How to Track NAV vs Remaining Cost on Fund Positions

NAV vs cost basis PE is two marks on one commitment. Remaining cost is what you paid in (ILPA paid-in capital, the cumulative takedown), reduced when capital comes back, with recallable distributions sitting on unfunded rather than retiring the line. NAV is the remaining value the GP last printed. Residual value to paid-in is the ratio of those two, not a third mystery number. Raziel’s TVPI vs DPI vs RVPI page is the three-column multiple. This page is the book those two marks live on. Do not treat a quarterly NAV as a cash event.

This is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Raziel Holdings, Inc. does not provide it. Copy the labeled figures from the statement you hold.

Remaining cost is paid-in still in the ground

ILPA’s glossary: paid-in capital is the amount of committed capital a limited partner has actually transferred, also known as the cumulative takedown. That is the cost of the LP line, not the pledge. ILPA’s invested capital is drawndown that has actually gone into companies, equal in practice to drawndown less amounts used to pay fees or still awaiting investment. A fee call raises paid-in. It does not raise remaining cost on a company.

At the investment schedule, ILPA’s 2016 Quarterly Reporting Standards ask for four numeric columns on each name: total invested (historical cost), current cost, reported value, and realized proceeds. Remaining cost is current cost: historical invested, reduced when capital comes back as a return of cost, not when the GP marks the name up. Do not rename current cost as unfunded. Unfunded is the callable remainder of the commitment.

ILPA’s Reporting Template (January 2025, first delivery after Q1 2026 for funds still in their investment period) walks beginning unfunded to ending unfunded: less contributions, plus recallable distributions, less expired or released commitments, plus or minus other adjustments. ILPA’s glossary: recallable is the total amount of distributions that may be recalled by the fund at a future date. A recallable distribution does not retire remaining cost as if the capital had left for good. It puts obligation back on unfunded until it is recalled or released. Raziel’s VC and private equity portfolio management page is the firm-level stack. This row is one LP’s remaining cost next to one NAV.

NAV is remaining value, printed by the GP

ILPA glossary, reported/remaining value: the current fair stated value for each of the investments, as reported by the general partner. That is the PE mark. The same glossary’s NAV entry is a share-based mutual-fund and closed-end formula (assets divided by shares outstanding). On a closed-end PE fund you get remaining value as of a date, not a traded share price.

ILPA wants that remaining value on the balance sheet as investments at cost and at fair value, and on the schedule as reported value. The Reporting Template capital-account statement then rolls beginning NAV to ending NAV: contributions and distributions, management fees, partnership expenses, offsets, investment income, realized gain or loss, unrealized gain or loss, and accrued carried interest. NAV moves when the GP marks. Cash moves when you wire or when a distribution hits. Put the as-of date next to the NAV. A stale mark next to a live remaining-cost number is how a position report lies.

RVPI is the ratio, not a third mark

ILPA glossary: residual value to paid-in is the ratio of the current value of all remaining investments in the fund to total contributions of limited partners to date. GIPS, as ILPA notes, puts reinvested capital from recallable distributions in that denominator. RVPI is remaining value divided by paid-in. It is not a third column of dollars. ILPA’s investment multiple is reported value plus distributions, divided by total capital contributed. Raziel’s MOIC calculator is the deal-level box: invested capital, distributions, residual value. Feed it one vehicle. Do not paste a fund NAV into it as if remaining cost were the calculator’s initial investment without checking the label.

The sibling TVPI vs DPI vs RVPI article is cash back, leftover NAV, and the sum. This page stops at the two marks that produce RVPI. Do not store RVPI as a dollar amount. Store remaining cost and NAV, then compute the ratio.

Quarterly NAV is not a cash event

ILPA is explicit that the Reporting Template is supplemental to quarterly reporting, including financial statements, and is not a substitute for partners’ capital account statements, though some LPs and GPs may prefer the template in lieu of a PCAP. The NAV roll includes unrealized gain and loss and a reconciliation for accrued carried interest. Unrealized gain does not hit your bank. Accrued carry is a reallocation of paper, not a wire. Treating the quarter’s ending NAV as a distribution, a contribution, or a sale is the error.

IRS Publication 551 (December 2025): basis is the amount of your investment in property for tax purposes, used to figure gain or loss on a sale or other disposition. Cost basis is usually what you paid in cash, debt, other property, or services. Keep records of items that affect basis. GP current cost and GP NAV are not that tax basis. Do not overwrite a partnership basis worksheet with a quarterly remaining value.

When a distribution arrives, post it as cash. If the notice says it is recallable, add it back to unfunded. If it is a return of cost, reduce remaining cost. Leave NAV where the GP printed it until the next pack. Raziel’s alternative-asset dashboard is the book those two marks already sit on: remaining cost, NAV with an as-of date, and the ratio. It does not turn a quarterly NAV into a cash event, and it does not give tax advice.