FrontAccounting forum — Foreign currency transactions

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2009-03-11T19:18:56Z

Thanks for fixing it so quickly. It's working well again.

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2009-03-11T12:22:53Z

Hello again,
Now this is fixed. The CVS repository is updated. Only one file affected. /gl/includes/db/gl_db_banking.inc

Thanks again MozMan

/Joe

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2009-03-11T10:21:53Z

Oops!

Thank you so much for finding this bug. We did some change in the Bank Account and transaction tables to release 2.1.0, and this bug slipped through.
I will be back when the CVS repository is updated.

/Joe

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2009-03-11T02:49:03Z

Hello,

Congrats for the release of 2.1RC. It seems the foreign currency transactions no longer work as they do in 2.0.7. I've conducted some tests again and an incorrect balance shows for the foreign currency in the balance sheet. The "Exchange Variance" account seems off also.

Below are the journal entries for the same transactions with the same exchange rates for the two different versions so that you can see what I mean:

2.0.7
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7064/s … entrie.jpg

2.1RC
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7064 … entrie.jpg

2.1B2 has the same problem as 2.1RC

If you need any additional information from me, please feel free to ask.

Kind regards.

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-24T17:45:24Z

I've conducted some test transactions and can say that it looks like everything works perfectly. Thank you again!

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-24T09:17:22Z

For easier navigating the General Ledger for Foreign Currency Accounts, we now stamp the memo field with 'Exchange Variance'.
CVS updated. Same file /gl/includes/db/gl_db_banking.inc

/Joe

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T23:27:58Z

Thank you all very much! I've found the file and will try it. It really helps to have such a helpful forum. I will try to contribute to it regularly.

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T23:14:42Z

The CVS repository (MAIN) is now updated. Affected file: /gl/includes/db/gl_db_banking.inc.
Don't be afraid when you see a greater exchange variance in the GL the first time. FA will sync the total balance in accordance with the respective foreign account the next time you make a bank /payment/deposit/transfer entry (no supplier/customer, they will be handled during allocations).

FA will always sync the GL account when entrying bank deposits/payments/transfer. This is done by comparing the foreign account balance multiplied by the rate of the entry date, and the GL account balance .

/Joe

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T21:45:03Z

It doesn't appear that its been updated yet. They will probably have an update soon.

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T18:15:45Z

Thanks again for the help. Great that you've found a solution to the matter of the bank transfers.

Sorry to bother you again but I'd like to ask where I will be able to find the files to update? I found the CVS repository (https://frontaccounting.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/frontaccounting/) but I don't know which files to replace.

I ask because we need this functionality before we go live with Frontaccounting as our accounting system.

Thank you!

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T14:18:35Z

Janusz and I have found a solution to this. The last transaction where a foreign account is involved it will update the GL account and put differencies on exchange variations. The CVS will later be updated.

/Joe

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T09:00:11Z

Hello, I think I must enter this discussion.
You made a deposit into the USD account, $100, and the balance sheet shows 120 CAD. Everything ok.
On the next day you make a transfer of 100 USD into the CAD account with this day exchange rate 110 CAD. Everything is ok. FrontAccounting doesn't know anything of the relationship between these transactions. The USD account reports 0 USD as a balance which is correct. But the balance sheet shows 10 CAD still there in the USD account. This is calculated based on the GL transactions. The first transaction was 120 CAD and the second one was 110 CAD. Due to that there are no relationship between the two transactions this would show up.
In this case the 10 CAD is really an exchange variance, but FA wouldn't know. On the other hand the balance sheet for the CAD account should show an evened out responding to the 10 CAD in the USD account. So the total for the cash/bank would be ok in domestic value.
I am not sure of how to solve this in a better way because of the missing relationship between the transactions.
A way around this would be to allow entrance of the exchange rate in the Bank payments/deposit/transfer forms so you can use the origin exchange rate when doing the transfer, but then again you have to remember the exchange rate.

When you use the customer/supplier payments the situations are eliminated due to the relationship between the transactions during allocation.

/Joe

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-23T06:57:20Z

Thanks for the help. Using different dates for each exchange rate has let the difference in currency value between the dates be posted to the "Realized Exchange Gain/Loss" account" when the customer payment is allocated to the invoice. This is great!

One problem remains. It is when funds are transferred from the USD to CAD bank account on a day that the exchange rate is different from the day the USD funds were deposited.

Let's say there is $100 USD deposited into the USD account on January 1st and the exchange rate is $1.00USD=1.20CAD. The deposit could be from a sale, a loan or whatever. The Balance Sheet will show $120 CAD worth of cash in the USD bank account. The USD "Bank Statement" report will show $100 USD in the account. This makes sense.

Let's say that a day later, on January 2nd the $100USD is transferred from the USD bank account to the CAD bank account. However, on this day the exchange rate is $1.00USD=1.10CAD. The USD bank statement report will show a $0 balance which is correct because the USD was transferred to the CAD account. The balance sheet however still shows $10CAD worth of money in the USD bank account. How could it be that the USD bank balance shows two different totals ($0 and $10) depending on which report you generate? Maybe there's a step I'm missing? Do I have to use the same exchange rate for both dates and then manually credit the CAD account and debit the "Realized Exchange Gain/Loss" account?

I'd love to figure out the proper way to transfer money between accounts and have everything match up. Any help would once again be appreciated.

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-22T22:26:04Z

ok, so with this setup, at the point of allocation, the gain/loss should of been debited/credited based on the invoice's exchange rate amount. After you allocated the payment to the invoice, did you look at the GL transaction of the payment? Did the differences go to the gain/loss? Try invoicing it at a different date and then paying it at a different date and see as well.

Re: Foreign currency transactions

2008-12-22T21:01:27Z

Hi,

In this example what I did was make a sale to a US customer and billing in USD (at $1.00USD=1.20CAD). Then the payment from the customer is in USD and put in our USD bank account (at $1.00USD=1.00CAD as per your suggestion). The $100 was then "allocated". Finally, the USD funds from our USD bank account are transferred into our CAD account (at $1.00USD=1.10CAD).

You asked "Are you paying a US customer using your USD account?" The answer is:
1) we are billing the customer in USD
2) collecting the payment from the customer into our USD account
3) transferred the collected USD funds to our CAD account

In practice, the three above steps could take place on different dates with different exchange rates. This is what I'd like to figure out how to accomplish properly.

Please let me know if I should clarify further.

Thank you again!