Using Multiple Currencies in YNAB: A Guide

March 27 2025 1:46pm • Est. Read Time: 4 MIN

Learn how to manage multiple currencies in YNAB depending on your situation, and review tips for managing them.

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How to Create and Use a Separate Budget for Each Currency

When using multiple currencies (like US dollars and Canadian dollars), we recommend creating a separate budget for each. You record what you send, and you record what you receive. This simplifies the process of handling currency fluctuations, exchange rates, charges, and fees.

In the steps below, we'll use US dollars as a primary currency/budget and Canadian dollars as a secondary currency/budget. These steps will work with any currencies.

How to Create a Separate Budget for Each Currency

Web
iOS
Android

For your primary currency/budget:
1. Click the name of your budget located in the top left corner of the web app.
2. Click New Budget from the drop-down menu.
3. Name your budget.
4. Choose your primary currency.
5. Make any additional adjustments to the settings.
6. Click Create Budget.
7. Create a category ↗️ called "Currency Transfer".
For your secondary currency/budget:
1. Click the name of your budget located in the top left corner of the app.
2. Click New Budget from the drop-down menu.
3. Name your budget.
4. Choose your secondary currency.
5. Make any additional adjustments to the settings.
6. Click Create Budget.
7. Create a category ↗️ called "Currency Transfer".*

Tap the Budget tab at the bottom of the screen. Categories or Spotlight can be toggled on.
For your primary budget/currency:
1. Tap the three dots icon located in the upper left of the app.
2. Tap Settings & Privacy from the pop-up menu.
3. Tap New Budget.
4. Name your budget.
5. Choose your primary currency.
6. Make any additional adjustments to the settings.
7. Click Create.
8. Create a category ↗️ called "Currency Transfer".
For your secondary budget/currency:
1. Tap the three dots icon located in the upper left of the app.
2. Tap Settings & Privacy from the pop-up menu.
3. Tap New Budget.
4. Name your budget.
5. Choose your secondary currency.
6. Make any additional adjustments to the settings.
7. Click Create.
8. Create a category ↗️ called "Currency Transfer".*

Tap the Budget tab at the bottom of the screen. Categories or Spotlight can be toggled on.
For your primary budget/currency:
1. Tap the three dots icon located in the upper right of the app.
2. Tap Settings & Privacy from the pop-up menu.
3. Tap New Budget.
4. Name your budget.
5. Choose your primary currency.
6. Make any additional adjustments to the settings.
7. Click Create.
8. Create a category ↗️ called "Currency Transfer".
For your secondary budget/currency:
1. Tap the three dots icon located in the upper right of the app.
2. Tap Settings & Privacy from the pop-up menu.
3. Tap New Budget.
4. Name your budget.
5. Choose your secondary currency.
6. Make any additional adjustments to the settings.
7. Click Create.
8. Create a category ↗️ called "Currency Transfer".*

How to Use a Separate Budget for Each Currency

When you're ready to convert money from your primary currency to your secondary currency, follow these steps:

Open the primary budget (US dollars).
Assign the amount of money you're converting to the "Currency Transfer" category.
Record an outflow transaction for the amount of money leaving the budget using "Currency Transfer" as the category.
Open the secondary budget (Canadian dollars).
Record an inflow transaction, factoring in the exchange rate and any fees, categorizing the funds to "Inflow: Ready to Assign".
Assign your money to zero.

* Adding a "Currency Transfer" category in both budgets can be beneficial if you're transferring back-and-forth between the two. If that's the case, and you would like to transfer money from your secondary to your primary budget, you can follow the directions in the above section, swapping the words "primary" and "secondary."

Additional Tips:

When adding accounts to your budgets, make sure all accounts in a budget use the same currency. Every account in your primary budget should be in your primary currency. Every account in your secondary budget should be in your secondary currency. This prevents issues with exchange rates.
Reconcile often! Reconciliation ↗️ is always a good idea, but it’s especially important when you’re spending in multiple currencies. Your exchange rate depends on when the vendor submits the transaction. In some countries, vendors send transactions only weekly (rather than in real-time). Your exchange rate could vary depending on when your bank clears the transaction.

Traveling to a Country That Has Another Currency

When traveling to a country that has another currency, it is easiest to use a single category ↗️, like "Vacation," for all your spending. If you’d like to distinguish between trips, you can use the memo field when entering the transaction ↗️ to label your transactions (example: #2025beach).

Tracking Purchases While on Vacation

If you are spending from a cash account:
Enter transactions as they happen. Estimate the exchange rate and conversion fees to determine the amount. Flag the transactions ↗️ to review later and update the amount based on what clears your bank.
If you are using a credit card:
Follow the cash suggestions above, or you can wait until the converted transaction hits your bank account. Add it to YNAB ↗️ with the amount your bank shows, or let it import ↗️ if you have your accounts linked. When you get home, we recommend reconciling your accounts ↗️ to ensure your balances in YNAB match the bank.

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