How to budget in two currencies

The safest way to budget in two currencies is to keep each currency in its own account and only convert when you need one combined total. Tally works this way. Accounts are one currency each, and it never adds dollars to pesos without converting them first.

How does Tally keep currencies apart?

Every account has one currency. A Wise file that holds Canadian and US dollars becomes two accounts, named like “Wise (CAD)” and “Wise (USD)”. Your Canadian chequing is its own account, and a Mexican card is another.

This matters because adding 100 CAD and 100 MXN gives you a number that means nothing. Keeping them apart means each account’s balance is exact, to the cent, in its own currency.

What are “By currency” and “Combined”?

The Overview has two views:

• By currency shows each currency separately and is exact to the cent. Nothing is converted.
• Combined converts everything into one currency you pick, and shows the result with “≈” in front of the number.

The “≈” means “converted”. An exact single-currency figure has no “≈”. A total built from several currencies does. If you see the sign, you know the number depends on exchange rates.

What happens if a currency has no rate?

Tally leaves that row out of the combined total and tells you. A notice says how many rows were left out and which currencies were missing. It prefers a visible gap to a quiet wrong answer. If a transaction’s currency has no rate, the safe to spend forecast is held back too. See what safe to spend means.

What does a CAD and MXN example look like?

Say you live in Canada and spend part of the year in Mexico. You have two accounts:

• Wise (CAD): balance CA$2,000.
• Wise (MXN): balance MX$10,000.

By currency, the Overview shows CA$2,000 and MX$10,000, each exact.

Combined in CAD, suppose Tally’s rate is 1 CAD = 13 MXN. Then MX$10,000 is about CA$769, and the combined total is about ≈CA$2,769. Change the rate to 1 CAD = 12.5 MXN and the same pesos are about CA$800, so the total is about ≈CA$2,800. Your pesos did not change. The rate did.

The rates here are round numbers for the example, not live rates.

A Wise statement with Soriana or a restaurant in pesos is a typical Mexican use case. Tally’s starter rules include a pack of Mexican and everyday merchants, such as OXXO, Soriana, Telcel and Pemex, so those rows get a category without you doing anything.

When do exchange rates get applied?

Tally gets exchange rates from a free public rate service, Frankfurter, when you tap “Refresh rates” or when you change your home currency in the Combined view. It does not refresh on a timer on the server.

Be careful with one idea. Tally’s code can look up the nearest earlier day’s rate for a transaction and fall back to the latest rate when there is none. But the history it relies on has to be loaded, and this site cannot promise you are getting the rate from the day each purchase happened. So the honest summary is that Tally converts using exchange rates, and the “≈” tells you it is an estimate. If you need an exact figure for tax or a refund, use the amount from your bank’s own record, and treat Tally’s combined number as a good guide.

Which currencies can the converter handle?

The Tally Android app includes a currency converter with 173 currencies: 154 national currencies, 15 cryptocurrencies and 4 metals. It works without an account, and it is separate from the budget. Rates are refreshed regularly, when the phone allows it. You can also set your own rate, such as the one your money changer gives you, and it replaces the market rate for that currency on the Convert screen.

What are the budgeting tips for two currencies?

1. Import each account in the currency it is in. Do not convert in a spreadsheet first.
2. Look at By currency first. Use Combined when you want the big picture.
3. Read the “≈” as an estimate.
4. Refresh rates before you look at a combined total you plan to act on.
5. Name accounts clearly so you know which is which. Keep the name the same each month so duplicate detection works.

Is this different from how other apps handle it?

Apps vary. YNAB’s FAQ says you cannot use multiple currencies together in a single spending plan (YNAB pricing FAQ, checked 8 October 2026). PocketSmith shows native balances and converts to a base currency with daily rates (PocketSmith multi-currency, checked 8 October 2026). Toshl has a dedicated currencies page and says it supports hundreds of currencies with fresh rates (Toshl currencies, page checked 8 October 2026; the exact count changes, so check it). Each handles it differently, so read the details for the one you are considering.

Where to start

Download a Wise statement for each currency you hold, using the Wise guide, then import them. Tally is in development with no public sign-up, so use this as a method.