Skip to main content

Foreign Currency

Complete guide to foreign currency period-end procedures including revaluation and exchange rate management.


Overview

FOREIGN CURRENCY CLOSE PROCESS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

TRANSACTION PERIOD-END
─────────── ──────────

Record transaction ─────────►│ Translation at
at transaction rate │ transaction date


Exchange rate changes ──────►│ Unrealized gain/loss
during period │ accumulates


Period-end revaluation ─────►│ Calculate gain/loss
│ Post to GL


Financial Statements
(at closing rate)

Exchange Rate Management

Setting Up Exchange Rates

Navigate to: Lists > Accounting > Currency Exchange Rates

EXCHANGE RATE TABLE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Base Currency: USD

Currency Effective Date Exchange Rate Source
──────── ────────────── ───────────── ──────
EUR 01/31/2026 1.0850 Manual
GBP 01/31/2026 1.2650 Manual
JPY 01/31/2026 0.0067 Manual
CAD 01/31/2026 0.7425 Manual

Rate Type:
○ Current Rate (spot rate)
● Historical Rate (for specific date)
○ Average Rate (period average)

Rate Entry Methods

MethodDescriptionUse Case
Manual EntryUser enters ratesSmall volume
Scheduled ImportCSV file importDaily rates
IntegrationAPI from rate providerReal-time

Rate Types

TypeDescriptionUsed For
Current/SpotRate at specific dateBalance sheet items
HistoricalRate when transaction occurredFixed assets, equity
AveragePeriod average rateIncome statement
ConsolidatedRate for consolidationMulti-subsidiary

Revalue Open Foreign Currency Balances

What Gets Revalued

REVALUATION SCOPE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

INCLUDED (Monetary Items):
├── Accounts Receivable (open invoices in foreign currency)
├── Accounts Payable (open bills in foreign currency)
├── Bank Accounts (in foreign currency)
├── Intercompany Balances
└── Foreign Currency Loans

EXCLUDED (Non-Monetary Items):
├── Fixed Assets (historical rate)
├── Inventory (historical rate)
├── Prepaid Expenses (historical rate)
└── Equity (historical rate)

Revaluation Process

FX REVALUATION STEPS
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Prerequisites:
✓ Lock A/R (complete)
✓ Lock A/P (complete)
✓ Lock All (complete)
✓ Exchange rates entered for period-end

Navigation:
Setup > Accounting > Manage GL > Period Close Checklist
→ Revalue Open Foreign Currency Balances

Configuration:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Subsidiary: All / Specific │
│ As of Date: 01/31/2026 │
│ Accounts: ☑ A/R ☑ A/P ☑ Bank │
│ │
│ Exchange Rate: Current Rate Table │
│ Post to: Unrealized FX Gain/Loss Account │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Process:
1. Click "Preview" to see expected adjustments
2. Review gain/loss amounts
3. Click "Revalue" to post journal entries

Revaluation Example

REVALUATION CALCULATION EXAMPLE
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Open Invoice: €10,000

Original Recording (01/15/2026):
Rate: 1.0800 (€1 = $1.08)
USD Value: $10,800

Period-End Rate (01/31/2026):
Rate: 1.0850 (€1 = $1.085)
USD Value: $10,850

Unrealized Gain: $50

Revaluation Journal Entry:
Accounts Receivable $50 Dr
Unrealized FX Gain $50 Cr

Realized vs Unrealized Gains/Losses

Comparison

REALIZED VS UNREALIZED FX
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

UNREALIZED (Revaluation) REALIZED (Settlement)
──────────────────────── ────────────────────────

When: Period-end When: Payment/receipt

Example: Example:
Invoice €10,000 Invoice €10,000
Original: $10,800 Original: $10,800
Period-end: $10,850 Payment: $10,900
───────────────── ─────────────────
Unrealized Gain: $50 Realized Gain: $100

Entry: Entry:
A/R $50 Dr Cash $10,900 Dr
Unreal Gain $50 Cr A/R $10,800 Cr
Real Gain $100 Cr

Impact: Impact:
• Temporary (reverses) • Permanent
• Balance sheet only • Hits P&L

