Re: Interesting conversation with a retailer who formerly accepted Bitcoin
I do have an accountant (but not a book keeper, I do that myself). As far as I could tell, having magic computer money is just fine... because I did not treat it like magic computer money. I treated it like a foreign currency.
Lets say I sold $20 of tea for 10 bitcoins. I would ring up the sales in dollars, and accept a check for that amount (in dollars) in our POS. So now I have a $20 check sitting in Quickbooks waiting to be deposited. I would then "deposit" that check into the Zimbabwean Dollar account at an exchange rate of .5. So I would end up having 10 Zimbabwean dollars in an account. I know it sounds like a joke, but quickbooks only allows you to use known currencies. So I had to pick one, and i figured I would never need to legitimately use the Zimbabean doller. Only I knew that these were really bitcoins (as there is no way to create a "new" currency in quickbooks).
Lets say I sold $20 of tea for 10 bitcoins. I would ring up the sales in dollars, and accept a check for that amount (in dollars) in our POS. So now I have a $20 check sitting in Quickbooks waiting to be deposited. I would then "deposit" that check into the Zimbabwean Dollar account at an exchange rate of .5. So I would end up having 10 Zimbabwean dollars in an account. I know it sounds like a joke, but quickbooks only allows you to use known currencies. So I had to pick one, and i figured I would never need to legitimately use the Zimbabean doller. Only I knew that these were really bitcoins (as there is no way to create a "new" currency in quickbooks).
I think my last post might've given you the wrong impression on a couple of things...
First, I know a little accounting. I can say with 100% certainty that your handling of BTC transactions within Quickbooks is entirely correct, and I certainly didn't mean to imply otherwise. What I found humorous was that you happened to represent BTC in your system with Z$ - a currency that was fairly valuable when it was introduced, but was eventually abandoned after hyperinflation made it worthless. I figured your rationale for choosing Z$ as your BTC proxy had nothing to do with the currency's history, I just found it to be an amusing coincidence.
Second, my use of the term "Magic Computer Money" is nothing more than a reference to a rather silly thread on another part of the forum.
Finally, my inquiry about your accountant was strictly a matter of my own curiosity about his/her reaction to seeing BTC transactions on your books. None of the CPAs I've spoken with have heard a thing about bitcoin.
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IMO bit-pay is a real bright spot in the bitcoin universe. Too bad they currently lack a plugin for your site's cart software.
Anyways, thanks again for sharing your thoughts/experiences here.
