This answer provided the necessary clarification as to the meaning of the statement in question. But my confusion was due to the fact that the data I received from the ESPP account was in a format that could have been directly inputted into TurboTax without resorting to an algorithm, if such an input format had been available in TurboTax. The 1099-B supplemental data I received provided precise dollar amounts for each lot of shares as to proceeds (on date of sale), cost basis, gain/loss, and ordinary income portion. Because of the nature of the questions asked by TurboTax, I had to dig up data from multiple sources going back nearly two decades to fill in the blanks when the data I really needed was right in front of me. No wonder I was confused.
