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Adjustment Allocation to Position Holders

Adjustment Allocation to Position Holders

Overview

Some clearing firms report charges or credits as a single aggregate adjustment against a master or clearing account rather than dividing them among the individual trading accounts. Common examples:

  • Short-interest accruals

  • Hard-to-borrow fees

  • Cash dividends

Position-holder allocation automatically distributes an aggregate adjustment among the accounts that held the applicable position. Each account receives a separate adjustment based on its share of the recorded position.

When Allocation Applies

An uploaded adjustment is allocated to position holders when all of the following are true:

  1. The upload source is configured with Adjustment Allocation set to Position Holders.

  2. The uploaded record includes a position date, which establishes the cutoff date for selecting positions.

  3. The record includes a symbol and a non-zero position quantity.

When a source is configured for position-holder allocation but an individual record does not include a position date, PropReports posts that record directly to the account specified in the file. This allows the same source file to contain both:

  • Ordinary account-level adjustments

  • Aggregate adjustments that require allocation

Sources configured as Specified Account, the default setting, always post adjustments directly to the account specified in the file.

Configuration

Upload Source Setting

Navigate to: Upload → Sources

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Setting

Behavior

Setting

Behavior

Specified Account (default)

Each adjustment is posted directly to the account specified in the file.

Position Holders

Records containing a position date, symbol, and quantity are divided among the applicable position holders.

Using the Generic Adjustments Format

Position-holder allocation must be enabled for the Generic source before it takes effect; see Upload Source Setting. Once enabled, it applies to all Generic adjustment uploads on the instance.

To upload an aggregate adjustment using the Generic Adjustments Format, include the optional Position Date, Qty, and Symbol columns and leave Account Name blank. Although these columns are optional for ordinary adjustments, all three must contain values on an allocation row.

Date,Account Name,Category,Amount,Comment,Clearing Name,Position Date,Qty,Symbol 2026-03-31,,Fee: Short Interest,-8.97,Short interest 03/30,CS1234,2026-03-30,-1700,IBM

This posts an $8.97 debit covering 1,700 short shares of IBM among the accounts under clearing name CS1234 that held short IBM positions based on the March 30, 2026 position date.

Column

Requirement

Column

Requirement

Position Date

Identifies the positions used for allocation. On a source configured for position-holder allocation, its presence causes the row to be treated as an allocation record.

Qty

The billed quantity being allocated. A positive value allocates to long positions; a negative value allocates to short positions.

Symbol

Identifies the symbol whose position holders receive the allocation.

Clearing Name

Limits allocation to accounts with the same Clearing Name under the clearing firm used for the upload. If blank, matching position holders across all accounts are considered.

Account Name

Must be blank. A row containing both an Account Name and a Position Date is rejected.

When Clearing Name is provided, PropReports matches it only among accounts assigned to the clearing firm used for the upload. By default, this is the clearing firm configured for the Generic source under Upload → Sources. To override it for an individual upload, open the Upload page, expand Advanced Options, and select a different Clearing Firm.

Sign conventions follow the rest of the format: a negative Amount is a debit, and a negative Qty selects short positions.

Rows without a Position Date post normally to the account named on the row. This allows ordinary account-level adjustments and aggregate allocation records to be included in the same file.

Invalid Allocation Records

An allocation row is rejected and reported as an upload error if its position date is invalid, its symbol is missing, the quantity quantity is zero or missing, or an account name is also provided. Any adjustment row with a zero amount is skipped without an error.

Excess Quantity

An adjustment may cover more shares or contracts than the total matching positions recorded in PropReports. The handling of this difference is controlled by an instance-level setting configured by PropReports Operations.

Mode

Behavior

Mode

Behavior

Unallocated remainder (default)

Each account is allocated an amount based on the quantity it held. Any remaining quantity and amount are posted to an account named UNALLOCATED.

Allocate to existing positions

When at least one matching position exists, the entire adjustment amount is distributed among those position holders. No UNALLOCATED adjustment is created solely because the uploaded quantity exceeds the recorded positions.

How the Allocation Is Calculated

PropReports processes each qualifying adjustment as follows.

1. Identify eligible accounts

When the uploaded record specifies a Clearing Name, allocation is limited to accounts with the same Clearing Firm and Clearing Name. If no Clearing Name is provided, all accounts with matching positions are considered.

2. Select the position date and find matching positions

PropReports uses positions from the latest date on or before the position date for which the instance has any position data.

