Multiple Currencies

[Alan Larkin]

Thanks lads,

Thats much more complicated than what I was hoping for. After a very quick skim of those links, this 
is what I have gleaned:

I use double entry.
I should maintain single currency accounts.
I should handle conversion via a pair of top-level "Currency" accounts (one for each currency).
I should route purchases in Sterling through the Currency accounts to convert them to Euro for storage.

So here's how I now think two transactions should look. The first withdraws £20 on my Visa, and the 
second purchases some beer with the cash. The Alcohol account remains in Euro, so the transaction 
must be routed through the Currency accounts (should view okay in fixed-width font):

Description                        Account                 Debit    Credit
Cash advance (1.00EUR = 1.45GBP)
                                    Currency:Euro           29.07
Cash advance fee                   Expenses:Banking Fees   02.00
                                    Assets:Cash (Sterling)           20.00
                                    Currency:Sterling                20.00
                                    Liabilities:Visa                 31.07



Description                        Account                 Debit    Credit
Beer (1.00EUR = 1.47GBP)
                                    Groceries:Alcohol       10.28
                                    Currency:Euro                    10.28
                                    Currency:Sterling       06.99
                                    Assets:Cash (Sterling)           06.99

Am I on the right track?

The problem is, this doesn't work! Looking at the Visa transaction, it appears exactly as above in 
both the Liabilities:Visa and Currency:Euro accounts. But in Currency:Sterling, all the numbers are 
missing!! That is, the descriptions and the account names are present, but the Debit and Credit 
columns are empty. If I put something in them, they instantly turn blank again.

Any suggestions?

P.S.

Ian, thanks. Problem is I am about to move over there for a few months. I'm really anal about my 
accounts. For 18 months I have accounted for every last penny and it gives me a warm feeling inside. 
I'm not looking forward to moving over there and having only approximate records :(

Davide Imbeni wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This topic has been discussed before, and it turns out to be more 
> complex than it seems. I would suggest you to have a look at
> 
> http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/accounting/gnucash.html 
> <http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/accounting/gnucash.html>
> 
> It helped me quite much (thanks to Peter!)
> 
> BR
> 
> Davide
> 
> On 10/3/07, *Alan Larkin* <alan.j.larkin at ucd.ie 
> <mailto:alan.j.larkin at ucd.ie>> wrote:
> 
>     Hi all,
> 
>     My accounts are in a mess after a visit to England. Can someone
>     please explain how GNUCash should be
>     used to handle transactions in multiple currencies.
> 
>     All transactions go back to my Visa (euros), i.e. stuff was either
>     charged directly to it, or paid
>     for with sterling withdrawn on the card. I created a sterling cash
>     account to keep track of the
>     sterling, but there are no conversions taking place, so in my other
>     accounts I have running totals
>     consisting of both euro and sterling tranactions which is obviously
>     meaningless.
> 
>     Can anyone sketch the solution for me. I cant find any useful help
>     online.
> 
>     Please please please, Thanks.
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