A tax report is only as reliable as the transaction history behind it. Use this template to test account completeness, quantities, transfers, classifications, prices and evidence before relying on any crypto tax software output.
1. Account inventory
| Source | Opened | Closed | Import method | Complete history? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange | API / CSV | |||
| Wallet | Address / xpub | |||
| DeFi protocol | Address / CSV | |||
| Other |
2. Quantity reconciliation
- Compare opening balances with the first source record.
- Compare closing balances with the exchange or blockchain.
- Resolve every negative balance and insufficient-quantity warning.
- Check token identity and contract address, not ticker alone.
- Separate spam or worthless tokens from real holdings without deleting evidence.
3. Transfer matching
| Sending source | Receiving source | Asset | Amount | Fee | Matched? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A transfer between your own accounts should not become a disposal merely because one side of the movement is missing. Confirm ownership, timestamps, quantities and network fees.
4. Missing cost basis
- Identify every disposal without an acquisition record.
- Trace the asset backward through transfers and old accounts.
- Retrieve historical CSVs before assuming zero cost.
- Document any estimate, source and valuation method.
- Keep the original file unchanged beside the corrected ledger.
5. Classification review
| Event type | Evidence required | Reviewed? |
|---|---|---|
| Trade or swap | Both assets, timestamp, quantities and fees | |
| Income or reward | Source, receipt time and valuation method | |
| Bridge | Source burn/lock and destination mint/release | |
| Liquidity position | Deposits, withdrawals, fees and token identity | |
| NFT | Contract, token ID, proceeds and fees | |
| Internal transfer | Ownership on both sides |
6. Price and currency review
- Confirm the reporting currency.
- Inspect illiquid tokens, depegs and extreme-volatility periods.
- Record where manual prices were used.
- Check timezone and day-boundary conventions.
- Preserve the market-data source used for material valuations.
7. Export and evidence pack
- Raw exchange CSVs and wallet exports
- Normalized transaction ledger
- List of manual edits and reasons
- Missing-data register
- Final reports and calculation settings
- Accountant or filing-software export
Final acceptance questions
- Can every disposal be linked to acquisition history?
- Can every transfer be explained on both sides?
- Do current quantities agree with source accounts?
- Can every manual edit be reproduced?
- Does the report match the relevant jurisdiction and tax year?
Continue with the Crypto Tax Software & Portfolio Tools Guide.
This is a data-quality template, not jurisdiction-specific tax advice.