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.

Country ISO Code Full Description Exchange Rate
Austria ATS Austrian Schilling 1 euro = 13.7603 S
Belgium BEF Belgian Franc 1 euro = 40.3399 bfrs
Finland FIM Finnish Mark 1 euro = 5.94573 Fmk
France FRF French Franc 1 euro = 6.55957 FF
Germany DEM German Mark 1 euro = 1.95583 DM
Ireland IEP Irish Pound 1 euro = 0.787564 Ir. £
Italy ITL Italian Lira 1 euro = 1936.27 Lit
Luxembourg LUF Luxembourgian Franc 1 euro = 40.3399 lfrs
Netherlands NLG Dutch Guilder 1 euro = 2.20371 hfl
Portugal PTE Portuguese Escudo 1 euro = 200.482 Esc
Spain ESP Spanish Peseta 1 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

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