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Understanding Cost Basis Calculation Objectives: Trailed: Start, Trailed: Continue, and Untrailed

Written by Cryptoworth Support

Calculation Objectives

When running a cost basis calculation in Cryptoworth, you'll choose a Calculation Objective. This determines whether the calculation starts a new calculation trail, continues an existing one, or runs independently.

Trailed: Start

Use Trailed: Start when you need to create a new calculation trail.

This option ignores any previous calculation results and recalculates cost basis from the selected start date.

Use this when:

  • Running a portfolio calculation for the first time.

  • Historical transactions have been added, removed, or modified.

  • Wallets or exchanges with historical activity have been connected.

  • You have changed the cost basis method (e.g., FIFO to HIFO).

  • You want to rebuild your calculation history.

Note: Any previous calculation trail is ignored. A new trail is created from the selected start date.

Trailed: Continue

Use Trailed: Continue when your previous calculation is already accurate and you only need to process newly imported transactions.

Rather than recalculating historical activity, Cryptoworth continues from the ending balances, inventory, and tax lots created by the previous calculation.

Use this when:

  • No historical transactions have changed.

  • Only new transactions have been imported since the last calculation.

  • You're performing routine daily, weekly, or month-end processing.

Important: Only use this option if no transactions prior to the last successful calculation have changed. If historical data has been modified, use Trailed: Start instead.

Untrailed

Use Untrailed when you want to calculate an isolated set of transactions without creating or continuing a calculation trail.

This option does not use previous calculation results and does not create results that can be continued later.

Common use cases:

  • Troubleshooting

  • Testing

  • Validating a specific date range

  • Investigating individual transactions

Note: Untrailed calculations are intended for analysis and validation, not ongoing accounting workflows.

Locked Accounting Periods

Locked accounting periods protect finalized financial records from being modified.

If a calculation includes one or more locked accounting periods, Cryptoworth will not apply calculation results to those periods, even if the calculation completes successfully.

For example, if you modify a transaction in a locked accounting period and run a Trailed: Start calculation, the updated cost basis and balances will not be applied to the locked period until it is unlocked.

To apply historical changes:

  1. Unlock the affected accounting period.

  2. Run a Trailed: Start calculation.

  3. Review and validate the updated results.

  4. Lock the accounting period again once verification is complete.

Best Practice: Lock accounting periods after completing your month-end close to preserve finalized financial records and prevent unintended changes.

Which option should I use?

Scenario

Recommended Option

First calculation for a portfolio

Trailed: Start

Historical transactions were modified

Trailed: Start

New wallets or exchanges with historical activity were added

Trailed: Start

Historical transactions changed within a locked accounting period

Unlock the affected accounting period, run Trailed: Start, review the results, then lock the period again.

Only new transactions were imported

Trailed: Continue

Daily, weekly, or month-end processing

Trailed: Continue

Testing or debugging a specific date range

Untrailed

Quick Reference

Objective

Best For

Uses Previous Calculation?

Trailed: Start

Rebuilding history after historical changes

No

Trailed: Continue

Continuing routine processing with new transactions

Yes

Untrailed

Testing, troubleshooting, and isolated calculations

No

Rule of Thumb:
Trailed: Start = Rebuild history.
Trailed: Continue = Continue from the last successful calculation.
Untrailed = Calculate an isolated transaction segment.
Locked Periods = Historical changes are not applied until the affected accounting period is unlocked.

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