Follow-up: Currency Transfer Accounts

[Jorge.Lehner@gmx.net]

Hello!

I've been diving more deeply into this, and think there is a problem
with the gnucash-engine.

First the history:

I had the accounting of this year ocasionally upgraded to xml, without
noticing, I think it happend while using a GnuCash 1.6 Debian package
for which I had to tweak my system (unsatisfiable library
dependencies).  There was no such thing as the great import feature
which exists now and helps you correct the currencies.

So it is possible that I have a weird xml-file, which produces the
error, however, the gnucash engine should be stable and reject or
correct inconsistencies, right?

Now the problem:

My *native* currency is "NIC", and I have some "USD" accounts (Cash,
liabilities and  "liquid" assets).

I did some currency conversions on a "NIC" cash account. From then on,
if I create an unbalanced transaction GnuCash creates a compensating
split in "USD" currency!!! (did it change gender?)

If I create a balanced transaction (to another "NIC" account) I get
one of two:

- The splits to have their corresponding "NIC" values, but the
  transaction does not contribute to the balance of the account,
  mainly if I use "Ledger"-mode in the register.

- The register shows the corresponding "NIC" value, but if I make a
  transaction report on the account I get a line without "receive" or
  "pay" value, and the running balance shows no change at this line.


This is something like a showstopper.

Another observations made is the following:

I receive a payment in USD. To accomplish the corresponding "income" I
have to go through the money-transference account (I name it "US$
Transfer").

- I start creating: "Account CASH in USD receives US$ 20,-"

- A split, paying US$ 20,- to nowhere is created: good

- I point this split to the "US$ Transfer" account.

- I Jump to the US$ Transfer account, the value received is US$ 20,-:
  good, the rate is 1, also good (1$=1x1$ :-)

  The shares field is empty: *bad*

- I "touch" the receive field, by adding a "0" after the decimal
  point, the usual popup springs up, I tell'im to modify the shares
  and the shares field get's US$ 20,- on it, ok!

-------

- Now I have to pay the equivalent of this US$ 20,- to the NIC-income
  account, so I make a copy of the transaction.

  It would help a lot if the default date would be the same as the
  original date, and if it would conserve the "Number" field.  Ahh:
  the number field in the dialog which pop's up is *really* a number,
  so if I enter my invoice number: "00023" it is inserted as "23" in
  the new transaction.  Ok, let's move on.

- I change the shares in the copy from +20 to -20 US$, I insert the
  exhange rate (13 point something) and: voilá, I get the right value
  in the "pay" field. Good!

- Now I go to the other split, still pointing to the US$ cash account
  and let it point to the NIC income account, and change the amount to
  exactly what came out in the conversion: 260 and something NIC's.

- At last I jump to the NIC-income account to check things out. The
  splits are receive 260 at "income", pay 260 to "transaction"; the
  transactions value is: 20!!!!

  *Very Bad*

- Remedy: I delete the last transaction and make it new.

Aparently if you create transactions from a "normal" to a "currency"
account and vice versa, some values are not copied to the right place,
and it depends on order of execution where something get's lost.  This
add's to the "rounding" fenomenon I reported in an earlier mail.

Maybe another observation helps:  My former (GnuCash 1.4) Currency
trading account was created with a currency of "USD", and a security
of "NIC".  When the file was imported to 1.7 this account broke
completely, until I *changed the currency* to "NIC"!

This means now, that the currency of my US$ trading account has to be
NIC!?  As a proof I looked at an older copy in 1.4 format and imported
it to the new format, now using the import Druid and converting the
old currencies to new ones, with no diferences: To trade USD I need a
NIC account.

(Note: I was only asked for the "NIO" which was the former currency in
Nicaragua and is replaced now by "NIC".  The USD accounts were guessed
correctly.)

Tell me if I can help woth more information to filter out where the
problem lies.

Best Regards,

     Jorge-León