zfin/docs/reference/config/accounts-srf.md

accounts.srf reference

accounts.srf describes each account referenced by your portfolio: its tax treatment, the institution it lives at, and a few flags that tune analysis and reconciliation. It powers the By Tax Type and By Account breakdowns in zfin analysis, the umbrella-exposure estimate, the audit staleness checks, and broker reconciliation.

zfin loads accounts.srf from the same directory as the resolved portfolio file. It is optional -- without it, accounts show up as "Unknown" in the tax-type breakdown and everything else still works.

File format

One record per account. The account name must match the account:: value used on your portfolio lots exactly.

#!srfv1
account::Pat 401k,tax_type::traditional,institution::fidelity,account_number::P401
account::Joint taxable,tax_type::taxable,institution::schwab,account_number::JT01

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
account	string	Yes	--	Account name; must match account:: on lots exactly.
tax_type	string	Yes	--	taxable, roth, traditional, or hsa.
institution	string	No	--	Broker key, e.g. fidelity, schwab, vanguard, wells_fargo. Used by zfin audit to match export files.
account_number	string	No	--	Account identifier used with institution for audit matching. Use a placeholder, not a full real number.
update_cadence	string	No	weekly	How often you refresh this account's manual data: weekly, monthly, quarterly, or none. Drives the audit staleness nag.
cash_is_contribution	bool	No	false	When true, raw cash-balance increases on this account count as real external contributions (see below).
direct_indexing	bool	No	false	Marks an account whose lots track a benchmark with tracking-error drift (loosens contribution/audit tolerances).
shielded	bool	No	(derived)	Umbrella-exposure override (see below).

Tax types

Value	Display label
taxable	Taxable
roth	Roth (Post-Tax)
traditional	Traditional (Pre-Tax)
hsa	HSA (Triple Tax-Free)

Any other value is shown as-is. Accounts missing from accounts.srf appear as "Unknown".

update_cadence and the audit nag

zfin audit (run flagless) flags accounts you haven't refreshed within their cadence window: weekly = 7 days, monthly = 30, quarterly = 90, none = never nag. The default is weekly, so every account reminds you until you silence it -- set update_cadence::none for accounts that update themselves (a live brokerage feed) or that you simply don't track closely.

cash_is_contribution

Most cash-balance movement is internal noise -- interest postings, dividend credits, CD coupons, settlement sweeps -- which would inflate the zfin contributions attribution total if counted as new money. So cash deltas are ignored by default. Set cash_is_contribution:bool:true only on accounts whose cash movement is dominated by external deposits (payroll ESPP accrual, direct 401k cash contributions).

shielded (umbrella exposure)

The umbrella-exposure estimate in zfin analysis splits your liquid net worth into "shielded" (retirement accounts, assumed judgment-protected) and "exposed" (taxable). The default proxy is "anything not taxable is shielded." Override it when that's wrong:

• shielded:bool:false on a pre-tax account that is not ERISA-protected (deferred-comp plans, non-qualified annuities), or on IRAs in states with weak IRA protection.
• shielded:bool:true to mark a taxable account as shielded (rare; e.g. some asset-protection trusts).

IRA protection varies by state and is not modeled automatically; set this explicitly if it matters to you.

Example (from examples/pre-retirement-both)

#!srfv1
account::Pat 401k,tax_type::traditional,institution::fidelity,account_number::P401
account::Pat Roth,tax_type::roth,institution::fidelity,account_number::PROTH
account::Sam 401k,tax_type::traditional,institution::vanguard,account_number::S401
account::Sam Roth,tax_type::roth,institution::vanguard,account_number::SROTH
account::Joint taxable,tax_type::taxable,institution::schwab,account_number::JT01
account::Family HSA,tax_type::hsa,institution::fidelity,account_number::HSA01
account::Kids 529,tax_type::taxable,institution::vanguard,account_number::C529

See also

• Map your accounts -- the walkthrough.
• zfin analysis -- tax-type and account breakdowns.
• zfin audit -- staleness checks and broker reconciliation.

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