Set up for purchase of ESPP Canadian stocks using funds drawn in USD from paycheck

ralph011

Our U.S. company was recently purchased by a Canadian company listed on the Toronto exchange. My ESPP purchases of the Canadian stock are deducted in USD from my paycheck. I created a CAD broker account, but the dropdown in the paycheck setup does not show the account. Is it because of the CAD/USD conflict? Or am I missing something in another part of the setup (either account or paycheck)?

Tom Young

I've never actually used the foreign currency feature in Quicken so this really is a pure shot in the dark.

Looking at the Help file it seems that Quicken "plays nice" with foreign currencies more readily in Spending Accounts as opposed to Investment Accounts as Help is typically referring to "registers" (Spending Accounts) and doesn't seem to refer to Transaction Lists (Investment Accounts). So I guess I'd try "depositing" the USD in an offline "bank" Account denominated in CAD, and then transfer the CAD from that Account to the CAD broker Account.

From the Help file:

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You can easily transfer funds between Quicken accounts that use different currencies.

The Currency List in Quicken contains exchange rates. You can add currencies to the list and update the exchange rates as they change.

Transfers
between accounts of different currencies behave like any other Quicken
transfer, with one exception: you can change one end of the transfer
without making the corresponding change at the other end of the
transfer. This way, you can edit the calculation in Quicken to reflect
an updated exchange rate and any service charge imposed by the bank.

1. In the register of the source account, enter the transaction information.
2. In the Category field, select the destination account from the drop-down list.
3. Click Save.
   The
   Foreign Currency Transfer window shows how much is being transferred
   from the source account and how much will be deposited in the
   destination account.
4. Edit the To amount. (Optional)
5. Click OK.

Notes

• The calculated amount to be deposited is based on the conversion rate in your Currency List. If you know the exact amount, you can change it.
• To edit the source amount, go to the register.

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Make a backup before trying this, of course.