Moving money between currencies

An ordinary transfer moves one amount between two accounts. When the accounts are in different currencies there are two amounts — what left, and what arrived — and the rate between them is whatever the bank actually gave you.

1. Choose Transaction ▸ Currency Transfer…
2. Pick the account the money left and the account it arrived in.
3. Enter both amounts: what was taken out, and what was received.
4. Check the date and give it a description, then click Transfer.

The sheet shows the rate your two amounts imply — 1 AUD = 0.92 NZD — so you can see at a glance whether you have typed them the right way round. That rate is saved as a price, so reports can value either currency afterwards.

Trading accounts

Turn on Use trading accounts in the sheet and the transfer also posts to a pair of trading accounts, so the books balance in each currency rather than only by value. This is GnuCash's approach, and it is what captures unrealised gains when a rate moves. Leave it off and the transfer is a plain two-sided entry. The choice is remembered in the book.