&Thomas.Baumgart; &Thomas.Baumgart.mail;
2014-08-30
4.7.01

# Currencies

&kappname; supports the use of multiple currencies in different accounts. For example, you can set up a bank account in Euros, another in British Pounds, and still have your credit card account in US Dollars.

## Base currency

Once you create a &kappname; file, you will be asked for the base currency. The base currency is the one that all income and expense categories use and that reports will be based on. Usually, the base currency is the currency you use in your country. If not otherwise selected, new accounts will use this currency as the default.

The select currency dialog select currency

### Adding a new currency

Although it does not happen often, sometimes a new currency is introduced. This can be a new virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, or a change introduced by a country for financial policy reasons. While any such currency will be added to the next version of &kappname; it is possible to add it manually, in case you have a need to begin using it immediately.

To manually add a currency, select Tools Currencies... to display the Currencies dialog, as shown above. Right click on any existing currency and select New currency from the Currency Options context menu. Enter the official code for the currency and click OK. The currency will be created with the name New Currency. To change the name, either press F2 or right click and select Rename currency.

## Account setup

If you create a new account you have the option to specify the currency in which it will be managed. The ledger for the account will then show all values in the selected currency. The new account wizard defaults this setting to the base currency.

## Entering transactions using different currencies

Whenever a transaction is entered that refers to more than one currency, the exchange rate editor pops up and allows you to enter an exchange rate. Initially, the current price available from the price database will be used as exchange rate. See Entering exchange rates for currencies for more information on how to provide exchange rates manually and obtain online price information.

Optionally, the exchange rate is saved in the price database once entered by the user.

## Exchange rates for currencies

### Entering prices manually

The price database editor allows you to enter exchange rates between currencies or prices for investments. You can pull it up using the Tools Prices... menu option.

Currency Price Editor

In &kappname; a Price is the price of one currency in terms of a second currency. For example, as I write this, the price of 1 USD in terms of 1 EUR is 0.83; that is, 1 USD costs 0.83 EUR. The first currency is the one being bought or sold, and the second one is the currency used to buy or sell it.

When you press the New button, you get the New Price Entry dialog. Enter the first currency (USD in the example above) in the Security field. Enter the second currency (EUR in the example above) in the Currency field. Enter the effective date of the price in the Date field.

New Price Entry

### Online currency updates

&kappname; will fetch currency conversions from the web. Once you have entered a single price for a pair of currencies, the online quote feature will always list that pair amongst its options.

See the section on Online Price Quotes in the Investments chapter for more details.