Settling a document in a different currency

A customer paying you in one currency can settle invoices you raised in another — one Singapore dollar receipt clearing US dollar invoices, or the other way round, or between two foreign currencies. The system works out the exchange difference for you.

Before you start

• Both currencies must be switched on — see Working in more than one currency. Needs Multi-Currency on your plan
• The invoices you want to settle must be confirmed, or there is nothing to match against.
• Know the rate the money actually converted at — your bank's rate, not today's published one.

Settle invoices in another currency

1. Open Cash Book›Receipt and click Add.
2. Pick the Customer, then the Currency the money actually arrived in and the Bank Account it went into.
3. Type the Amount Received — the sum that hit your account, in that account's currency.
4. In Trade Allocations, set Offset Currency to the currency the invoices were raised in. The list reloads with that currency's open documents.
5. Check the Settlement Rate. It is filled in for you; type over it with the rate your bank actually used.
6. Tick the invoices this money covers, or use Allocate All. Each row's Applied figure is in the invoice's currency.
7. Check Unallocated Balance — it is in the receipt's currency, and should be zero unless you mean to hold money on account.
8. Click Confirm.

Each invoice you matched becomes Partially Paid or Paid and drops off what the customer owes. Payments to a supplier work identically from Cash Book›Payment.

Two currencies, two figures

Every allocation row carries two amounts, and knowing which is which explains most of the screen.

• The amount settled is in the invoice's currency. It is what clears the invoice and what your outstanding-balance reports use.
• The amount consumed is in the receipt's currency. It is what comes off the money you received, and what Total Applied and Unallocated Balance add up.

So a row can settle 1,000 against the invoice while consuming 1,350 of your receipt. Neither is wrong — it is one settlement measured from each side.

The exchange difference

The invoice was recorded at the rate on the day it was raised; your money converted at a different one. The system records that gap as an exchange gain or loss when you confirm — you never enter it.

At period end, Cash Book›Currency Revaluation restates whatever is still outstanding at the closing rate.

Worth knowing

• One offset currency per receipt. You cannot settle US dollar and euro invoices on the same receipt. Record one receipt per currency you are settling.
• One settlement rate per receipt as well, so split a payment that genuinely converted at two rates into two receipts.
• An unallocated remainder stays in the receipt's currency as money held on account, and shows with an Advance marker in the list. Allocate it later against whatever invoice it belongs to.
• Bank charges go in Bank Charges, not netted off an invoice — the invoice then still clears in full and the cost stays visible.

What can stop you

• If Offset Currency offers nothing but the receipt's own currency, this customer has no open documents in any other currency.
• If an invoice you expect is missing from the list, it is not confirmed, or it is in a currency other than the one selected in Offset Currency.
• If confirming is refused because the total does not add up, your allocations consume more than the Amount Received. Use Clear All and match again.
• If Trade Allocations shows no currency choice at all, your plan does not include trading in more than one currency. Needs Multi-Currency on your plan
• If the bottom of the page reads Period Locked, the date falls in a closed month. See Financial Periods.
• If a settled document later refuses to change, the settlement is protecting a rounding difference already recorded against it. See Why can't I edit or delete this?