[GNC] Calculation of Unrealized Losses

[John Ralls]

No need, we all read this one too.

Regards,
John Ralls


> On May 5, 2022, at 9:52 AM, Bill Dika <billdika at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks David.
> 
> I'll try the gnucash developers list.
> 
> Bill Dika
> 
> On Mon, May 2, 2022 at 10:54 PM David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Bill,
>> 
>> If I recall correctly, one or more of the methods GnuCash uses to
>> calculate exchange rates for reports is technically not correctly defined ,
>> so it obscures the  fact that it is not calculating the expected value.
>> That is leading to strange results when, for example, one attempts to do a
>> trial balance.   I know very little about accounting so I cannot tell you
>> details about that.
>> 
>> Some of the developers can help with some of those issues.  Hopefully they
>> can at least tell you which calculation methods to avoid when you want
>> accurate results .
>> 
>> On Mon, May 2, 2022, 9:27 PM Bill Dika <billdika at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Can anyone help me with this?
>>> 
>>> Do I have to supply more/different information?
>>> 
>>> I have been using gnucash personally for a couple of years now and would
>>> like to develop more confidence in the program.
>>> 
>>> Thank you in advance for your help.
>>> 
>>> Bill Dika
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Apr 27, 2022 at 1:42 PM Bill Dika <billdika at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> My default currency is Canadian dollars. I have some US dollar
>>>> accounts in my balance sheet.
>>>> 
>>>> I have an unrealized loss in the equity section of my balance sheet at
>>>> July 31 2021 of $12.68 and cannot figure out how it was calculated. I
>>>> also have US dollar accounts expressed in Canadian dollars that I am
>>>> unable to determine how the translation from US dollars to Canadian
>>>> dollars occurs.
>>>> 
>>>> For example I have a US dollar account of $353.75 for Tesla (see
>>>> us-dollar-accts-in-us-dollars-july-31-2021.png) that shows as $456.22
>>>> in Canadian dollars at July 31 2021 (see
>>>> us-dollar-accts-july-31-2021.png). This is an exchange rate of
>>>> 1.28966. I am unable to figure out how Gnucash arrives at that rate
>>>> (see us-dollar-rates-price-database.png). It is not the rate at July
>>>> 31 2021. It is not the average rate for all rates I have up to July 31
>>>> 2021 and it is not the average rate for all rates I have in the price
>>>> database.
>>>> 
>>>> Also the $12.68 loss arises from only one change in the US dollar
>>>> accounts from June 30 2021 to July 31 2021. That is a $524.80 US
>>>> dollar addition to "Vanguard Intl Equity Total World Stock ETF" (see
>>>> change-in-us-dollar-acct-july-2021.png).
>>>> 
>>>> Attached are images of the following:
>>>> equity-jun-30-2021.png = showing the equity section almost balanced
>>>> (.01 unrealized gain) (in Canadian dollars)
>>>> equity-july-31-2021.png = showing the $12.68 unrealized loss (in
>>>> Canadian dollars)
>>>> us-dollar-accts-in-us-dollars-jun-30-2021.png = balance sheet accounts
>>>> (in US dollars)
>>>> us-dollar-accts-jun-30-2021.png = balance sheet accounts (in Canadian
>>>> dollars)
>>>> us-dollar-accts-in-us-dollars-july-31-2021.png = balance sheet
>>>> accounts (in US dollars)
>>>> us-dollar-accts-july-31-2021.png = balance sheet accounts (in Canadian
>>>> dollars)
>>>> change-in-us-dollar-acct-july-2021.png = shows the only change in the
>>>> US dollar accounts ($524.80 USD) from June 30 to July 31 2021 (in US
>>>> dollars)
>>>> us-dollar-rates-price-database.png = all the US to Canadian exchange
>>>> rates in my database
>>>> 
>>>> I am a Canadian CPA and feel quite confident about the accounting in
>>>> the gnucash file. I have reviewed the journal entries for the period
>>>> and they all balance. The only thing I can ascertain is that the
>>>> unrealized loss arises from the US dollar accounts but I cannot figure
>>>> out how gnucash is calculating it nor can I figure out how gnucash
>>>> translates US dollars to Canadian dollars for those accounts.
>>>> 
>>>> I have searched the list but cannot find anything that helps me in my
>>>> calculation.
>>>> 
>>>> I am on Arch linux using Gnucash 4.9.
>>>> 
>>>> Any help would be much appreciated.
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you.
>>>> 
>>>> Bill Dika
>>>> 
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