BigTime’s multi-currency for invoicing and billing sub-feature can automatically convert your firm’s home currency into any foreign currency you choose. It does this by pulling exchange rates for each currency on a daily basis from xe.com, and then using those rates to give you the most accurate conversion between your currencies.
It may so happen that you need an exchange rate that differs from the one BigTime pulls for you. This could happen if you want to record a historical exchange rate or one from a specific date other than the one BigTime references. There are multiple ways to do this. If you want to edit the exchange rate for just one currency, first open the EDIT CURRENCY window for that currency by clicking the hyperlinked name of the currency from your currency list. You’ll see two fields where you can edit the exchange rate between your base currency and the foreign currency selected. Type your new values into their respective text boxes, and then click SAVE to save your changes.
Another way to edit exchange rates is from your invoice creation window. This makes sense if you need to change the exchange rate for just one invoice. Follow the steps to create a draft invoice, and then look for the EXCHANGE RATE field at the bottom of your invoice finalization screen. Here, you can type the new exchange rate between your base currency and the home currency of the client you’re invoicing for. You’ll see the amount in your base currency SUBTOTAL field change to reflect your new exchange rate. Click SAVE CHANGES to save your updated invoice, and then follow the same steps you would to submit any other invoice.
Finally, you can update the exchange rates for all your foreign currencies at once. You may need to do this if you want all your currencies to reflect exchange rates for the same specific date. Go to your currency list and click the UPDATE FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES button located next to your ADD CURRENCY button.
This will open a new window where you can bulk edit the exchange rates for all your currencies.
The way you can do this is by adding a new date to the EFFECTIVE DATE field. Click the CALENDAR icon on the right side of this field, and choose a new date from the dropdown calendar that appears.
When choosing a new effective date, keep in mind that any date you choose has to be after the latest end date for any of your currencies. As an example, let’s say your firm uses five currencies to invoice and bill. Four of your currencies have exchange rate end dates set for January 31st, but one of them has an end date set at February 3rd. This means that, even though the rest of your currencies have an earlier end date, you can’t pull a new rate from any time earlier than February 3rd. You’ll see the option to choose any date before February 3rd will be locked.
NOTE: To learn more about date ranges with multi-currency for invoicing, read this article.
After selecting your new date in the EFFECTIVE DATE field, click the blue button labeled GET MARKET RATES to apply the new date to your currencies. You’ll see the list in this window update to reflect the new exchange rates for that date.
Click the SAVE button at the bottom of the UPDATE FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES window to save your changes.
