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What assignment does to your account, line by line

When you're assigned, your broker removes the option, moves cash and shares at the strike, and posts a notice. Here's each line item for a put and a call, with the numbers.

Options guide · 7-minute read · Updated 2026-10-26

The three lines that change

Assignment touches three things in your account:

1. The option position disappears. Your short put or short call is closed at zero, and the premium you collected stays yours.
2. Shares move. A put assignment adds 100 shares per contract. A call assignment removes 100.
3. Cash moves. A put assignment takes out the strike × 100. A call assignment pays in the strike × 100.

Everything else, like your new cost basis and the activity line, follows from those three.

A worked example: a put is assigned (an illustration, not a trade idea)

You sold one $45 put on a made-up stock, XYZ, for $1.00 ($100). XYZ closes at $43 on expiry, and you're assigned.

Your broker will show the shares bought at $45. Most brokers don't fold the premium into the displayed cost, so your "cost basis" line reads $45.00. Your real cost is $44 ($45 minus the $1 premium). Keep that in your own notes; the Cost basis that matters for the next covered call is $44.

Now the stock falls to $38 the next week. The shares are worth $3,800. You're down −$600 on the position: −$700 on the shares, +$100 premium. The put is gone, so there's nothing to roll. The loss now lives in the shares.

A call is assigned

You owned 100 XYZ bought at $44 and sold a $47 call for $0.80 ($80). XYZ closes at $49. You're assigned.

Your shares were sold at $47, even though the stock closed at $49. The $200 above the strike went to the call buyer. That's the capped upside of a Covered call.

The notification

Brokers post the notice in slightly different places, but you'll usually find it in three spots:

• An email or app alert headed something like "Option assignment" or "Exercise/assignment notice," often sent overnight after the close.
• The activity or history page, with a line for the assignment and a separate line for the share trade at the strike.
• The positions page, where the option is gone and the share count changed.

For expiry-day assignment, most people see it Saturday morning or before Monday's open. For early assignment, it lands the next morning before the market opens. The shares and cash settle one business day later (T+1), but your buying power usually updates right away.

When the cash or shares aren't there

Assignment doesn't check whether you can afford it. It just happens.

• A put in a margin account. Say you sold the $45 put with only $3,000 of cash, premium included. Assignment buys the shares anyway: $4,500 goes out, and you now owe the broker −$1,500, with interest. If XYZ falls, the broker can ask for more cash or sell the shares for you, at a price you didn't pick.
• A call with no shares behind it. If you sold the shares but left the call open, assignment makes you short 100 shares. That risk has no ceiling. Always close the call before you sell the shares.
• A cash or retirement account. The broker won't let you open the trade without the cash or shares, so assignment is just the swap shown above. In Canada, covered calls are widely allowed in a TFSA or RRSP, cash-secured puts depend on the broker, and options permissions differ by broker.

Checks to do the morning after

1. Count the shares. Is it 100 per contract? If you sold more than one, partial assignment is possible.
2. Check the cash line. The strike × 100 should have moved. If it took your account negative, call your broker now.
3. Write down your real cost basis with the premium included.
4. Decide the next step. In the wheel strategy that's usually a covered call above your cost, or, after a call assignment, a new put.

Fees for assignment vary; some brokers charge nothing, some charge per event. Check yours.

Questions