Spend in any currency, budget in one
Every account keeps its own currency, and every transaction can be entered in whatever the receipt says — any of 150+ currencies — while budgets, charts and vehicle costs all add up in the one base currency you choose. On the paid plan, each entry converts at the rate from its own date.
Your base currency and your shortlist
Your base currency is the one everything adds up in — budgets, charts, vehicle running costs — so it's the first thing to set, usually to the currency you live in. Change it later and your history is recalculated into the new one — straight away at the latest rates on the free plan, during the next sync at each transaction's own date on the paid plan.
A list of preferred currencies keeps the currency picker short: the handful you actually use up front, all 150+ one tap away. An account's currency is set when you create it.
What happens to my history if I change my base currency?
It's recalculated into the new one — straight away at the latest rates on the free plan, and during the next sync at each transaction's own date on the paid plan.
How do I budget when I'm paid in one currency and live in another?
Make the currency you live in your base currency, keep the salary account in the currency you're paid in, and set budgets as a percentage of income — the targets are worked out from your salary converted to your base currency.
- In Settings, set your base currency to the one you live in — euros here.
- Add an account in US dollars and record the salary there, in dollars.
- Set budgets as a percentage of income. Targets are worked out from the salary in euros, so a weaker-dollar month means smaller targets.
Up to three currencies on every transaction
Each account has its own currency: a euro current account, a dollar card, a wallet of Swiss francs. A transaction can be entered in any currency on any account, so one entry can involve three of them:
- the currency you paid in, exactly as the receipt shows it;
- the account's currency, the one the money actually left;
- your base currency, the one budgets, charts and vehicle running costs add up in.
When they differ, the app does the conversion, and the transaction list shows both the amount you paid and what it came to in your base currency. The original amount and currency stay on the transaction, so nothing is rounded away.
That's a structural difference from budgeting apps built around a single currency. YNAB holds one currency per plan and recommends a separate plan for each currency you use; Actual Budget's documentation says it doesn't support multiple currencies yet, and suggests converting amounts with rules and a rate you type in. Either way it means separate budgets or converting by hand.
Can I keep accounts in different currencies?
Yes. Each account has its own currency — a euro current account, a dollar card, cash in Swiss francs — and totals roll up into your base currency.
How do I track spending on a trip abroad?
Enter each expense in the currency on the receipt, on the card or cash account you paid with; the app converts it to your base currency, so your budgets count it in the money you think in.
- Pick the account you paid with — the card keeps its own currency.
- Switch the amount's currency to the one on the receipt and type what it says.
- Save. The app converts it, and the Eating out budget counts it in euros. Tag the trip's expenses with a project to see what the weekend cost in total.
How do I log a refuel abroad, paid in another currency?
Record the refuel on the vehicle as usual and enter the amount in the local currency; the fuel log keeps what you paid, and the vehicle's running costs and your fuel budget count it in your base currency.
- Add the refuel on the vehicle as usual: odometer, liters, tank mark.
- Switch the amount's currency to the one on the pump receipt and enter the total.
- The fuel log keeps the liters and what you paid in francs; the vehicle's running costs and your Fuel budget count it in euros. Tag it with the trip's project, and the fuel shows up in the road trip's total too.
Which exchange rate is used
On the free plan, a foreign amount converts at the latest rate on your device when you save it — and the app fetches fresh rates whenever it starts with an internet connection. That's a fair approximation for this week's spending and a rougher one for a receipt from last spring.
On the paid Standard plan, every transaction is converted at the rate from its own date during sync, and budgets and charts add up those date-accurate amounts. Until sync has confirmed a rate, the converted amount carries a small marker. Upgrade later and your existing history is re-converted the same way — nothing has to be entered again.
Converting at the transaction's own date is a standard worth asking any budgeting app about. Lunch Money does it too, across 160+ currencies; an app that converts everything at today's rate changes what last summer's trip cost every time the exchange rate moves.
Either way, the converted amount follows a reference rate, not your card issuer's. Banks usually add a margin of their own, so the amount on your statement can differ slightly from the one in the app.
Which exchange rate is used for a foreign-currency transaction?
On the free plan, the latest rate on your device when you save — refreshed whenever the app starts with a connection; on the paid plan, the rate from the transaction's own date, applied during sync.
Where the rates come from
Two sources are available: Default, which covers 150+ currencies, and the European Central Bank's reference rates for the major ones. Pick one for the whole app, and override it for a single account that should follow the other.
The choice is a preference, not a limit. A currency your chosen source doesn't publish is converted with the Default source instead, so every currency stays usable whichever you pick.
More sources are planned, such as the official rates of the US and Canadian central banks, for anyone whose bank or employer quotes those.
Where to go next
See how budgets work, including budgets set as a percentage of income, how the vehicle ledger records refuels and servicing, or browse all features and guides. Coming from another budgeting or fuel-log app? The comparison pages cover how they differ.