that you specify. Once connected to a Snapshot, you can run the full range of Topshare reports and other forms, to confirm that the Snapshot does indeed predate the time that your particular problem was introduced. You then have two options: to disconnect from the Snapshot (perhaps to try another one - click Cancel), or to restore the primary database from the current snapshot (click Yes - Use from now on).
Perhaps your snapshots don't go back far enough to restore your database? If so, you'll need to recover from a backup. Hopefully, you'll have one; too often, people don't even consider implementing a backup system until something like this occurs. Topshare's own backup system is the easiest to use - simply use File|Backup/Restore both to make a backup file, and to restore your data from a backup. Alternatively, you might be using an independant backup system. In that case, you'll need to backup (or restore) all the files contained in the Topshare Data Folder. By default, the Data Folder is My Documents\Topshare Data - although this can be changed. Use Help|About to determine the current location of the Data Folder.
With any numeric entry field that displays a "calculator" icon on its right, you can change the no of decimal places displayed. When you do this, the new settings will be remembered next time you open that form.
Click Help|Contents, click "Things you should know", and scroll down to the bottom for more information about this - here's an extract:
All fields with the calculator icon display a fixed number of decimal places that, under most circumstances, will be appropriate for the data being entered. However, if you need to enter data with a higher level of precision (for example, a share purchase price of $1.3522; or entering fractional units for the no of shares purchased), the default decimals can be altered as follows:
Topshare uses the currency symbol defined in Windows. Click Start|Settings|Control Panel, double-click Regional and Language Options, and select English(Australia) from the drop-down list. Click OK.
Yes, Topshare runs fine under Vista - but you need to set it up properly. Here's what you need to do, once you've completed the installation:
Topshare uses a database system from Borland called the BDE. Although this system dates back to around the time Windows was introduced, it still works well - most of the time. However, as time goes on, some problems are beginning to appear.
One known BDE problem is that if the free disk space is an exact multiple of 4gb, the BDE thinks the disk is full (remember this system was designed when an average HD was probably about 20mb). Look for these two lines in the Error Report:
free disk space : (C:) 204.00 GB
[About line 10. Is the free space an exact multiple of 4?]
exception message : Insufficient disk space..
[About line 20]
If you get this error, you'll be able to work around it by simply using up 50mb or so of your free space - for example, duplicate a few pictures.
In Topshare, we intend to replace the BDE with a modern system in the near future (probably version 1.14).
The Free Data service, sourced from Yahoo, provides 20-minute delayed prices. Not all stocks are covered - in particular, warrants, options, and most securities that have 4,5 or 6-character codes don't seem to be available. You can retrieve prices at any time of the day or night, without limit on frequency. If you download after the market closes, you should get close to the day's EOD prices. However, even well after 4pm EST, Yahoo-sourced data isn't necesessarily exactly the same as the "official" ASX EOD prices (which aren't even released until around 7pm EST), because of possible post-close transactions. Some late transactions don't ever seem to be reflected in the Yahoo data. You need to run New Data|Stock prices|EOD (Online) to download the data, and historical data are not available. Because this data feed is sourced from Yahoo, and we have no control over its availability - there have been occasional interruptions in the past. There is a limit on the number of ASX codes that can be retrieved.
The Subscription Data supply is a service that you need to purchase annually, separately from your Topshare license. We supply the data under license from the ASX. Each day's EOD data are available from around 7:30pm EST. Normal operation, to maintain your local EOD prices database for stocks in your portfolio (plus watchlist), is completely automatic - Topshare retrieves the data as soon as they become available. On startup, any outstanding historical data are downloaded immediately, so that Topshare will automatically "catch up" if it hasn't been run for a few weeks or months. Manual operation (through the Subscription Data menu) allows you to retrieve prices for the whole portfolio on a particular date (eg, you need to know the portfolio valuation on 30/6/04); or to retrieve a historical data series for a particular stock. About 5 years of historical data are available. Most stock codes are included, in particular those missing from the Yahoo feed. Some stock indexes are also available.
In summary:There are two key parameters controlling operation of the automatic subscription data download:
Valuation Date is determined by Topshare from the latest date in the local Prices database. You can see the Valuation Date displayed on the main form, in blue text, to the left of the portfolio summary. To see the data giving rise to the current Valuation Date, run Edit|Advanced|Edit Database; in "Data to edit" click Stock prices; and at the bottom of the grid, click the ">|" button to scroll to the end of the data. Because the data are displayed in date order, the last price that's now displayed will be the source of the Valuation Date.
