Find out how to set up additional reporting currency in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Originally published in H1 2019 NAVUG Magazine
This article explains how to make a difference in your company TODAY by setting up additional reporting currency in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Your company may benefit from this function, particularly if you need to report to a parent company in a currency (e.g., EUR) different than your local one (e.g., CAD). This function can help by saving you time and showing the most up-to-date balances/net changes (in the local (LCY) and/or foreign currency ($)) on your chart of accounts AND financial reports. This is achieved by automating some processes required to obtain amounts in a currency other than LCY or to align the amount in $ with LCY.
It is worth mentioning that the companies that use consolidation entities require a separate set-up that goes beyond the scope of this post. In order to make the Additional Reporting Currency function work, it is necessary to set up the following four areas:
- Currency Card
- G/L Account Card
- General Ledger Setup
- Adjust Exchange Rate function (Batch Job)
- Realized G/L Gains Account
- Realized G/L Losses Account
- Residual Gains Account
- Residual Losses Account
These accounts are required for the system to be able to do the background posting if necessary.
Currency Card
Screenshot 1 shows the List, the Card, and the FastTab that are required. Next it is necessary to go to the Chart of Accounts List (Search Box or Departments> Financial Management> General Ledger> Chart of Accounts in the Departments). On a “G/L Account” Card, under the “Reporting” FastTab, the following three options are available:
G/L Account Card
- No Adjustment – if this option is selected, when the “Adjust Exchange Rate” Job Batch is ran, (even if the “Adjust G/L Accounts for Add.-Reporting Currency” option is selected), the system will NOT update any amounts on these G/L Accounts.
- Adjust Amount – if this option is selected, when the “Adjust Exchange Rate” Job Batch is ran, the system will only adjust the LCY amounts on these G/L Accounts.
- Adjust Additional-Currency Amount – if this option is selected, when you run the “Adjust Exchange Rate” Job Batch, the system will only adjust the $ amounts on these G/L Accounts.
Depending on a company’s needs, G/L Account purpose, and Type, different options can be useful. Users may find the third option most useful in most cases. The “Adjust Amount” and “Adjust Additional-Currency Amount” options should only be used on G/L Accounts of Type “Posting”; using them on G/L Accounts of Type “End Total” will cause an error upon running the “Adjust Exchange Rate” Job Batch.
Next, the system needs the General Ledger Setup to be updated. This can be accessed by typing “General Ledger Setup” in the Search Box or by going to Departments> Financial Management> Setup> Administration> General Ledger Setup in the Departments.
The Field of interest here is Additional Reporting Currency, which is located on the Reporting FastTab:
General Ledger Setup Page
Screenshot 3 shows the Field in question must be filled out with the Currency Code that is going to be the company’s Additional Reporting Currency. When a Currency is selected, the system displays a warning message. It is the responsibility of the User to make sure that benefits of taking this step outweigh any negative outcomes (if any). Essentially the system warns that:
- If another Additional Reporting Currency has been used before, from now on, G/L Entries will be posted in the new one, AND
- Analysis View Reports (Analysis by Dimension) will have to be updated next time a User needs to run them.
If the User accepts, the system will automatically open a dialogue window to run the function that recalculates already posted G/L entries in the newly selected Additional Reporting Currency.
Additional Reporting Currency Warning Message and Batch Job
Screenshot 4 shows the warning message and the dialogue window: The three fields that are required on this dialogue window are:
- Additional Reporting Currency (already selected based on the selection on the General Ledger Setup),
- Document No. – this is the description that will help Users identify the G/L Entries that will be the result of running this Job Batch, and
- Retained Earnings Acc. – The Job Batch above will use the most up-to-date rates available on the “Currencies” List (“Rates” button in the Ribbon).
This completes the setup of the “Additional Reporting Currency” function. The only remaining point concerns maintenance. When the Additional Currency Exchange Rates need to be updated, it is necessary to go to the “Currencies” list and to click on the “Adjust Exchange Rates” button in the Ribbon as shown:
Adjust Exchange Rate Job Batch
Often, companies update Additional Currency Exchange Rates together with Customer, Vendor, and Bank Account rates. However, it can also be done separately, if need be. What is important is that the “Adjust G/L Accounts for Add.-Reporting Currency” Field must be checked off. The “Document No.” (this is the description that the system will assign to the related G/L Entries) and other Fields can be adjusted as required based on the company’s needs.
