[GNC] How to regularly use two currencies

Sat Jun 30 06:56:45 EDT 2018

Hi Norbert,

While you seem to think you want to account in multiple currencies, your 
replies so far all suggest you only want to track payments in multiple 
currencies.

I read these requirements:
Quote 1:
"I have to know - at the end of the  day - how many US$, and how many Riel, 
should be in the cash boxes."
Quote 2:
"But while I have to keep track of the actual cash in the cash boxes, at 
certain times (daily, weekly, monthly etc.) I also need to know "how we did as 
a business" and this should say something in US$ (for all the activities which 
did happen in both currencies)."

So essentially this says you want to keep track of two cash boxes: one in US$ 
and one in Riel. Yet in the end you estimate your business in US$.

So your income and expense accounts should only exist in US$, while in your 
assets you will can two cash accounts: one in US$ and one in Riel.

When a customer pays you in Riel, you make a transaction from your Riel cash 
box account to your single income account (which is in US$) and apply the 
exchange rate from Riel to US$ to that transaction. By default gnucash will 
ask you for this exchange rate. If a customer pays in US$ you create a 
transaction from your US$ cash box account to your income account. As the 
currencies match there's no conversion rate to apply.

The same goes if you pay for expenses or goods to a supplier. If you pay in 
Riel you create a transaction from the Riel cash box account to the 
appropriate expense account (which is always in US$). If you pay in US$ the 
money goes out of your US$ cash box account into the (same) US$ expense 
account.

That will give you all the information you request:
Do you want to know what's in your cash boxes ? Check the appropriate cash box 
account or generate a report over it.
Do you want to know how you did as a business ? Generate a report over your 
income/expense accounts which are in US$.

Unless you have other requirements you didn't mention I don't think you need 
the parent/multi-currency-subaccount structure in your income and expense 
accounts as you have currently set up. And it will probably simplify your 
accounting if you could do without.

