Maintain exchange rates

When your company deals in more than one currency, keep a dated rate for each currency pair. Each rate applies from its effective date until a newer one takes over, so the rate for any past date stays available for checks and conversions.

Before you start

• The currencies must exist first. Your administrator adds them under Administration › Organization › Currencies.

• The Exchange rates screen has no entry in the standard menu. Open it by adding /s/accounting.exchange-rates.index to your workspace address, or ask your administrator for the link, and bookmark it.

Add a rate

1. Open the Exchange rates screen and select New rate.

2. Choose the currency in From and the currency in To. They must be different.

3. Enter the Rate: how many units of the To currency one unit of the From currency buys. For example, From USD To EGP with a rate of 48.5.

4. Set the Effective date, the first day the rate applies.

5. Choose the Type: official, market or manual. It is a label for your own reference.

6. Optional: enter the Source, such as the central bank bulletin, and any Notes.

7. Leave Active on, then select Save.

Each pair can have one rate per effective date. To change the rate for a date that already has one, open the row's actions menu and select Edit. Select Delete to remove a rate you entered by mistake.

Which rate the system uses

For a pair and a date, the system takes the most recent Active rate whose effective date is on or before that date. If the pair has no rate but the reverse pair does, for example EGP to USD, it uses the inverse of that rate. Switch Active off to stop a rate from being used without deleting it.

Convert an amount

The Quick convert card at the top of the screen checks a rate before you use it.

1. Choose From and To. The Current rate for the pair appears at once, or a message tells you there is no rate for this pair.

2. Enter the Amount and, if you need a past rate, a Date.

3. Select Convert. The converted amount appears with the rate used.

Find and export rates

Filter the list by the From or To currency, the Type, active or inactive, or one Effective date, or search the source and notes. Use Export to download the list as Excel or PDF.

Import rates from a file

For many rates at once, use the import screen. Like the list, it has no menu entry: add /s/accounting.exchange-rates.import to your workspace address.

1. Select Download template to get the CSV file with its column headings.

2. Fill one row per rate: the from currency code, the to currency code, the effective date, the rate, and optionally the type (official, market or manual) and the source.

3. Select Choose file, pick your file (CSV, up to 2 MB), then select Upload.

The result shows how many rows were imported and how many failed. A row fails when a currency code is not found or the date cannot be read. When a row matches an existing rate for the same pair and date, the import updates that rate instead of adding a second one. Imported rates are active.

Common questions

Does saving a rate change any amounts in the books? No. Rates are reference data. Nothing is posted when you add, edit or import them.

Why does Quick convert say there is no rate? Neither the pair nor its reverse has an active rate on or before the date you chose. Add one with an earlier effective date.