Balance sheet doesn't balance

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

Please be sure to CC GnuCash-User on ALL REPLIES...

Willi Tonsern <willi.tonsern at aon.at> writes:

[snip]
> Let me try to ask once more:
>
> base currency: USD
>
> BANK-ACCOUNT-A    CREDIT   DEBIT    SALDO
> 01/01/2001:  (EUR):...........0               0      1.000
>
> BANK-ACCOUNT-B    CREDIT   DEBIT    SALDO
> 01/01/2001: (USD):...........0               0          100

What's the other side of these transactions?   In particular,
what's the other side of the bank-account-a transaction, showing
how much USD you paid for your 1000 EUR?

> BALANCE REPORT of year 2001 (shows all in USD) 
>                    exchange rate of year 2001: EUR/USD = 0,99
> bank-account-A..........................990
> bank-account-B..........................100
> ----------------------------------------------
> summary..................................1.090
>
>
> BALANCE REPORT of year 2007 (shows all in USD) 
>                    exchange rate of year 2007: EUR/USD = 1,3
> bank-account-A.......................1.300
> bank-account-B..........................100
> ----------------------------------------------
> summary..................................1.400
>
> no activities on ACCOUNTS between 2001 and 2007
> only exchange rates adapted
> BALANCE REPORT shows a (not realized) gain  1400 - 1090 = 310 USD
>
> Now (2007) I want to realize the gain
> I transfer the money from account-A to account-B
> using the actual (2007) exchange rate EUR/USD = 1,3
> after this the accounts A and B show as follows:
>
> BANK-ACCOUNT-A    CREDIT   DEBIT    SALDO
> 01/01/2001:  (EUR):...........0               0      1.000
> 01/01/2007:  (EUR):...........0       1.000              0
>
> BANK-ACCOUNT-B    CREDIT   DEBIT    SALDO
> 01/01/2001: (USD):...........0               0          100
> 01/01/2007: (USD):...1.300               0       1.400
>
> the transfer from ACCOUNT-A (1.000 EUR) into ACCOUNT-B (1.300 USD) has been 
> made by the "exchange calculator"  using the (todays) given exchange rate
>
> You suggest the use of income-account (Capital Gains) in order to book the 
> difference of 310 USD. But which partner-account should I use for this 
> booking?
> a income of 310 USD (transfer from INCOME-CAPITAL-GAINS to BANK-ACCOUNT-B) 
> would result in 1.400 + 310 = 1.710 USD; that's too much.

This is all discussed in the Documentation:

http://cvs.gnucash.org/docs/guide/capgain_example1.html#capgain_examplesell2

> One suggestion more:
> If I do 
> step 1.) 
> transfer 1.000 EUR from BANK-ACCOUNT-A to BANK-ACCOUNT-B using the old    
> exchange-rate from the year 2001 (EUR/USD=0,99) would result in
>  
> BANK-ACCOUNT-B    CREDIT   DEBIT    SALDO
> 01/01/2001: (USD):...........0               0          100
> 01/01/2007: (USD):......990               0       1.090
>
> step 2.) 
> transfer 310 USD from INCOME-CAPITAL-GAINS to BANK-ACCOUNT-B would result in

No, you should do it all in a single Split transaction.

> BANK-ACCOUNT-B    CREDIT   DEBIT    SALDO
> 01/01/2001: (USD):...........0               0          100
> 01/01/2007: (USD):......990               0       1.090
> 01/01/2007: (USD):......310               0       1.400
>
> this would trace the gain/loss. But at each transaction between 2 currencies I 
> must keep in mind the "origin" exchange rates????

Yes, you need to keep in mind the origin exchange rate.

> willi

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available