Hello,

After years of using Skrooge I faced a situation I am not sure how to deal with.

For first time I invested in some assets in a different currency (USD) than the account I am buying them from (EUR). So, using the "share" template, as soon as I select the "unit" in USD, all amounts (shares price, fees and tax) have to be introduced in USD.

First problem: the shares price is in USD in the real transaction, but fee is in EUR. Ok, I can just manually calculate the equivalent in USD using the same exchange ratio and so. But then ...

Second problem: Skrooge doesn't allow me to set the used exchange ratio, so it uses some automatic one, but everybody knows that brokers use some slightly (or not no slightly) different exchange ratio, so, the amount that Skrooge is deducting from the account (EUR) doesn't match with the reality.

Yes, I know I can watch the amount deducted by Skrooge, calculate the used exchange ratio, and modify the introduced values to get the real amount, but I think that in the same way a transfer between accounts using different currencies Skrooge suggests some ratio but you can modify it manually, it should be possible to do for share operations (in the end it is just a expense -fee & tax- and a transfer operations merged, right?

Thanks a lot
JM

Hello JesusM,

I was also looking for a solution for a similar but not exactly the same problem, maybe it helps you though.
In my depot I can have foreign currencies and use them to buy foreign currencies shares. So as I could not work out how to do that within a single skrooge account I have since created one account per currency:

For example:

My Depot - USD
My Depot - EUR
My Depot - CHF

Then you can transfer between them to "convert" your currencies and then create regular share transactions. However I guess that does not help you with the share fee being in a different currency again.

rowka wrote:Hello JesusM,

I was also looking for a solution for a similar but not exactly the same problem, maybe it helps you though.
In my depot I can have foreign currencies and use them to buy foreign currencies shares. So as I could not work out how to do that within a single skrooge account I have since created one account per currency:

For example:

My Depot - USD
My Depot - EUR
My Depot - CHF

Then you can transfer between them to "convert" your currencies and then create regular share transactions. However I guess that does not help you with the share fee being in a different currency again.

Hi!

that may help, for sure, but you know, I have so many different accounts (not all them actual accounts but different "buckets" for different things that I wanted to avoid new extra accounts.

Thanks!

Hi Guys,

Normally, an account has a currency.
For example, because I live in France, my current account is in €.
If I buy something in $, then my bank convert this transaction in € and at the end, I have an operation in € on my account.
This is why, I enter the operation in € in skrooge.
If I enter it in $ (yes this is possible), the behavior will be strange because the balance of the account will change when the quote of $ will change.

So, for me we shouldn't need to create an operation in $ in an account in €.

Now, to come back to the original question:

JesusM wrote:Hello,

After years of using Skrooge I faced a situation I am not sure how to deal with.

For first time I invested in some assets in a different currency (USD) than the account I am buying them from (EUR). So, using the "share" template, as soon as I select the "unit" in USD, all amounts (shares price, fees and tax) have to be introduced in USD.

First problem: the shares price is in USD in the real transaction, but fee is in EUR. Ok, I can just manually calculate the equivalent in USD using the same exchange ratio and so. But then ...

JesusM wrote:Perfect, if your account is in USD, you should enter value in USD.

Second problem: Skrooge doesn't allow me to set the used exchange ratio, so it uses some automatic one, but everybody knows that brokers use some slightly (or not no slightly) different exchange ratio, so, the amount that Skrooge is deducting from the account (EUR) doesn't match with the reality.

Yes, I know I can watch the amount deducted by Skrooge, calculate the used exchange ratio, and modify the introduced values to get the real amount, but I think that in the same way a transfer between accounts using different currencies Skrooge suggests some ratio but you can modify it manually, it should be possible to do for share operations (in the end it is just a expense -fee & tax- and a transfer operations merged, right?

JesusM wrote:Good idea, I will add it to my TODO list.

Thanks a lot
JM

Thanks for keeping it in mind.

I did it: https://commits.kde.org/skrooge/0d1ad2d ... 8c754c178d
Could you test it?

smankowski wrote:I did it: https://commits.kde.org/skrooge/0d1ad2d ... 8c754c178d
Could you test it?

Hi!

I tested it and apparently works fine. I will try again next time I have a real operation.

Thanks a lot for your amazing work!!
//JM

Apologies for re-bumping this again, but I added a investment in other currency a couple of weeks ago, and today I was reconciling the card operations and saw a (minor) problem.

When you add the investment in a different currency you add up to three figures: value of the shares, fees and taxes. Then you are prompted to introduce the exchange value in your payment account currency. Looks fine, right? But there is a unnoticeable detail: I assumed that I had to introduce the value of the complete transaction (shares + fees + tax), but this is not the case, you need to introduce the value only for the shares, and then Skrooge will use the same exchange rate to calculate the local value for the fees and tax. So I found that the amount in my card statement was lower than in Skrooge and understood the reason. To fix it, I deleted the transaction and created it, but when I was prompted for the value in the local currency I introduced <value in my payment account statement>/<shares+fee+tax in the other currency>*<shares in the other currency>. And Skrooge created perfectly well the "shares" transaction with the right total and partial values. It is not difficult, but you need to know and do the operation.

So, my suggestion:

option #1: add a notice in the prompt message that the expected local value is only for the amount paid for the shares, exc. fees and tax

option#2: accept the global value and split among the three fields proportionally.

I prefer option #2, obviously, but you are doing the work, not me

Thanks!
//JM

I don't use it myself but it might help those that do:

https://skrooge.org/help

Wolfman wrote:I don't use it myself but it might help those that do:

https://skrooge.org/help

Don't really understand your point.

JesusM wrote:

Wolfman wrote:I don't use it myself but it might help those that do:

https://skrooge.org/help

Don't really understand your point.

Just thinking of others that may have a similar problem, the help manual could be beneficial to others looking for help.

Another link:

https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/extragea ... index.html

Wolfman wrote:Just thinking of others that may have a similar problem, the help manual could be beneficial to others looking for help.

Another link:

https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/extragea ... index.html

Except that what I am asking about is not covered in the user guide because it is a modification I am suggesting. But of course, a link to the documentation is always useful

kongus wrote:It's a good idea dependig on the currency you are planning to stick with. I wouldn't go with Yen for sure

This is a discussion on a Skrooge feature, not investment recommendations or advice.

Always keep your savings in 3 currencies. This is the most smart thing to do!