Foreign currency

Each transaction carries its own currency and rate; the ledger stays in your base currency and the difference is posted where you tell it to.

  • Any number of currencies, with the rate held per transaction.
  • A rate table by date, so the right rate is offered automatically.
  • Customers and vendors have a default currency.
  • Exchange gain and loss posted automatically when a foreign invoice is paid at a different rate.
  • Documents print in the transaction currency.
  • Reports in base currency, with the foreign amounts available alongside.

Where to find it System › Currencies  ·  Exchange Rates  ·  System › Defaults (exchange gain/loss account)

Trading in another currency

  1. Add the currency and its precision in System › Currencies. The first currency in the list is the base currency the books are kept in.
  2. Set the customer’s or vendor’s default currency on their record.
  3. Enter rates in Exchange Rates by date, or simply type the rate on the transaction — it is saved for that date and offered next time.
  4. The document prints in its own currency; the ledger posts the base-currency equivalent at the transaction’s rate.
  5. When the payment arrives at a different rate, the difference posts automatically to the exchange gain/loss account set in System › Defaults.
The currencies list with precision per currency
Four currencies, two decimal places each; USD first, so USD is the base.
Exchange rate table by currency and date
Rates by currency and date.
An invoice billed in CAD with its exchange rate
An invoice billed in CAD at 0.731 — the rate this table holds for that day.
A printed invoice stating its currency
The document says which currency it is in.

Moving money between currency accounts

  1. A transfer from a GBP bank account to a USD one is not a plain journal entry, because the two sides are in different currencies. Use Cash › FX Adjustment instead.
  2. Enter the reference and date, then one line per account: the account, tick FX on the foreign-currency line, and the debit or credit in each account’s own currency.
  3. The rate for the day is applied, the base-currency difference posts to the exchange gain/loss account from Defaults, and both bank balances are right in their own currency.
  4. The order of currencies in System › Currencies matters: the first is the base currency; use the arrows to reorder before you post anything.
  5. Tick Currency on any report to see the transaction currency alongside the base amount.
The FX adjustment screen with per-line FX tick boxes
FX Adjustment: a journal entry where each line can be in a different currency.
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