Re: Playing Accountant

[Neil Tiffin]

At 10:10 AM -0800 3/19/01, Derek A. Neighbors wrote:
> So my question is should we allow a way to account for such factors 
> in our reporting etc??  Kind of a monetary unit restatement?  For 
> what its worth Im not an accountant, but would like to hear opinions.

This is a complicated issue, but good to have it raised now.

Currency, can not IMHO opinion be treated like another unit of 
measure for the exact reason you define, its reference to other 
currencies changes over time.

So in gnue-config we have 2 very similar definitions in currency.gcd 
and units.gcd.

Now to your questions.

Reporting and Forms should been designed to report and display in the 
currency in the database, currency of the user, or in another 
currency defined at the time of display or report generation.

To define this currency you also need to define an effective date and 
have input into the currency table an effective date and currency 
exchange value.  Some companies do this weekly, some monthly, but 
most do not do it daily.

In accounting money should be kept in the database in the currency of 
the physical transaction.  I believe this is legal requirement in 
most areas, but in either case if you don't do this you end up with 
all kinds of problems.

Deciding when to change money into another currency (for 
consolidation purposes in international operations) is a tax 
consideration and will change within the laws of the taxing 
authorities. So this is done through the consolidation policy.

Of course, I'm not an accountant so I listening for their opinion also.

Neil
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