GnuCash and the EURO


Table of Contents
GnuCash and the EURO

GnuCash and the EURO

Introduction

On January 1, 1999, eleven European Union countries formed an economic and monetary union (EMU) and started using a single currency - the euro. These countries locked the exchange rates of their national currencies to the euro and are sharing the new currency.

However, euro notes and coins will not be available until January 1, 2001. Until then, the old national currency notes and coins (French francs, Deutschmarks etc) will continue to circulate. But in law they are part of the euro. Their value in euro is completely fixed. All kinds of cashless monetary transactions like cheques or wire transfers are possible in euro

You can find more information about the euro at: http://europa.eu.int/euro .

EMU Member Countries and Exchange Rates

The following table shows the EMU member countries and the respective exchange rates of the euro to the old national currencies. More countries are expected to join the EMU later.

Table 1. EMU Exchange Rates

CountryISO CodeFull DescriptionExchange Rate
    
AustriaATSAustrian Schilling1 euro = 13.7603 S
BelgiumBEFBelgian Franc1 euro = 40.3399 bfrs
FinlandFIMFinnish Mark1 euro = 5.94573 Fmk
FranceFRFFrench Franc1 euro = 6.55957 FF
GermanyDEMGerman Mark1 euro = 1.95538 DM
IrelandIEPIrish Pound1 euro = 0.787564 Ir. £
ItalyITLItalian Lira1 euro = 1936.27 Lit
LuxembourgLUFLuxembourgian Franc1 euro = 40.3399 lfrs
NetherlandsNLGDutch Guilder1 euro = 2.20371 hfl
PortugalPTEPortuguese Escudo1 euro = 200.482 Esc
SpainESPSpanish Peseta1 euro = 166.386 Ptas

EURO support in GnuCash

You can enable euro support in GnuCash in the international category of the preferences dialog box. If your system locale specifies one of the EMU member currencies, euro support is enabled by default.

FIXME: Actual documentation with screenshots and so on