[GNC] closing of books and multiple currencies: a question on exchanges

[Andrea Borgia]

Hi.


Each year I open a new book and carry over asset / liabilities, also 
factoring in the year end results.

So, all Income / Expenses accounts get closed by posting an entry with 
the total amount to a "Results" account or rather to "Results:EUR", 
"Results:USD" and so on.

These new accounts get also closed with a net result of the year, to 
"Capital:EUR", "Capital:USD", etc.

Opening the new book is just a matter of posting initial entries from 
"Capital" to the relevant "Asset" / "Liability" account.


At the end of 2019, I bought a laptop which I paid in EUR on a chinese 
site. It was delivered in 2020, so I carried the credit forward, no problem.

Since it had a defective key, I got the money back after returning it 
and THIS is where things begin to get interesting: most of the money 
came from the reversal of the original Paypal transfer in EUR, then a 
small part to cover the shipping was paid as a direct money transfer 
(because the amount on the reversal cannot be changed) also on Paypal 
but this time in USD.

So now we have:

paypal:eur / expenses:EUR:IT) -313.21 (I'm skipping the credit step)

paypal:eur / expenses:EUR:IT) +313.21

paypal:usd / expenses:USD:IT) +6.54


I then made a small payment in EUR from Paypal without enough money, so 
Paypal automatically converted part of the USD to EUR:

paypal:usd / paypal:eur) -5.66


Now, the fun part: the "Asset:USD" account shows +6.54 because of course 
that's all there is for "Expenses:USD:IT" and no other account has 
income or expenses in USD.

By the same token, the "Asset:EUR" has an equally small effect due to 
the transfer.


I know I could post screenshots but:

1) the account names are in Italian (not helpful)

2) they're very long, so they'll be clipped

3) I would have to make a composite image anyway


Question is: how do I post the opening of USD accounts for this year? 
Paypal:USD only has 0.88 left on it.

Can I just post this entry and leave the rest under "Asset:USD"?

asset:usd / paypal:usd) -0.88

If not, where should the difference be posted?


I'm especially interested in understanding this because in 2021 I bought 
shares in a USD mutual fund, so I expect this kind of fun to increase :D


Thanks,

Andrea.