Regards,

Geert

Op zaterdag 30 juni 2018 11:58:51 CEST schreef Norbert Klein:
> Thanks, Geert,
> 
> I will respond between the lines.
> 
> On 29.6.2018 17:58, Geert Janssens wrote:
> > Hi Norbert,
> > 
> > I don't know the accounting customs of your country,
> 
> There are no general accounting customs set - everybody does what seems
> to cover the needs of he place.
> 
> > so first a question:
> > Is it common in Cambodia to *account* in two currencies as well or only to
> > *pay* in two currencies ?
> 
> In daily life, we may *pay* in either of the two currencies - it is only
> customary to make payments in Riel for small and in US$ for larger
> amounts. But again, there is no general definition what is "larger" - it
> is easier to handle bigger "values" in US$, where 1 US$ corresponds to
> roughly 4000 Riels.
> 
> We may ask in our shop - as an example - for a price of US$ 4.00, but
> the person may hand over 16,000 Riel. Or the other way round. I do not
> know if there are many countries with such a situation. But here it is
> totally flexible - every person, for every purchase, may choose one way,
> and the next minute for another purchase the other way.
> 
> So the answer is: BOTH - we pay in two currencies, but we also have to
> account in two currencies.
> 
> So in the shop we have a Riel cash box, and a US$ cash box, and while we
> enter for each purchase an amount - and I have to enter the amount
> either into the "Cash in wallet $" or into the "Cash in wallet Riel" -
> because we have all the time changes in both cash boxes. And for the
> same purchase I enter the amount either into the sub-account "Vegetables
> $" or "Vegetables R" - both under ONE Placeholder account "Vegetables"
> (set for US$)
> 
> > Or put differently - do you want to track your income in the two
> > currencies or just in one (hence the placeholder account) ?
> 
> For the actual conducting of purchases, I am tracking the US$ purchases
> and the Riel purchases separately - but I put both under ONE placeholder
> because I am not only interested in individual purchases, but also in
> the overall income (or loss) situation. I had assumed to have a common
> placeholder would serve this purpose. Maybe this was wrong.
> 
> > But you do want to be able to
> > accept/make payments in the two currencies ?
> 
> Yes - it depends on the buyer - depending of which of the two currencies
> he of she has in their purse.
> 
> > If you only want to accept/make payments in two currencies but just track
> > it in one, the account structure would be slightly different.
> 
> "track it only in one" - for the actual operation of the shop this is
> not possible. I have to know - at the end of the  day - how many US$,
> and how many Riel, should be in the cash boxes.
> 
> > If you want to track your income in multiple currencies as you have set
> > up,
> > you'll need to make sure you have entries in your price database for
> > conversion rates between USD and Cambodia Riel.
> 
> In my former mail, I had said: "(In Tools, Price Editor, I have set
> Khmer Riels as the second currency in addition to US$.)" - saying that 1
> US$ corresponds to 4000 Riel, with hardly any fluctuation. Any more to do?
> 
> But while I have to keep track of the actual cash in the cash boxes, at
> certain times (daily, weekly, monthly etc.) I also need to know "how we
> did as a business" and this should say something in US$ (for all the
> activities which did happen in both currencies).
> 
> > Or more generally between your
> > book's currency and the foreign currencies you trade in.
> 
> Well, I do not feel that "we trade in a foreign currency" - both
> currencies co-exist here in everybody's wallet. Te bill from the
> electricity company comes in Riel, the bill from the ISP comes in US$ - etc.
> 
> So what else can you please suggest to me to do?
> 
> Really many thanks,
> 
> Norbert
> 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > Geert
> > 
> > Op vrijdag 29 juni 2018 12:28:00 CEST schreef Norbert Klein:
> >> How to regularly use two currencies
> >> 
> >> I would very much appreciate if somebody could help me to solve a
> >> problem.
> >> 
> >> In GnuCash 2.6.19,on a Windows 10 computer, I made the following
> >> arrangements – but maybe my assumptions were wrong, as I cannot see the
> >> results I had hope for. I do not have much experience, so I dare to ask
> >> for advice and help.
> >> 
> >> I live in Cambodia, where it is usual all over the country to use two
> >> currencies regularly: the Cambodian Riel, and the US$ (at normally 4000
> >> Riel per Dollar).
> >> 
> >> (In Tools, Price Editor, I have set Khmer Riels as the second currency
> >> in addition to US$.)
> >> 
> >> I live on a farm, where, among other things, we produce, sell, and buy
> >> vegetables.
> >> 
> >> Under Income, I created an account FARM, and under FARM an account SHOP,
> >> and under shop a Placeholder account VEGETABLES (currency USD). Under
> >> VEGETABLES I created a VEG$ sub-account for business in US dollars, and
> >> another sub-account VEGR for business in Riels.
> >> 
> >> Now I enter all business actions into VEG$ or VEGR, either as Income or
> >> Charge, according to the currency used.
> >> 
> >> After some entries, I can see the calculated result (gain or loss) in
> >> US$ in the Placeholder account VEGETABLES.
> >> 
> >> I had hoped that the entries in VEGR would be transferred into US$ and
> >> also be part of the reported results in the placeholder account
> >> VEGETABLES – but this is not the case.
> >> 
> >> Now my kind request:
> >> 
> >> 1) please tell me if there is a way to get also the Riel values
> >> reflected in the Placeholder account above the VEGR; I had assumed that
> >> this should be possible with Placeholder accounts which are “intended to
> >> be used for hierarchical organization of accounts” - but maybe not when
> >> different currencies are involved?
> >> 
> >> 2) please give me advice if all this is wrong – how could I handle our
> >> situation? Every purchase and sale has to be recorded in one of the two
> >> currencies.
> >> 
> >> My hope was to get the overall results in US dollars in this way – and
> >> the goal remains the same: at the end of he day/week/month, I want to
> >> know how we did manage – all calculated in US$.
> >> 
> >> Thanks for any help.
> >> 
> >> Norbert KLEIN
> >> 
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