Expense accounts should not be single currency

[Charles Day]

On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 2:14 PM, Elizabeth Dodd <edodd at billiau.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 20 Oct 2008, jgombos wrote:
> > Gnucash could fix this, by making the currency type a property of the
> > transaction, as opposed to the expense account.  Adding one more field to
> > expense records would be simpler for the user than tens or hundreds of
> more
> > accounts.
>
> I don't agree.
> I'd have to look up the exchange rate for everything I buy off shore on my
> credit card every single time. Just that the bank uses a different rate
> again
> which is more favourable to it than to me.
>
> A few accounts in different currencies makes a lot more sense.
> I am then imagining how much more the accountant or auditor would charge to
> deal with books kept in a manner which don't meet with their standards.
>
>
I think the correct answer for my own personal finances is "it depends". For
currencies used infrequently, I do exactly as Derek suggested and just enter
the expense in a convenient currency with perhaps a note of how much of the
actual currency was involved. For currencies used hundreds of times a year,
I would rather build out separate expense accounts per currency.

Cheers,
Charles