Budget in CAD and UAH: One Plan for Canada and Ukraine

Two countries, three amounts per purchase

A family that moved from Ukraine to Canada often runs money in both places for a while: a salary and rent in Canadian dollars, a monobank card and savings in hryvnias, maybe a US dollar or euro balance in Wise. A purchase in Kyiv has its amount in hryvnias, a value in dollars on the day you paid, and another value in dollars the day you total things up. A two-currency budget has to keep the first and convert only for totals.

The rule that keeps it clean

1. 01
   Each account in its own currency. A UAH card stays in hryvnias; its history is never rewritten in dollars.
2. 02
   One base currency for the totals. Net worth, monthly reports and analytics convert every account into it. The default in Finman is CAD; you can change it in settings.
3. 03
   Budgets have a currency of their own. A Groceries budget in CAD counts spending from a UAH account converted into CAD, so one category covers both countries.
4. 04
   Rates are dated estimates. They are for planning. The rate your bank or transfer service gives you can differ.

Where the CAD/UAH rate comes from

Finman stores exchange rates by date. They come from the National Bank of Ukraine (the Refresh rates button on the currency screen) and from Stooq market quotes, fetched when a rate is missing. For CAD, USD, EUR and UAH there is also a reserve table, so these four always convert and a total is never blocked by a missing hryvnia rate. For any other currency without a rate, the net worth screen names it, counts it 1:1 and marks the total as approximate.

Set up a CAD and UAH budget

1. 01
   Create the Canadian accounts in CAD. Import statements from RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, Tangerine, Wealthsimple Cash or EQ Bank as CSV, OFX or QFX files. See importing a bank statement.
2. 02
   Add the Ukrainian side in UAH. monobank connects with a personal token and creates its accounts in their own currencies; see the monobank guide. Cash and other banks can be typed in.
3. 03
   Add Wise or Revolut balances if you use them. Both CSV layouts have tested presets. Wise exports one file per currency balance, so import each into its own account.
4. 04
   Pick CAD as the base currency if your income and big bills are in Canada; keep UAH if most of your life is still there.
5. 05
   Use one set of categories for both countries. Groceries is Groceries in Toronto and in Lviv, so budgets and reports add up.
6. 06
   Give transfer fees their own category. Conversion and transfer fees then show as one line each month.

Money you send home

Money sent from your Canadian account to a family member’s card leaves your budget, so record it as an expense in a category of its own (for example “Family support”); you can then set a monthly budget for it like any other line. Moving money between two of your own accounts in different currencies is a transfer: Finman credits the other side at its rate for that date. The rate and fees your bank or money app actually used can make the real amount differ, and a cross-currency transfer amount cannot be edited afterwards, so delete and re-enter it if it needs correcting.

Limits to know

1. 01
   Converted totals are estimates. They move with rates and are not a quote for moving money.
2. 02
   Tax and FX advice. When to convert, and how income or savings in two countries is taxed, are questions for a professional.
3. 03
   Plans after the beta. Everything is free during the open beta. After it, the Free plan stays at $0 with accounts and transactions, budgets and goals, and CSV import, and Pro ($9 a month) adds the AI finance assistant, bank sync and anomaly detection. See pricing.

The interface is in English, Ukrainian and Russian. For the full method across any currencies, see multi-currency budgeting.

Related reading: Newcomer budget in Canada · Monobank budget app · Multi-currency budgeting · Finance app for digital nomads · Finman in Canada