Report expenses in a foreign currency

You can report expenses in currencies other than the workspace currency. EMDESK converts the amount into the workspace currency and keeps the original amount. Your financial statements are then in euro, and every converted amount can be traced back to the original invoice.

Choose the method that your grant agreement requires

Your funding programme decides how costs in other currencies are converted into euro. Check the article on currency conversion in your grant agreement (in Horizon Europe: Article 21.3) and use the matching method in EMDESK:

EMDESK offers the currencies for which the European Central Bank publishes daily reference rates. If your currency is not in the list, convert the amount as required by your grant agreement (in EU grants: the average of the monthly InforEuro rates over the reporting period), enter it in the workspace currency and keep the calculation with your supporting documents.

Report an expense in a foreign currency

Open the Expenses section. You can choose a foreign currency while you report a new expense or when you edit an existing one.

1. Click the currency label below the amount, for example Cost (€).

   

2. A drop-down menu with the available currencies appears. Select the currency that you paid in. The Book in foreign currency dialog opens.

   

3. Enter the amount in the foreign currency.
4. If required, change the currency in the Currency drop-down menu.
5. Choose an exchange rate option and enter the date, the dates or the rate. See The three exchange rate options below.
6. Click Save. The amount is converted into the workspace currency with the method that you chose.
7. Click Save in the sidebar to save the expense.

The three exchange rate options

In the Book in foreign currency dialog, choose one of three options under Exchange Rate. The numbers in the screenshots match the steps.

Date

Use Date when the cost is converted with the ECB rate of one day, for example the invoice date or the payment date.

1. Click Date.
2. Choose the date.
3. Click the calculate icon next to the date.
4. EMDESK shows the rate, for example R$ 1 = € 0.1677.
5. The converted amount appears below the currency, for example Cost (R$) = € 197.96.
6. Click Save.

If no rate is published for the date (a weekend, a holiday or a date in the future), EMDESK uses the most recent rate before it. An info icon next to the rate shows which date was used.

Time Period

Use Time Period for the average rate over several months. In EU grants, beneficiaries whose accounts are not in euro enter the first and the last day of the reporting period.

1. Click Time Period.
2. Choose the start date and the end date. The period can be up to three years long.
3. Click the calculate icon.
4. EMDESK shows the average rate for the period.
5. The converted amount appears below the currency.
6. Click Save.

The end date may lie in the future. EMDESK then uses the most recent rate for the missing days and updates the amount every night until all rates are published.

Custom Rate

Use Custom Rate when you must use a rate that EMDESK does not retrieve, for example the rate of your bank or the InforEuro rate for Interreg.

1. Click Custom Rate.
2. Enter the value of 1 unit of the foreign currency in the workspace currency, for example 0.1675 for R$ 1 = € 0.1675. If your source shows € 1 = R$ 5.97, enter 1 divided by 5.97.
3. The converted amount appears below the currency.
4. Click Save.

A custom rate is never changed automatically.

How EMDESK updates converted amounts

EMDESK uses the euro reference rates of the European Central Bank (ECB) and retrieves new rates every night.

• With Date or Time Period, the date or the end of the period may lie in the future. For days without a published rate, EMDESK uses the most recent rate.
• Each night, EMDESK recalculates the converted amount of saved expenses with the new rates, until all rates for the date or period are published. You do not need to open or save the expense again. This also applies to expenses in a locked reporting period.
• A Custom Rate is never changed automatically.

You can therefore report expenses during the reporting period, and the amounts reach the final average rate on their own after the period has ended.

Check the converted amounts before you report

Prepare your financial statement after the end of the reporting period. The ECB publishes the rate for the last day on the next working day, and EMDESK updates the amounts in the following night.

To see the original amounts, open the Expenses table, click Table Settings and show these columns:

• Direct Costs (Foreign Currency): the amount in the foreign currency.
• Currency (Foreign Currency)
• Exchange Rate (Foreign Currency): the rate that EMDESK used.
• Date (Foreign Currency) and End Date (Foreign Currency): the date or the period of the conversion.

With these columns you can check that all expenses of a reporting period use the same period, and show auditors how each amount was converted.

Update or remove a foreign currency conversion

Open the expense in the Expenses section.

1. Click the currency label below the amount. A drop-down menu with the currencies appears.

   

2. Click the pencil icon next to the active currency to open the Book in foreign currency dialog again.
3. Change the settings and click Save.

To remove the conversion, open the dialog in the same way and click Remove conversion and confirm.

Costs that you enter in the workspace currency

• Personnel costs calculated from a cost rate: cost rates are always in the workspace currency. Enter the cost rates in euro.
• Imported expenses: the Excel import reads the amount in the workspace currency. To convert an imported expense, open it and add the foreign currency as described above.