Getting started with Multicurrency
Multicurrency Overview > What is Multicurrency? > Getting started with MulticurrencyMulticurrency is optional; if all your business is conducted with customers and vendors in Canada using U.S. dollars, there's no need for you to take advantage of this feature. If you do want to use Multicurrency, you'll need to mark the I Deal in Multiple Currencies option in the System tab of the Preferences window. (Once you begin recording multicurrency transactions, you won't be able to unmark the I Deal in Multiple Currencies option. For more information about selecting the multicurrency feature, see Selecting the Multicurrency option in the Preferences window.)
You'll also have to perform a number of setup steps, which are described in Setting up Multicurrency. For example, you'll have to set up special accounts to track the transactions you make in each currency. If you plan to make sales in Canadian dollars, for instance, you'll need to create a separate Accounts Receivable account for your sales to customers in the United Kingdom. Every foreign-currency account you create will require a companion account known as an exchange account to track changes in the value of the transactions assigned to the account. (Exchange accounts are explained more fully in Understanding exchange accounts.)
Only balance sheet accounts -- asset, liability and equity accounts -- can be assigned a foreign currency. All other types of accounts are tracked using U.S. dollars.
Your local currency is set up automatically for you. Because this currency is used to determine the value of all other currencies, it can't be deleted, and its exchange value is fixed at 1.
Before you begin entering transactions, you'll also need to specify the proper currency for all your overseas customers and vendors. Only one currency can be used for each customer or vendor (unless you choose to set up multiple cards for them); this ensures that your records remain accurate, and it speeds transaction entry.