Create an exchange rate
Updated
Create an exchange rate when documents must convert this currency through the base. Each row is one currency's Rate to base in a date window.
Note
Save writes no journal. A later document stamps a number from this list; it does not keep a link to the row. Realised and unrealised differences are posted later — Post exchange differences.
How to#
To create an exchange rate, open Ribbon → Common → Dictionaries → Exchange rates.
Press New. Pick Currency. Fill Rate to base. Fill Effective from. Effective to can stay empty: the window stays open. Save. The card receives an ID and the row appears in Exchange rates. The ledger is unchanged.
A new card may already have Currency and Effective from filled. Change them when they are not what you need.
Currency, Rate to base, and Effective from are required. Rate to base is how much of the base currency one unit of this currency is worth. It must be greater than zero. The base is whichever currency has Rate to base 1. That is not a setting you pick.
To convert an amount from one currency to another, take the from-currency's Rate to base and divide by the to-currency's Rate to base. If the base is 1, EUR is 45, and USD is 41, then 41 EUR is 45 USD.
Empty Effective to leaves the window open. Effective to must not be before Effective from. Windows of one currency must not overlap: the rate on a date is one row. Gaps between windows are allowed. A date with no window has no rate — not zero.
Then a document dated inside the window stamps that number as Exchange rate. Until a document posts, the ledger stays as it was.
Example
Saudi Riyal is the base (Rate to base 1). US Dollar on the stand is 3.75. After you create a currency that has no window yet:
- Currency that new currency
- Rate to base 2
- Effective from 2026-10-01
- Effective to empty
Save. One unit of that currency is worth 2 of the base from 1 October 2026 onward. The ledger is still unchanged.
Tip
No bank feed fills these rows. You type each window. A gap is lawful; a document dated in a gap has no rate.
If the command refuses#
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The command asks for the rate currency | Pick Currency. |
| The command says Rate to base must be greater than zero (it shows the value you entered) | Enter a positive Rate to base. Zero and a negative number are refused. |
| The command says Effective to is before Effective from (it shows both dates) | Set Effective to on or after Effective from, or leave Effective to empty. |
| The command says two rate windows for the same currency overlap (it shows both windows) | Close or move one window so they do not overlap. Only one rate may apply on a given date. |
See also