[GNC] Enhancement request: multi-currency accounts

Jim DeLaHunt list+gnucash at jdlh.com
Thu Oct 20 22:43:32 EDT 2022


Hello, Patrick, welcome to GnuCash!

On 2022-10-20 09:28, Patrick Pöndl wrote:
> ...
> - BUT: For income and expense accounts, multi-currency accounts seem to be
> a total disaster. Why? Because all PAST transactions on both income and
> expense accounts will be valued at the CURRENT exchange rates....

I think you are misunderstanding the original proposal.  Look below in 
the thread, to what Anton Tsyganenko wrote:

On 2022-10-18 02:34, Anton Tsyganenko wrote:
> ...All accounts that user creates are "multi-currency", like 
> placeholder accounts without any specific currency. Sub-accounts for 
> each currency are created automatically, when the first operation in 
> this currency in this account is made....

Thus, the "multi-currency" part is a placeholder. Transactions are not 
recorded in the placeholder, they are recorded in "sub-accounts for each 
currency". Once they are recorded in that currency, they are valued in 
that currency. Relationship to other currencies is established by means 
of trading accounts, which GnuCash already supports.

As I read it, Anton is just proposing that GnuCash do automatically what 
I do manually. I have transactions denominated in CAD, USD, EUR, and 
various stocks and funds in my book today.

What is the base-currency value of a book with transactions denominated 
in various currencies?  That is a separate question to the proposal for 
"multi-currency accounts". It is already an issue for books like mine. 
For some GnuCash users, accounting regulations will determine how they 
calculate base-currency value. For others, it can be whatever meets the 
information needs of the user.

> ...Therefore, my current conclusion is that for all transaction that involve
> income or expense accounts, the amount has to be converted into the base
> currency using the exchange rate on the day the transaction occurred, or at
> least closely....

OK, that is one way to deal with transactions in multiple currencies. It 
is not what I am required to do for tracking capital gains in US stocks 
when I report to Canadian authorities, or Canadian stocks when I report 
to US authorities.

Or, are you saying that GnuCash should only allow me to record 
transactions in my base currency, not in any foreign currency? That 
would be a big inconvenience for my usage.

Best regards,
     —Jim DeLaHunt


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