How to determine the maximum value for FBAR reporting on foreign accounts with stocks?

Thanks for this info! Does this rule apply even for accounts that might have significant intra-month volatility? I have a similar situation but with some tech stocks that can swing 20% within a month. Would hate to underreport by using just the month-end balance if that's not actually compliant.

Yes, this applies even to accounts with volatile holdings. The FBAR instructions acknowledge that determining the exact maximum balance may be difficult for certain accounts. Using the highest month-end balance is generally considered acceptable even with volatility, as long as you're consistent in your approach. If you're particularly concerned about significant intra-month movements, you could consider using the highest balance reported on any statement during the year, even if it's a mid-month statement. But for most individual filers, the highest month-end balance method is sufficient and widely accepted for FBAR compliance.

Does this tool handle different account types? I have regular bank accounts, but also pension funds and some investment accounts in Europe. Would it recognize all those different statement formats?

Sounds interesting but I'm a bit skeptical. How does it handle currency conversion? Does it just use the year-end rate or does it actually match the correct exchange rate to each month's balance?

It handles pretty much all types of accounts - checking, savings, investment accounts, pension funds, etc. I had accounts from three different countries with completely different statement formats, and it worked for all of them. You just upload your documents and it figures out what they are. For currency conversion, it uses the correct Treasury Department exchange rates for each specific date of your balance. So if your highest balance was in March, it applies the March exchange rate, not the year-end rate. It also keeps track of which rate was used so you can verify everything. That was actually one of the most helpful features since calculating each conversion manually was really tedious before.

How does this even work? I thought it was impossible to get through to the IRS these days. I've literally tried calling multiple times and gave up after being on hold for over an hour each time.

Yeah right. There's no way this actually works. The IRS phone lines are notoriously impossible to get through. Sounds like you're just promoting some scam service that takes people's money and doesn't deliver.

It works by essentially handling the hold time for you. The service calls the IRS and navigates the initial phone tree, then waits on hold until an actual human agent picks up. When that happens, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. So instead of you personally waiting on hold for hours, their system does it for you. I was surprised too, but it actually works exactly as advertised. You don't have to take my word for it though - I was skeptical at first too. But after trying to call the IRS directly four different times and never getting through, I was desperate for answers about my FBAR situation.

Thanks for this clarification. Do you know if there's any specific guidance from FinCEN about securities accounts specifically? I'm trying to find official documentation but much of what I find seems geared toward regular bank accounts rather than investment portfolios.

There isn't super specific guidance for securities accounts in the official instructions, which is why this is confusing for many people. The general rule is that you should use a "periodic account statement" to determine the maximum value. For securities accounts, your monthly statements qualify as periodic statements. The FinCEN Form 114 instructions (available on the BSA E-Filing website) state that you should "determine the maximum value of a financial account based on the periodic statements provided for the account." This is why using the highest month-end balance from your statements is widely accepted. If you want to be extra cautious, you could review any transaction confirmations or other statements that show intra-month values, but most tax professionals consider the month-end statement method to be compliant with the requirements.

Exactly this! I wasted so much time my first year trying to calculate the perfect maximum values. The IRS doesn't expect you to track daily fluctuations for investment accounts - they just want to know about the existence of the accounts and a reasonable approximation of their maximum value.

This is really helpful advice, especially about organizing the statements in a spreadsheet! I'm just starting to gather all my documents for FBAR filing and feeling a bit overwhelmed. Do you have any suggestions for what columns to include in the spreadsheet beyond just the month-end balances? I'm thinking account name, currency, balance, USD conversion rate, and converted USD amount - but wondering if there's anything else I should track to make the actual filing process smoother.

Your spreadsheet approach sounds great! I'd suggest adding a few more columns to make filing even smoother: "Account Type" (checking, savings, investment, etc.), "Financial Institution Name", "Country", "Account Number" (last 4 digits for your records), and "Maximum Balance Date" (the specific date when that balance occurred). Also consider adding a "Notes" column for any special circumstances - like if you used a mid-month statement instead of month-end, or if there were any unusual transactions that month. This documentation will be super helpful if you ever need to reference your methodology later. One more tip: include the source of your exchange rate (Treasury.gov) and the specific URL or date you accessed it. Makes everything much more organized for next year's filing!