The same account structure used in the manual recording of currency transactions in the previous section is required. The initial account configuration for Assets and Equity accounts are as follows:

Figure 12.18. The Initial Multicurrency Bank Accounts Setup

Initial setup of bank accounts in multiple currencies.

The following prices were entered in the Price Database ( Tools → Price Database ) as at Jan. 1, 2020 to convert the account balances for the foreign currency accounts to USD:

Figure 12.19. The Initial Price Database Entries

Price Database window after setting initial exchange rates between USD, HKD and EUR.

With the currency prices set as shown, the Accounts tab will now display the values of the foreign accounts in USD in the Total(USD) column:

Figure 12.20. The Initial Multicurrency Setup After Entering Exchange Rates Between USD, HKD and EUR

Accounts tab after setting exchange rates to USD.

Let us assume we wish to purchase at item in Hong Kong using the Hong Kong bank account for 20,000 HKD on Feb. 1, 2020. The current funds in the Hong Kong account are insufficient and we will need to transfer another 10,200 HKD from the US bank account. The exchange rate at the time of the transfer is 1 USD = 7.7884 HKD and we will have to transfer 1,309.64 USD for which the bank charges a 40 USD transfer fee. The transaction to effect this is created with the Transfer Funds dialog as shown below:

Figure 12.21. The Transfer Dialog To Create Transaction For Transfer From USD To HKD

Transfer of 10,200 HKD from US Bank account to Hong Kong bank account.

The Debit Amount has been specified in HKD and the transaction Amount being transferred in USD. There is no provision to enter the transfer fee in the dialog. On closing the dialog the following transaction as viewed in the US Bank Account register has been created:

	Note
	Amount entered in the Transfer Funds are transferred from the selected Credit Account to the selected Debit Account. And if Debit Amount radio button is selected and the foreign currency amounts are entered, the transaction is recorded on the correct debit amounts. Whereas if Exchange Rate is selected and entered, the exact value is not often recorded due to the rounding errors.

Figure 12.22. The Transaction After Transfer Displayed in The US Bank Account Register

Transaction to transfer from US bank account to Hong Kong Bank account after closing transfer dialog.

The transaction can be opened in the US Bank Account register and may then be edited to add splits for the transfer fee as follows:

Figure 12.23. The Transaction After Adding The Splits For The Transfer Fee

Transaction to transfer from US bank account to Hong Kong Bank account after adding the splits for the transaction fee.

Returning to the Accounts tab we can see the result of the transfer transaction on the accounts:

Figure 12.24. The Account Tab Balances After Completion Of USD To HKD Transfer

Account balances in the Accounts tab after the transfer of funds from the US Bank account to the Hong Kong bank account.

The balances of the Asset and Equity accounts are presented with values set by the exchange rate entered in the transaction to transfer funds on Feb. 1, 2020.

The trading accounts have been automatically created and the amounts of the transfer have been entered into the accounts. There are no entries associated with the pre-existing opening balances of the accounts prior to the transfer. This reflects that the trading accounts only reflect gains and losses since the book was opened.

At this point there have been no trading gains or losses. The balances of the USD and HKD trading accounts are the same when converted to USD. The HKD trading account has a debit (negative balance) and the USD trading account has a credit balance (positive balance). The net balance of the CURRENCY sub account of Trading, and Trading itself, is 0 indicating that at this point no gains or losses have been recorded in the trading of currencies.

The hypothetical purchase in Hong Kong fails to take place and a month later on Mar. 1, 2020 the funds are required in the US account for another purpose. A transfer of 10,200.00 HKD is made from the Hong Kong bank account back to the US bank account. The exchange rate at the time of the transfer is 1 USD = 7.7933 HKD and a fee of 20.00 USD is charged for the transfer. The transaction to effect the transfer is as follows:

Figure 12.25. The Transaction To Transfer Funds From Hong Kong To US Bank Account

The transaction transfers 10,200.00 HKD from the Hong Kong Bank account to the US Bank account.

After transferring the funds back to the US Bank account, the prices database entries are as follows:

Figure 12.26. The Price database after transfer of funds back to US account

The price database showing prices for the transfer of funds to HKD and back to USD.

The Accounts tab balances after transferring the funds back are as follows:

Figure 12.27. The Accounts tab after transfer back

State of the accounts after the funds have been transferred back.

The Assets and Equity balances now reflect the the values of the accounts at the exchange rate for the transfer of funds back to the US Bank account. The Trading and CURRENCY placeholder accounts now indicate a modest realized loss of 0.82 USD on the currency transactions. The associated transfer fees appear in the Expenses total. Not a profitable exercise but still illustrative.

	Note
	The gains or losses reported using trading accounts are realized gains and losses.

Finally we have the balance sheet after the above sequence of transactions reporting the Trading Loss incurred:

Figure 12.28. The Balance Sheet After Above Transactions

Balance Sheet after these transactions reflecting the trading loss incurred.