That date is selected instance-wide. If it contains no matching position for the adjustment’s symbol, PropReports does not search earlier dates. If no position data exists on or before the position date, the adjustment is posted to UNALLOCATED.

Only open, non-zero positions are included.

3. Match the position side

The adjustment’s position quantity determines which positions are eligible:

  • A positive position quantity is allocated only to long positions.

  • A negative position quantity is allocated only to short positions.

  • Positions on the opposite side are ignored.

4. Divide the adjustment proportionally

PropReports allocates the quantity and amount among eligible accounts based on their positions. If the uploaded quantity exceeds the total eligible position, the configured excess quantity mode determines how the difference is handled.

5. Apply rounding

Allocated quantities are rounded to four decimal places. Any rounding remainder is applied to the final allocation. Allocated amounts always reconcile to the original adjustment amount. Quantities also reconcile in Unallocated remainder mode; in Allocate to existing positions mode, the total allocated quantity may be lower because each allocation is capped at the recorded position.

6. Preserve the original signs

The adjustment retains its original financial direction:

  • Credits remain positive.

  • Debits remain negative.

  • Allocations to short positions retain negative quantities.

Each allocation is posted as a separate adjustment with the same adjustment date, category, symbol, price, and comment as the uploaded record.

When the adjustment currency differs from the receiving account’s currency, PropReports converts the amount using the applicable exchange rate for the adjustment date.

The UNALLOCATED Account

PropReports posts an adjustment to UNALLOCATED when:

  • No matching positions are available; or

  • The recorded positions do not cover the full quantity and the instance uses Unallocated remainder mode.

PropReports creates the UNALLOCATED account automatically when it is first needed.

A single UNALLOCATED account is used. Adjustments in another currency are converted to the account's currency using the exchange rate for the adjustment date.

A non-zero balance in this account generally indicates that position data is missing or does not agree with the quantity reported by the clearing firm. These adjustments should be reviewed.

Examples

Simple Proportional Allocation

A clearing firm reports a $100 fee covering 100 shares of IBM.

  • Account A held 100 shares.

  • Account B held 200 shares.

Account A held one-third of the total position, while Account B held two-thirds.

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

A

33.3333

$33.3333

B

66.6667

$66.6667

Total

100.0000

$100.0000

Billed Quantity Exceeds Recorded Positions

A clearing firm reports a $100 fee covering 100 shares.

  • Account A held 1 share.

  • Account B held 1 share.

Unallocated Remainder Mode

Each account is charged for the quantity it held. The remaining quantity and amount are posted to UNALLOCATED.

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

A

1

$1

B

1

$1

UNALLOCATED

98

$98

Total

100

$100

Allocate to Existing Positions Mode

The full amount is divided between the two position holders, while each account’s allocated quantity remains capped at its recorded position.

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

A

1

$50

B

1

$50

Total

2

$100

Billed Quantity Is Smaller Than the Recorded Position

A clearing firm reports a $200 fee covering 100 shares of IBM.

  • Account A held 150 shares.

Because the fee covers only 100 shares, the allocated quantity is 100, not the account’s full 150-share position.

Account

Recorded Position

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

Account

Recorded Position

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

A

150

100

$200

No Matching Positions

A clearing firm reports a $100 fee covering 100 shares, but PropReports cannot find any matching positions.

The full quantity and amount are posted to UNALLOCATED:

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

Account

Allocated Quantity

Allocated Amount

UNALLOCATED

100

$100

Important Considerations

  • Parser support is required. Position-holder allocation applies only to upload formats that provide or derive a position date for adjustment records. Setting a source to Position Holders has no effect if its parser does not supply one. The Generic Adjustments Format supports it through the optional Position Date column. For other formats, contact PropReports to confirm whether the format supplies a position date.

  • Positions must already exist. Allocation uses the position data available when the adjustment file is processed. Existing allocations are not recalculated when positions are later added or corrected; re-upload the adjustment data to apply the revised positions.

  • Older position data may be used. PropReports selects the latest date on or before the position date that contains any position data, regardless of symbol, and uses only positions from that date. It does not search further back if the adjustment’s symbol is absent. Because there is no lookback limit, missing position files may result in allocations against stale holdings or postings to UNALLOCATED without an error.

  • Missing positions do not stop the upload. If matching positions cannot be found, the full adjustment is posted to UNALLOCATEDrather than rejected.

  • The position date and adjustment date may differ. The position date identifies which holdings are used for allocation. It may be derived from another field, such as a record date or settlement date.

  • Deleting an upload removes all generated allocations. This includes adjustments posted to individual position holders and to UNALLOCATED.