# Currencies

&kmymoney; 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

During the initial &kmymoney; New File Setup, you will be asked to select the base currency. Usually, the base currency is the currency you use in your country. The base currency is the one that will be used as the default for all new accounts and categories, and that reports will be based on. When you set up a new account or category, &kmymoney; will automatically default to the base currency. If your account requires you to use a different currency, you can change it during the New Account Setup.

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 &kmymoney; it is possible to add it manually, in case you have a need to begin using it immediately.

To manually add a currency, select the Tools Currencies... menu item to display the Currencies dialog, as shown above. Either click on the + Add button or right click on any existing currency and select New currency from the Currency Options context menu. That will bring up a dialog where you can enter the ISO Code, Name, and other details about the currency. When you are ready, click OK. The currency will be created with the specified name. To change the name or other details later, click the Edit button. You can also change the name by either pressing F2 or right clicking the currency and selecting Rename currency.

## Account setup

When you create a new account, you specify the currency in which it will be managed. The New Account wizard defaults this setting to the base currency. If you require a different currency, you need to select it during this initial setup. The ledger for the account will then show all values in the selected currency. You cannot change the currency of an account once the account has been created.

## Entering transactions using different currencies

Whenever a transaction is entered that refers to more than one currency, which includes using a currency other than the default currency of the account, the exchange rate editor pops up and allows you to enter an exchange rate to be used for that transaction. 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 Editor allows you to enter exchange rates between currencies or prices for investments. You can pull it up using the Tools Prices... menu item.

Currency Price Editor

In &kmymoney; a Price is the cost 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

&kmymoney; can 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 among its options.

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