Download Time is shown/set in Subscription Data|Check Status, at "Local time for EOD data". This is the time that Topshare will contact the server, each day, to request the latest data. This is recorded in local time and must be after 7:30pm NSW time. For example, in QLD, NSW, ACT, VIC and TAS it could show 7:45pm during winter. In summer in QLD, because there's no daylight saving, it could show 6:45pm. In SA, assuming daylight saving applies, it could show 7:15pm.
OK, now these two parameters have been defined, here is a quick description of how the auto download works.
Firstly, whenever you start Topshare, Topshare will first determine whether data should be available - based on the current date/time, the Valuation Date, and the Download Time. If appropriate, Topshare will contact the server and retrieve prices for your current portfolio, plus watchlist, from the Valuation Date to the present.
Secondly, at the Download Time, Topshare (if active) will retrieve prices for your current portfolio, plus watchlist, from the Valuation Date to the present - provided the Valuation Date is before the current date.
The most common problems are:
All data updates are recorded in the "Actions" tab, including Subscription Data downloads (whether successful or not), Yahoo updates, and manual updates.
The short answer is, this is because the report won't fit on the page. You can make it fit by doing one or more of the following:
For more information, click Help in any report, then click the link "Using reports"
First, read this document.
Here are two alternative methods. These two examples assume that you're classed as an Individual taxpayer, and you didn't pre-pay the instalment receipts. These examples represent general advice only. Please check with your accountant as to what is appropriate for your situation.
The easiest method is based on treating the bonus loyalty shares as a share split. However, the bonus shares won't be identified as a separate parcel - all shares will be seen by Topshare as having the same date of acquisition, being the date you acquired the original TLSCA. It's unclear from the ATO link (above) whether this would be correct - that is, if you sold all your new TLS tomorrow, at a profit, would the bonus shares be eligible for the 50% CG discount? Perhaps not, if they were treated as being acquired when the instalment was paid out. But Topshare will treat all the shares as being bought at the float in 2006, and will apply the 50% discount to all. To use this method, firstly use New Data|Convert Instalment/Option to record the conversion of the TLSCA to TLS, at a cost of $1.60 per share. Then, on the day after the TLSCA->TLS conversion, record a split of your TLSCA (New Data|Split/consolidate) - for the Split Ratio, enter "for every 25 you now have 26". This will result in the correct number of shares, and they will all have the correct cost base of 25/26 x ((amount paid for TLSCA) + $1.60).
An alternative is to use Topshare's Merge/Demerge feature. This gives you the flexibility of identifying the bonus shares as a separate parcel, with their own acquisition date. Run New Data|Merge/Demerge; in Step 2, Input Stocks is TLSCA. In Step 3,Output Stocks is TLS. In Step 4, specify two output parcels. In Step 5, specify the No of shares, Date of acquisition, and Cost base of each parcel. The first parcel will have the same no of shares as your original TLSCA, Date of Acquisition will be the date you purchased the TLSCA, and the cost base will be 25/26 x ((amount paid for TLSCA) + $1.60) x (no of shares in parcel). The second parcel represents the Bonus Shares allocated. Consult your accountant to determine the correct Date of Acquisition. Again, the Cost Base will be 25/26 x ((amount paid for TLSCA) + $1.60) x (no of bonus shares allocated). In Step 6, add any appropriate comment, then click Finish.
When you enter a dividend, Topshare will automatically calculate the number of shares that qualify for the dividend, based on the Ex-Dividend Date. This is used to calculate the total div amount. The calculated no of shares for each portfolio, the calculated dividend, and imputation amount, are all shown on Page 2 of the Dividend form. This is a useful check on the accuracy of previously entered data - if there is a mistake in one of your transaction entries, or the entered dividend details, then the dividend amounts won't match up, alerting you to the error.
So, if the calculated dividend payment details seem incorrect, your first action should be to check carefully that you've entered the dividend details correctly - particularly the Record Date of the dividend, and the dividend amounts and franking details. If this all seems OK, check the details for previous transactions in the shares using the Full Transactions report. Fix any errors that you find using the appropriate item from Topshare's Edit menu, before re-attempting the dividend entry.
If the error is still unexplained, there is one further circumstance that can, rarely, cause a problem. This is when one of your transactions (usually a sale or a purchase) occurred just a few days before or after the dividend's Record Date. Topshare calculates the Ex-div date as four business days before the Record Date, as defined by the ASX - however, on rare occasions, a parcel of shares will actually receive a dividend, even though the shares weren't held on the calculated Ex-date. Or, conversely, a parcel won't receive the dividend even though it was actually held on the calculated Ex-div date. This can arise either through an error in Topshare's calculation of the Ex-div date (perhaps there was a public holiday?), or some minor irregularity with the share registry's records. Whatever the reason, the cure is simple - just experiment with an earlier or later Record Date (shifting by only one or two business days is normally all that is required), until you get the correct result.