GL Accounts

Account TypeDescriptionStatement
Unrealized FX GainRevaluation gainsP&L (below operating)
Unrealized FX LossRevaluation lossesP&L (below operating)
Realized FX GainSettlement gainsP&L (below operating)
Realized FX LossSettlement lossesP&L (below operating)
Cumulative Translation AdjConsolidation FXEquity (OCI)

Multi-Currency GL Accounts

Account Currency Settings

ACCOUNT CURRENCY CONFIGURATION
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Account: 1100 - Cash (Operating)

Settings:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Account Currency: USD │
│ Revalue Open Balance: ☑ Yes │
│ Eliminate IC: ☐ No │
│ │
│ Sub-accounts (by currency): │
│ 1100.EUR - Cash EUR │
│ 1100.GBP - Cash GBP │
│ 1100.JPY - Cash JPY │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Each sub-account tracks balances in native currency
Revaluation adjusts to base currency equivalent

Consolidated Exchange Rates (OneWorld)

Rate Calculation

CONSOLIDATED EXCHANGE RATE CALCULATION
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

For multi-subsidiary consolidation:

Parent Currency: USD

Subsidiary Local Currency Rate Type
────────── ────────────── ─────────
US Operations USD N/A (same)
UK Operations GBP Current Rate
Germany EUR Current Rate
Japan JPY Current Rate

Period-End Consolidated Rates:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Currency BS Rate IS Rate │
│ ──────── ─────── ─────── │
│ GBP 1.2650 1.2580 (average) │
│ EUR 1.0850 1.0820 (average) │
│ JPY 0.0067 0.0066 (average) │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Calculate Consolidated Rates Task

CALCULATE CONSOLIDATED RATES
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Navigation: Period Close Checklist > Calculate Consolidated Rates

Prerequisites:
✓ All subsidiaries have currency rates entered
✓ FX Revaluation complete for all subs

Process:
1. System calculates weighted average rates
2. Balance sheet uses period-end rates
3. Income statement uses average rates
4. CTA (Cumulative Translation Adjustment) calculated

Result:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Consolidated Rates Calculated │
│ │
│ Period: Jan 2026 │
│ Subsidiaries Processed: 4 │
│ CTA Adjustment: $12,500 (to Equity) │
│ │
│ Status: ✓ Complete │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Revaluation History Report

REVALUATION HISTORY
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Navigation: Reports > Banking > Revaluation History

Output:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Period: Jan 2026 │
├────────────────┬────────────┬───────────┬───────────┬───────────┤
│ Account │ Currency │ Original │ Revalued │ Gain/Loss │
├────────────────┼────────────┼───────────┼───────────┼───────────┤
│ 1200 A/R │ EUR │ $108,000 │ $108,500 │ $500 G │
│ 1200 A/R │ GBP │ $63,250 │ $63,000 │ ($250) L │
│ 2000 A/P │ EUR │ ($54,000) │ ($54,250) │ ($250) L │
│ 1100 Cash │ JPY │ $6,700 │ $6,650 │ ($50) L │
├────────────────┼────────────┼───────────┼───────────┼───────────┤
│ TOTAL │ │ │ │ ($50) L │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

FX Gain/Loss Report

FX GAIN/LOSS SUMMARY
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Period: Jan 2026

Realized Unrealized Total
──────── ────────── ─────
A/R $1,200 $500 $1,700
A/P ($800) ($250) ($1,050)
Bank $350 ($50) $300
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
Net $750 $200 $950

Accounts Used:
4500 - Realized FX Gain/Loss: $750
4510 - Unrealized FX Gain/Loss: $200

Best Practices

FX Management

PracticeRecommendation
Rate timingEnter rates before revaluation
ConsistencySame rate source each period
DocumentationRecord rate sources
ReviewCompare to prior period
MaterialityFocus on significant currencies

Common Issues

IssueCauseResolution
Missing ratesRate not enteredEnter rate for period
Wrong accountNot marked for revalCheck account settings
Large FX varianceRate volatilityDocument and explain
CTA imbalanceConsolidation issueReview sub close sequence