Crypto Accounting Hub

Cost basis

Pick a cost basis method before you file

FIFO, LIFO and specific identification produce different gains on the same trades, and the method you choose carries forward across tax years.

A desk with a laptop showing a spreadsheet of dated crypto transactions, a printed brokerage statement beside it, and a calculator resting on a notebook in daylight.

Bookkeeping Built for On-Chain Business

Three areas where crypto bookkeeping differs from ordinary small-business accounting, and what each one asks of your records.

01

Every wallet is an account

Business crypto rarely sits in one place. Operating wallets, treasury cold storage, exchange accounts and payment processors each hold balances that belong on the books. Recording each as its own account, with its own transaction history, keeps transfers from looking like income and makes reconciliations possible at period end.

Crypto Bookkeeping Fundamentals
Overhead view of a desk with an open ledger notebook, a hardware wallet and a phone showing a wallet address, beside a laptop

02

Cost basis follows every move

Buying, swapping, spending or moving coins between your own wallets all affect how a holding is valued at tax time. A swap is generally a disposal, not a neutral transfer. Consistent cost basis tracking, applied the same way each period, is what lets you answer a gain or loss question without rebuilding the year from scratch.

Valuation and Cost Basis Methods
Close-up of a calculator and printed spreadsheets with a pen resting on a column of figures

03

Records that hold up to review

Digital asset transactions leave a trail, but exchanges close, wallets get replaced and old exports go missing. Keeping wallet addresses, export files and supporting documentation alongside the ledger means an auditor or tax preparer can trace a balance back to its source instead of taking the number on faith.

Audit, Controls and Regulatory Readiness
Folder of printed statements and a labeled external drive on a shelf beside a closed laptop
A bookkeeper's desk with a printed transaction ledger, a pen resting on a column of cost basis figures, and a laptop showing a wallet export, lit by daylight from a side window.

Valuation and Cost Basis Methods

Cost basis methods decide your crypto tax bill

FIFO, LIFO and specific identification assign different costs to the same sale, so the method you choose changes the gain you report.

  • FIFO sells your oldest lots first and is the default most US taxpayers fall back on.
  • Specific identification lets you pick lots, but only with reliable records tying each unit to its purchase.
  • Whichever method you adopt, apply it consistently and keep the lot-level detail that supports it.
Read the cost basis guides

Crypto bookkeeping, from wallet to tax return

Five topic areas that cover the work most crypto-holding businesses have to do each period, from first transaction export to audit-ready records.

A laptop on a wooden desk with a spreadsheet of transactions open beside a phone showing a wallet balance, a paper notebook and a cup of coffee in morning light

Recording wallet and exchange activity

Move past CSV exports that miss internal transfers. This topic covers how to label wallets and exchange accounts, capture fees and gas, and treat transfers between your own accounts as movement rather than income or expense. It is the foundation everything else depends on, because a misclassified transfer distorts gains in two places at once.

Crypto Bookkeeping Fundamentals
A calculator, printed exchange rate table and pen resting on a desk next to a monitor showing a price chart, natural daylight across the paper

Cost basis and valuation

Crypto assets often trade in several currencies and on several venues in the same month. This topic walks through choosing a cost basis method, applying it consistently, and documenting fair market value at the time of receipt for payments, staking rewards and customer settlements. Consistency matters more than the method you pick.

Valuation and Cost Basis Methods
A folder of labeled financial documents, a stapled report and a pen on a conference table, with hands sorting papers at the edge of the frame

Tax and reporting readiness

Businesses that accept crypto or pay in it carry reporting obligations that bookkeeping alone will not satisfy. This topic covers keeping transaction-level records that support a filed return, separating business from personal activity, and knowing which balances and disclosures your accountant will ask for before filing season.

Business Tax Compliance for Digital Assets
Two people reviewing a printed reconciliation schedule at a desk, one pointing at a column of figures, with a second screen showing a list of accounts behind them

Controls for audit and review

Once volume grows, a single spreadsheet stops being a reliable record. This topic looks at access controls over exchange keys, reconciliation routines between the ledger and on-chain balances, and the evidence trail an auditor or lender will expect to see when digital assets appear on the balance sheet.

Cost basis

Pick a cost basis method before your first filing

FIFO, specific identification and weighted average produce different gains from the same trades, and the method you choose carries into later years.

Read the cost basis articles

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