understanding currency exchange...

[John Ralls]

> On Nov 11, 2015, at 12:25 PM, Joshua Chambers <chambers.joshua at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I'm presuming the (USD) and (EUR) mean you've told gnc amounts held in
>> those accounts are in amounts of those currencies rather than say just
>> changing the account names.  One way to check is to produce a balance
>> sheet, it'll show amounts in either USD and EUR or both depending on
>> your base currency.  If you show the Commodities column in your Accounts
>> list you should see the "thing" that gnc is counting for that account.
> 
> Yes, of course the Assets:Holdings:Cash:Euros account is set to the
> commodity EUR... I have attached a screenshot to show that.
> 
>>> So I go to enter this transaction into gnucash (newest version 2.6.9)...
>>> no matter what exchange rate I enter in the exchange rate dialog,
>> 
>> there is your problem, don't enter an exchange rate.  Enter the two
>> amounts, each in their own currency, gnc will work out the exchange rate
>> for you.
> 
> I have tried over and over again to do it both ways!  I have entered
> exchange rates into the exchange rate dialog, and I have entered
> amounts... another sign that the currencies are set correctly is that
> the exchange rate dialog comes up automatically as it should!  It simply
> does not seem to matter what I enter into it!
> 
> Attached is a screenshot showing the exchange rate dialog that comes up
> automatically when I attempt to leave focus from the part of the
> transaction that is Euros.  I have repeatedly entered various variants
> of the correct exchange rate, the correct amount... and you can see from
> the screenshot that it says clearly "1 USD = 0.900000 EUR", which is
> exactly the rate I intend to use (500 * 0.9 = 450), and in the correct
> direction...
> 
>>> once I
>>> come back to the transaction I still cannot have those two be the only
>>> parts of the transaction,
>> 
>> You should have.  If it is not right then something else is up.
> 
> YES!  Exactly.  I'm relieved to know that at least I understand this in
> theory, but still I am not getting those results!
> 
>>> I am still left over with "50" to deal with,
>>> but there shouldn't BE 50 anythings left over, because 500USD = 450EUR
>>> @ .9!
>> 
>> Correct, there shouldn't be anything left over.  Let's take a look:
>> 
>>> Account                                    Debit           Credit
>>> Assets:Exchanges:Benjamin    USD500
>>> Assets:Holdings:Cash:Euros                         EUR450
>>> (this is where I'm asked to balance it with another account, and if I
>>> leave it blank, it becomes "Imbalance-USD")
>> 
>> You shouldn't be asked for another account.  gnc *knows* what to do with
>> different amounts when there are different currencies, it creates the
>> necessary exchange rate for the transaction to have happened.
> 
> Okay, then something else is wrong, because I really think I'm doing
> this right.  The third screenshot is from immediately after I hit okay
> on the exchange dialog, and STILL it demands I assign the 50 to somewhere!
> 
>> I think you haven't set the appropriate Security/Currency for the
>> accounts, you're make a transfer between two accounts *of the same
>> Currency* and as a result gnc asks, "where the do you want me to put the
>> left over money, boss?"
> 
>> NB: change the security/currency/commodity setting on the accounts!
> 
> Definitely not, or else the exchange dialog probably wouldn't come up
> automatically like it does, and it shows clearly on the screenshot of my
> accounts that the relevant account is set to Euros (the only one in the
> file, the rest are all USD).

Multi-currency split view can be confusing. In split view in a currency account, the amounts shown in the register are in the open account’s currency — in the case of your Assets:Exchanges:Benjamin Brewer account, USD, so you should enter 500 in both, then set the rate to 9/10 in the transfer dialog, click OK, and complete the transaction. Switch to the Euro account and the transaction will show as being for €450.  Analogous views for a bogus ATM withdrawal: Checking is USD, Cash—Euro is what it says.



Regards,
John Ralls