Weird behaviour with trading accounts?

[Mark]

Hi Mike,

during my tests, the imbalance account is created automatically if I 
don't make sure that I set the correct account in there right away.
Plus, later on, I will be downloading transactions through online 
banking and then they all end up in the imbalance account automatically 
before I ever get to touch them.
So even if I skip it now in the trial, I would have to deal with them 
later on in "real live".

I have not been able to get your result, but maybe David had a point 
regarding using ENTER vs TAB, but I tried all kinds of things and always 
end up with the same outcome.

Also, how do you get the distinction between amount and value? I only 
have one column. Or do you mean "balance" when you say "value".

Lastly - do you create the currency exchange price beforehand in the 
price editor, or only through the popup?

Thanks,

Mark




Am 23.08.2012 06:21, schrieb Mike Alexander:
> --On August 21, 2012 11:17:31 PM +0200 Mark <msalists at gmx.net> wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I am trying to figure out the trading accounts for using multiple
>> currencies.
>> I also read Peter Selinger's tutorials that has been quoted in the
>> past:
>> http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~selinger/accounting/gnucash.html and
>> http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~selinger/accounting/tutorial.html
>>
>> I am using a simple example with one transaction only, but do not get
>> the expected result.
>>
>> 1. I create a new gnucash file using USD as default currency.
>> 2. I add a "EUR checking" account under "Current Assets"
>> 3. I create a USD/EUR exchange price in the price editor (currency
>> USD, security EUR, rate 1,247 using the "Get Quotes" button.
>> 4. I create a new transaction in "EUR checking":
>>      EUR checking     -100
>>      Imbalance-EUR    +100
>> 5. I change the transaction account from Imbalance-EUR to
>> Expenses:Diner.
>>      This pops up the exchange rate account with the exchange rate
>> from step 3 as default. I accept this rate and click OK
>> 6. GnuCash now splits my transaction from step 4 into this:
>>      Expenses:Dining                        +100,00 USD
>>      Imbalance-EUR                          +19,81 (no currency shown
>> - I guess EUR)
>>      Trading:CURRENCY:EUR                 +80,19 (no currency shown -
>> I guess EUR)
>>      Assets:Current Assets:EUR checking    -100,00 (no currency shown
>> - I guess EUR)
>>      Trading:CURRENCY:USD                -100,00 USD
>>
>> I admit I still have not fully grasped the entire trading account
>> theory up to the last detail, but a few things about this example
>> still seem very odd to me:
>>      - shouldn't the Expenses:Dining entry be +124,70 instead of
>> +100,00?
>>      - Why is there still an entry in Imbalance-EUR? How can I get
>> rid of that???
>>
>> What I would have expected to get in 6. is something like this:
>>      Expenses:Dining                        +124,70 USD
>>      Trading:CURRENCY:EUR                 ???,?? ???
>>      Assets:Current Assets:EUR checking    -100,00 (no currency shown
>> - I guess EUR)
>>      Trading:CURRENCY:USD                 ???,?? ???
>>
>> This is happening with both 2.4.10 and 2.4.11.
>>
>> Is CnuCash doing the right thing???
>
> Why create the imbalance account?  Just set the other side of the 
> transaction correctly in the first place and it works better.  I did 
> what I think you were trying to do:
>
> 1. Create a EUR checking account
> 2. Add a transaction that spends €100 from that account to 
> Expenses:Dining
>
> When I tabbed out of that transaction it asked for an exchange rate 
> and I gave it 1.247.  This created a transaction with 4 splits:
>
>    Dining              Amount $124.70  Value €100.00
>    Trading:EUR         Amount €100.00  Value €100.00
>    EUR Checking        Amount -€100.00 Value -€100.00
>    Trading:USD         Amount -$124.70 Value -€100.00
>
> This is pretty much what I would expect.
>
> Each split has an amount that is in the currency of the account 
> associated with the split and a value which is in the currency of the 
> transaction (EUR in this case).  The value and the amounts in each 
> currency must all sum to zero.  The exchange rate is the ratio between 
> the value and the amount if they are in different currencies.
>
> There may be some problems entering exchange rates, especially in the 
> 2.4.xx versions, but things work pretty well if you follow simple 
> steps like this.
>