Getting Help

BGL News & Events

Subscriptions

Register for Training

Connect with BGL

Resources

Foreign Exchange Transactions

 

Foreign Transaction Import

Foreign currency conversion is supported using The BGL XML importer (Bank Transaction type only). Transactions can be recorded in the file in the international rate and Simple Fund 360 will convert upon upload. Refer to BGL Excel (XML) Import for more. 

Note

BGL do not provide accounting or taxation advice. The following is designed to act as a guide for Simple Fund 360 users. It is not designed to be accounting or tax advice and should not be taken as a strict guideline. Other methods that are more suitable may be used instead of these steps.

Transactions must be recorded in Australian Dollars (AUD) in Simple Fund 360.

Under the ATO's general translation rule, all tax-relevant amounts (income, expenses, obligation, consideration, values, payments and receipts) that are denominated in a foreign currency must be translated into Australian currency. This enables all gains and losses to be calculated using a common unit of measurement – the Australian dollar.

Foreign exchange (forex) regulations have been made which may allow for the translation of foreign currency amounts into Australian currency or an applicable functional currency using:

  • average rates
  • daily rates, or
  • rates consistent with the rates used in the preparation of an audited financial report.

Please refer to the ATO Website for more information. 

Where can I find foreign exchange rates ?

The Foreign Currency screen provides you with the ability to search for currencies and their exchange rates for specific dates.

 

BGL has opted to use the official end of day exchange rates from the RBA instead of those provided by the ATO.

 

This is due to the ATO not providing daily rates, not providing timely data, not providing daily rates older than 2 years and not providing data which is easily machine readable. You will have the ability to overwrite the conversion rate

 

Alternatively, average rates are published to the Tax Office website. Here you can find lists of exchange rates for selected countries including average monthly and yearly rates. Alternatively, you can use appropriate exchange rates provided by a banking institution operating in Australia including, where relevant, the banking institution through which your foreign income is received. You can also use rates published by another reliable external source. The rate used and the source of rates should be kept with your records. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) provides official exchange rates on its Website 

How to record Foreign Bank Accounts

You can create a bank account as per normal through the Chart of Accounts.

Check out the help on how to create a Bank Account in Simple Fund 360. Click Here.

 

How to record a Foreign Exchange Gain or Loss

Step 1.

Create expense and income accounts to record the foreign currency losses and gains respectively.

The expense account needs to be created within the 3000 range and income account needs to be within the 2000 range in the Chart of Accounts.

For detailed instructions on how to add an expense or income account in Simple Fund 360, refer to the help. Click here.

 

Step 2.

Currently in Simple Fund 360 you will need to manually calculate the Foreign exchange gain or Loss.

Simple Fund 360 can assist you with any calculations. See Foreign Currency.

Step 3. 

From the Main Toolbar, go to Accounting.

Select Transaction list from the list.

Select the New Transaction.

Select Journal.

From the General Journal screen post adjustments to asset/investment and Debit/Credit the expense or income account which were created in Step 1.

For example:

A Foreign Exchange Gain would result in the following transaction:

AccountUnitsDebit ($)Credit ($)
BankN/A$500 
2000 range account - Forex GainN/A $500

A Foreign Exchange Loss would result in the following transaction: 

AccountUnitsDebit ($)Credit ($)
3000 range account - Forex LossN/A$300  
BankN/A $300