Question

Change the foreign exchange gain/loss account

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 25, 2022
6 replies
85 views

Our company it using multi-currency in quickbooks online. When we incur an fx gain/loss quickbooks is recording it to an "Exchange Gain Or Loss" account mapped to "Other Expenses". I want this account to be a sub account in our expenses section of the p&l, not in "other expenses." My question is how do I either:

1. Change the account type so it is an "expense" instead of "other expense" in the chart of accounts? Is there a way around this message: "Exchange Gain Loss account cannot be modified or deleted"?

2. Tell quickbooks to use another GL we already have set up for exchange gain/loss

If neither can be done, is there another solution? I don't want to have to post a journal entry every month to move fx gain/loss to another GL.

EDIT: Want to also ask how do we get the fx gain/loss into a cost centre/class? It sits in "unspecified"

QuickBooks Online

Z

ZackE_

Moderator

Thanks for getting in touch with the Community, BrianQW.

Since you're receiving a "Exchange Gain Loss account cannot be modified or deleted" message when trying to change an account's type from Other expenses to Expenses, I'd recommend checking your browser. It's possible this could have something to do with temporary internet files. Browsing applications store these types of records, but sometimes they can cause issues with certain webpages. You can open a private window and check to see if you're able to change your account type.

Here's how to access incognito mode in some of the most commonly used web browsers:

Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
Safari: Command + Option + P

If you're able to switch account types while browsing privately, it's safe to say this problem's being caused by your browser. It can be fixed by clearing cached data and Intuit-specific cookies.

In the event the message continues displaying while using incognito, you'll initially want to try switching to another browsing application.

Here's a list of supported browsers:

Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Microsoft Edge
Safari 11 or newer

You can also check a browser's compatibility with your books by utilizing our browser health checkup tool. QuickBooks supports the current and two previous versions of browsers. If you find that you're using an older version, make sure to update it to its latest release. Steps for doing so can be found on the particular company's website.

In the event you've found no problems that could be causing this with your browser, I'd recommend using a different device and/or internet connection. If it continues happening on other devices and/or internet connections, please get back with me here.

I've also included a detailed resource about system requirements for QuickBooks which may come in handy moving forward: System requirements

In regard to your last question, to verify my understanding, what type of transaction are you using to represent the foreign exchange gain/loss?

I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you. Have a lovely day!

B

BrianQWAuthor

Hi ZackE,

I've tried using Chrome in addition to MS Edge which I normally use as well as incognito mode but I get the same message that the "Exchange Gain Loss account cannot be modified or deleted". This account was created automatically by quickbooks so I have a feeling it is a design decision that the account type cannot be changed to 'expenses' and wonder if there is a work around.

In regard to your last question, to verify my understanding, what type of transaction are you using to represent the foreign exchange gain/loss?

We are using the multi-currency feature in quickbooks online. We are a Canadian company and paying some US vendor invoices and converting CAD to USD. Quickbooks is automatically calculating an fx gain/loss when we pay these US vendors, so to answer your question it's a bill payment transaction.

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