Stephen and Geoff - thank you so much for such comprehensive answers.... and yes, I am currently re-reading my Finance Textbooks to refresh my memory of Double-Entry bookkeeping! The issue, I think, is that Quicken really dumbed down my comprehension because it handled the double-entry stuff behind the scenes.
Your responses have alleviated my stress considerably and I am now able to view my situation much more clearly. Removing the need to record exchange rates is a great benefit to me and I believe I confused myself when reading the manual/help guides. Having you both indicate an easier way is a relief. I look forward to any other assistance given me under this topic!!! Thank you again! Megan Tilley On Sun, 8 Sept 2024 at 13:40, Megan Tilley <megan.til...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi everyone! > > You all appear to have a good handle on GnuCash, but I am a brand newbie!!! > > My environment is: > Local Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD) > Exchange Rates required for: > == USD > == GBP (UK) > == EUR > == SEK (Sweden) > - and are usually purchases that I pass through Paypal (no balance in > Paypal, at all) => buy with AUD and currency conversion made by Paypal into > seller's currency > All my investments are AUD > > Computer info: > --- Windows 10 Home version x64-based PC 10.0.19045 Build 19045 > --- apparently Strawberry Perl (5.40.0.1-64bit) > --- apparently GnuCash Version: 5.6 Build ID: 5.6+(2024-03-30) > --- and while "Finance::Quote: " appears in my "About GnuCash" help > window, I can not see the version > > I downloaded the "gnucash-5.8.setup" installation executable from the > Windows component (https://www.gnucash.org/download.phtml). > > As I was hoping to initiate the automatic updates for Banking balances, > stock prices and currency rates, I followed the instructions and ran the > AqBanking Setup, but nothing happened as I could not get the Help button to > operate in GC === terminology between the US and Australia is significantly > different so I could not figure out the corollaries between my > understanding of Australian banking terms and what appears in the AqBanking > window (Ids and Bank Codes, etc.) > > I moved on to Finance::Quote (F::Q) and followed the instructions to set > up Quote Retrieval ( > https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v5/C/gnucash-manual/finance-quote.html) in > the "Procedure 11.3. On Windows" the instructions stated to "run the > program Install Online Price Retrieval for GnuCash" which I found in my > installation data under "C:\Program Files > (x86)\gnucash\bin\install-fq-mods.cmd". > > Guidelines indicated a long installation process: 20-30 mins. The first > run took 45 mins and did not work at all as I interrupted it. The second > run took 55 mins and terminated with a 'success' message but when I ran the > module within GC I received a "finance::quote not installed properly" > message. Apparently I have to uninstall and reinstall the entire package... > > > Question 1: how do I uninstall all of this stuff? > Question 2: What else do I have to do? > Question 3: Can I not just reinstall over top of what I have already done? > > > I have used Quicken and Quicken Home & Business for over 25 years, so I am > very used to that data structure. I spend something and one account goes > down in value and I acquire an asset - a coat, for example. > I understand that GC is a double-entry bookkeeping program, each > transaction has an accompanying transaction in another account. However, I > am very unsure where in the account register the transaction should be put > to "buy" the coat = in Quicken it is a Debit (out of my pocket) in the > Debit column of the Banking account. > > > Question 4: Which perspective should I adopt when looking at a > transaction? I stand in my account and pay out using the Debit column, or I > stand in the Coat account and use the debit column (correspondingly, the > bank account is the credit column)? > > > Further to this last, as I said, I use Paypal as a pass through conversion > channel- my Aussie bank account is used to pay for an item in a US market > (NOT an investment/shares/stocks) - say, a 'Reference Book'. I know that I > have to have 3 entries in a transaction: origin (Aussie Bank account), into > Paypal as AUD, conversion by Paypal to USD, payment to US company for my > 'Reference Book'. Referring to Question 4 :- > > > Question 5: which of the columns in the transaction should host my Aussie > bank? Debit column or Credit Column? > Question 6: which of the columns should reflect AUD into Paypal? > Question 7: which of the columns should reflect USD from Paypal to the > Book company? > Question 8: which of the columns should reflect the Book company receiving > my USD? > Question 9: should I bypass Paypal completely and just use my bank account > and the Book company? > > > Question 10: how often do I need to update my GC install? - am I notified > of a new release or do I just watch this channel? > Question 11: how often do I need to update Strawberry Perl? and where do I > find that? > Question 12: do I need to anything else regularly with respect to GC and > the 'subroutines' used within it (F::Q, etc.)? > Question 13: how is the update process managed? How do you do an update to > GC? Download and run a new version? > > Thanks so much for taking the time to read all this... > > Megan in Sydney, Australia > _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
