Manage exchange rates
The FX Rates page shows the exchange rates Sales Scribe has stored for converting between currencies. This guide explains where the rates come from, how they are worked out, how to view them, and — importantly — why you should always treat them as a guide and check the rate when it matters.
Before you begin
- You need to be signed in with the organisation selected.
- Go to Payments → FX Rates in the left-hand menu. (FX Rates sits under Payments, not under the Settings hub.)
Where the rates come from
Sales Scribe refreshes its stored rates every night from the European Central Bank (ECB) daily reference feed — the ECB's published euro foreign-exchange reference rates. You never type these rates in by hand: the FX Rates page is a read-only list of what has been stored.
The ECB publishes its rates against the euro — for example, "1 EUR = 1.17 USD". Sales Scribe takes those euro rates and works out every other currency pair for you by converting through the euro (a "cross rate"). So a GBP → USD rate, for instance, is calculated from the euro's rate against each of those two currencies. Every rate is stored with the date the ECB published it (its effective date), and older rates are kept so past documents can still be valued.
Nightly, not live. The ECB publishes its reference rates once each working day — there are no new rates at weekends or on ECB holidays, so the last published rate carries over. Sales Scribe stores the most recent published rate each night. It is a daily snapshot, not a live market feed.
A guide, not a guaranteed rate — always check
Important — treat the stored rate as a suggestion, not the rate you will actually get. ECB reference rates are published once a day for information only. The real market moves continuously, and your bank or payment provider will apply its own rate and fees. By the time you raise or settle a document, the true rate will almost certainly have moved on from the one shown here.
Always check the rate that actually applies — from your bank, your payment provider, or the payment you received — before you rely on a converted figure. Where it matters, set the correct rate on the document itself (see below) so your books reflect what really happened rather than an indicative daily average.
View the stored rates
The page lists each rate with:
- Base Currency and Target Currency — the currency pair.
- Rate — the stored conversion rate.
- Effective Date — the date the rate was published for.
- Age — how recent the rate is. Keep an eye on this: a rate that is several days old (over a weekend, say, or if the nightly update has not run) is more likely to be out of date.
You can narrow the list with the filters:
- Base Currency and Target Currency drop-downs.
- Latest per pair only — show just the most recent rate for each pair (on by default).
- Active currencies only — limit the list to currencies in use.
Select Apply to filter, or Reset to clear. You can also export the list using the export buttons above the table.
[Screenshot required: FX Rates page showing the filters and the rates table]
How a rate is applied to a document
When you create a document in a currency other than your functional currency, Sales Scribe suggests the appropriate stored rate for the document's date and fixes it on that document. The rate is then held on the document so its converted figures never change afterwards — which is exactly why it is worth making sure the rate is right at the time.
Override the rate on an invoice
If you need a different rate on a particular invoice — for example to match the rate your bank actually used — you can override it on that invoice using its repricing / FX audit option, while the invoice is still a draft. The override applies only to that document, and is the recommended way to make your books match reality rather than relying on the suggested daily rate.
What happens next
- The stored rate (or your override) is used to convert the document's totals into your functional currency for your reports and ledger.
- When a foreign-currency invoice is later paid at a different rate, Sales Scribe records a realised exchange gain or loss automatically. See the payments guide on foreign-currency payments.
Important notes
Note: The FX Rates page cannot be edited directly. To change the rate used on a specific document, override it on that document rather than looking for an edit button here.
If the rates look stale: the nightly import runs outside the app. If the newest Effective Date is several days old, ask your administrator to check that the nightly rate update is running — and in the meantime, enter the correct rate on the document yourself.