Letting customers pay in their own currency lifts conversion. The work is all behind the checkout.
Billing in local currency removes the surprise conversion fee from the customer's card statement. Behind it, finance has to handle exchange rates, settlement timing, tax registration and reporting across several jurisdictions.
Display against settlement
Display currency is what the customer sees at checkout. Settlement currency is what reaches your bank. Processors convert at one point or the other, and the spread differs.
Decide whether each currency has its own fixed price or is converted from a base. Fixed local pricing is simpler to market and needs reviewing as rates move.
Prices and rounding
Price points land differently by market. €9 and $9 do not compete the same way. Set a local price rather than converting at the day's rate.
Write down the rounding rules for tax-inclusive regions. A rounding difference of a cent compounds across thousands of transactions.
- Keep a price list per supported currency
- Review FX-adjusted prices quarterly
- Show taxes and fees in the customer's locale
- Store both the transaction and the functional currency amount
Tax and paperwork
VAT, GST and US sales tax obligations vary by where the customer is and what you sell. A tax engine at checkout removes most filing errors.
Some countries require an invoice in the local language and format before a business customer can deduct it.
FX and reporting
Revenue recognized in your functional currency will differ from what you collected abroad. Track realized and unrealized FX gains and losses separately.
Treasury policy does the rest: holding balances in major currencies, or hedging the large exposures, protects margin when rates move sharply.
Written by the team at Ambivo, a business platform that keeps CRM, accounting and ERP on one customer record. This article is general guidance on the topic rather than a description of Ambivo features.