Re: [GNC] International Currency Transactions? [was: Re: gnucash-user Digest, Vol 250, Issue 4]

2024-01-05 Thread Jim DeLaHunt 

Hello, Eric:

Glad that the first reply helped you get started.

(By the way, when you read the list as a digest, and you want to reply, 
please change the Subject: line of your reply from the generic digest 
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On 2024-01-05 06:31, Eric H. Bowen via gnucash-user wrote:
…What I don't see is how to account for a purchase of books in the 
United Kingdom, with an invoice denominated in GBP, which will be 
settled up by an international debit card payment from a bank in the 
USA at whatever exchange rate VISA is currently charging.…


I do this sort of transaction all the time.

You have the choice of tracking such expenses in the sale currency, or 
in your purchase currency. I do both. There are some currencies that I 
use often enough that I have a parallel set of Expense accounts 
denominated in those currencies. There are others that I use rarely, so 
I track the expense in the purchase currency.


This is my procedure, when I track in the sale currency:

1. Create Expense accounts denominated in the currencies which you want
   to track.  For instance, if you want to track your GBP purchase of
   books in GBP terms, create an account Expenses:"Pounds Book
   Purchase" which has the account currency set to "GBP".
2. Start the transaction in the register of the account that pays for
   the purchase. In your example, that will be the register for the USA
   debit card. Why? Because each transaction has a hidden base
   currency, and all splits on other currencies will be converted to
   this base currency. GnuCash sets the transaction's base currency to
   the currency of the account from which you create the transaction.
   It is more straightforward for that base currency to match the
   payment currency, rather than, say, the Expense:Pounds Book Purchase
   account currency.
3. Begin entering the transaction as normal. Fill in Date, Description,
   Notes as you normally would.
4. Fill in the Transfer Account field with the name of the Expense
   account of the currency you want to track. In this example, you use
   Expenses:"Pounds Book Purchase".
5. In the Charge field, fill in the purchase amount /in the purchase
   currency/. You will need to find out from your bank what exchange
   rate VISA charged, and therefore what the purchase amount was,
   before you can enter this.
6. Before you can save the transaction, GnuCash will display a Transfer
   Funds dialogue.  At the top, under "Basic Information", it will
   display the purchase amount which you entered. At the bottom, under
   "Currency Transfer", it will let you enter the sale amount, in the
   sale currency (which will be the currency of the account you put
   into the Transfer Account field).

…I've set up a "sandbox" file with a currencies Price List and I've 
attempted to change the "Purchase Information" of the vendor on the 
bill to GBP, but the program locks up when I attempt to post it to 
Accounts Payable. I've tried creating a GBP-denominated Accounts 
Payable sub-account, but GnuCash apparently doesn't like that one bit 
either.…


Good for your for setting up the "sandbox" file. That will help you 
figure things out.


You mention "vendor" and "bill" and "Accounts Payable". That says to me 
that you are using the Business features to handle this transaction. I'm 
afraid I can't help you with the Business features for tracking 
purchases and expenses, because I don't use them.


Also, I have Trading Accounts enabled. I don't have experience in how 
GnuCash behaves without them.




…I'm at the start of what will hopefully be a long-term undertaking, 
and I want to set off on the right foot. 


I think you are off to a good start, and are asking good questions. I 
look forward to hearing what works out for you. I am confident that you 
will help other future GnuCash users.


Best regards,
 —Jim DeLaHunt

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Re: [GNC] International Currency Transactions?

2024-01-03 Thread Jim DeLaHunt 

On 2024-01-03 07:13, Eric H. Bowen via gnucash-user wrote:
I'm based in the US and so all of my transactions have been in USD; 
when that isn't the case my credit card company has taken care of the 
currency conversion. But I have a new printing vendor now with several 
plants overseas which bill in the local currency. I just ordered a POD 
copy of a book to be delivered in the UK, billed in Pounds Sterling. 
I've created a vendor invoice, itemized, with the various line item 
prices.


What's the most efficient and flexible way to convert this to USD for 
accounting and tax purposes? I see that GnuCash does have a currency 
conversion/price editing feature, but I'm not sure of how to make it 
work for this application. I'd appreciate a pointer to a tutorial.


Welcome to the world of multiple-currency bookkeeping in GnuCash.

The Gnucash Tutorial and Concepts Guide, chapter 12. "Multiple 
Currencies" is a fine place to start.



Also, a good way to experiment with GnuCash features which you don't 
know well is to make a separate book file with test data, to try out 
features and workflows.  Once you understand how that part of GnuCash 
works, and what steps to take to accomplish your goals, repeat the 
process with your real book file and real data.


Best regards,
 —Jim DeLaHunt, Vancouver, Canada


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[GNC] International Currency Transactions?

2024-01-03 Thread Eric H. Bowen via gnucash-user 
I'm based in the US and so all of my transactions have been in USD; when 
that isn't the case my credit card company has taken care of the 
currency conversion. But I have a new printing vendor now with several 
plants overseas which bill in the local currency. I just ordered a POD 
copy of a book to be delivered in the UK, billed in Pounds Sterling. 
I've created a vendor invoice, itemized, with the various line item prices.


What's the most efficient and flexible way to convert this to USD for 
accounting and tax purposes? I see that GnuCash does have a currency 
conversion/price editing feature, but I'm not sure of how to make it 
work for this application. I'd appreciate a pointer to a tutorial.


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