[GNC] multiple currencies in one transaction

Derek Atkins derek at ihtfp.com
Fri Aug 16 09:14:46 EDT 2019


Jeff Abrahamson <jeff at p27.eu> writes:

> Apparently the mailing list strips images, even very tiny ones.

The mailing list strips HTML.

If you attach an image then it'll make it through.

> The first image simply showed Transferwise associating 5.70 CFH = 4.67 GBP.
>
> The second showed that gnucash is creating a correcting split in the
> transaction I'd entered:
>
>     512452_Transferwise CHF        5.70
>     6212_cafe                      5.70
>     512452_Transferwise CHF                5.70
>     51245_Transferwise                     5.70
>                                    2.80
>
> And that 2.80 is rather odd.

I would simplify this a bit and only worry about the asset-currency
amount in the expense.  I.e., I'd ignore one (or possibly even two) of
the currencies in use.  So I'd either encode it as a GBP expense
(assuming the "funding" amount == "expense amount including all transfer
fees").  Or ignore the CHF and go GBP->EUR.

Of course you can include all the CHF (and EUR) amounts in the
description.

-derek

> Jeff Abrahamson
>
>
> On 15/08/2019 16:38, Jeff Abrahamson wrote:
>> I purchased a coffee in Switzerland using my GBP-based Transferwise
>> card.  That card could hold a CHF balance, but on that day it held only
>> GBP.  My local currency is EUR.  So I can think of my coffee purchase as
>> two FX transactions: funding (GBP -> CHF) and an expense (CHF -> EUR).
>>
>> What Transferwise tells me is the amount of the purchase and the amount
>> of the transaction.  (I can also poke further and find the exchange rate
>> they used and the minuscule fee, but the important point to me is the
>> the two endpoints.)
>>
>> Now what makes sense to me based on reading about accounting principles
>> for multiple currencies is that I should make one transaction thus:
>>
>>     Coffee (CHF)   <--  Bank (GBP)        # This is the funding part of
>>     the transaction.
>>     Expense acct   <--  Coffee (CHF)      # Here I'm tracking the actual
>>     expense.
>>
>> I put those in a single transaction for easier understanding later. 
>> Here I've created a bank account for Transferwise (GBP) as well as
>> subaccounts of that called Transferwise_CHF and some others, denominated
>> in the indicated currencies.  Those three accounts are transfer
>> accounts: I usually expect them to have zero balance.
>>
>>     Transferwise_CHF   <--  Transferwise (GBP)       # This is the
>>     funding part of the transaction.
>>     Expense/cafe       <--  Transferwise_CHF         # Here I'm tracking
>>     the actual expense.
>>
>> Gnucash asks me for some exchange rates, and I answer for the CHF - GBP
>> part with the specific numbers provided by Transferwise and for the GBP
>> - EUR part with the exchange rate I've downloaded for that date.
>>
>> I expect to see this in the account Transferwise_CHF
>>
>>     5.70   <--  5.70       # This is the funding part of the transaction.
>>     5.70   <--  5.70       # Here I'm tracking the actual expense.
>>
>> and this in the Transferwise (GBP) account
>>
>>     4.67   <--  4.67       # This is the funding part of the transaction.
>>     4.67   <--  4.67       # Here I'm tracking the actual expense.
>>
>> and something similar looking at the splits in the (euro-denominated
>> expense account).
>>
>> But what I see (from the perspective of the CHF account) is this, which
>> makes no sense to me:
>>
>> Gnucash has entered the 2.80, and deleting that split just makes it pop
>> up again.  Something is terribly wrong if any  account's view of the
>> transaction doesn't balance.  (This is gnucash 3.4, ubuntu, build id
>> 3.4+ (2018-12-30).
>>
>> Is this my error or a bug in gnucash?  Any pointers?
>>
>>
>> Somewhat related, I thought to import historical currencies, as I'm back
>> filling some data for analysis purposes.  I grabbed 10 years of daily
>> quotes and imported them (3600 or so rows of data per currency).  All ok
>> for GBP - EUR.  When I do the same for CHF - EUR, gnucash says it's done
>> it, but the price database doesn't show more than a handful.  When I do
>> it for JPY - EUR, gnucash says it's done but the price editor shows none
>> of them.  The proposed exchange rates when entering transactions are
>> consistent with what the price editor thinks it knows.
>>
>> Is there a limit on FX rates?  (This is about 4000, which doesn't strike
>> me as terribly large.)
>>

-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant


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