Where investments typically live
- Share brokers — one or more accounts for ASX and international shares and ETFs.
- Micro-investing and robo-advice apps — often holding ETF portfolios on your behalf.
- Crypto exchanges — custodial accounts where the exchange holds the assets.
- Self-custody wallets — software or hardware wallets that you control directly.
- Superannuation — retirement savings held in a fund, with its own rules about access.
- Cash accounts — savings and offset accounts, term deposits.
- Employee share schemes — shares or options issued through an employer platform.
Why this becomes a problem
Every platform shows its own balance, in its own format, often in a different currency and with its own definition of return. Some keep years of history; others only show recent activity. Without a consolidated view it is hard to answer simple questions: What am I worth today? How much have I put in? What share of my money is in crypto?
There is also a quieter risk: forgotten accounts. Small balances left on old platforms are easy to lose track of entirely.
Consolidated tracking is not consolidated ownership
This point deserves emphasis. Viewing several accounts together is purely a reporting choice. It does not change who legally owns each asset or how each is taxed.
- A joint account is still jointly owned.
- Assets held in a company or trust still belong to that entity, with its own tax obligations.
- A self-managed super fund is a separate legal structure with strict rules about keeping its assets apart from members' personal assets.
- Your partner's account is your partner's, even if you track it for household planning.
For tax returns, financial statements and legal purposes, each structure's own records remain the authority. A tracker is for understanding, not for accounting.
A practical approach
1. Make an inventory
Write down every account and wallet, who owns it, and what it holds. Include ones you rarely look at. This list alone is often clarifying.
2. Decide what you want to see together
Personal investments you manage day to day usually belong together. Super may be worth tracking separately, because it cannot generally be accessed until retirement and follows different rules. Entity-owned assets are often best kept in their own view so the lines stay clear.
3. Bring in history, not just balances
A balance tells you what you have. Transaction history tells you what you paid, which is what makes returns meaningful. Most brokers and exchanges provide CSV exports. See Understanding Cost Basis for why this matters.
4. Watch for internal transfers
Moving crypto from an exchange to your own wallet, or shares between brokers, is not a sale or a new purchase. If both sides are recorded as separate transactions, a tracker may count the asset twice or treat the transfer as fresh money. Record the original purchase once.
5. Reconcile occasionally
Every few months, compare your tracked balance for each account with the platform's own figure. Small timing differences are normal; larger ones usually point to a missed transaction.
Self-custody wallets
Wallets you control can be tracked using only their public address — no private keys or seed phrases. The Crypto Wallet Safety guide explains why that distinction is essential.
How Compndr supports this
In Compndr, holdings from different sources sit in one portfolio and one reporting currency. You can import CSV exports from brokers and exchanges, enter holdings manually, upload a screenshot for review, or add a public Ethereum, Solana or Bitcoin address for read-only tracking. Free accounts have one portfolio. Premium accounts can create up to five separate portfolios — useful for keeping, say, personal investments apart from a structure you manage separately. Each portfolio stays separate; Compndr does not combine them into a single total.
For the broader case for one view, see How to Track Crypto, Shares and ETFs in One Portfolio.