Foreign Currency.. How Do You Deal With It?

[Gemma Rowlands]

If you have clients who wish to pay in foreign currency, how do you deal with this? Do you have to account for any other charges? I try to make sure that all clients, even those from America, pay in GBP. However there are some who insist on paying in dollars. My bank charges a small fee for accepting such payments, but are there any ways to avoid this?

 

[YrHenOgledd]

Open a business account in the currency or currencies you accept. Then you get to decide when and how often you transfer to your GDP account. This is what I do (I have customers who pay in EUR).

There are people who advocate using Forex companies, but AFAIK they don't offer the protection that a bank does, i.e. if the Forex company goes bust while your money is in transit ...

 

[Pete Brindle]

We have only ever had this issue once, when a client from overseas (she wanted a taster session for her daughter, who was trying to make a decision about whether she would be happy to move to the country from Spain) wanted to pay me in Euros. I stated my price, and showed her the most local and cheapest place to get the currency converted. I only accept our currency - nothing else.

 

[Gemma Rowlands]

We have only ever had this issue once, when a client from overseas (she wanted a taster session for her daughter, who was trying to make a decision about whether she would be happy to move to the country from Spain) wanted to pay me in Euros. I stated my price, and showed her the most local and cheapest place to get the currency converted. I only accept our currency - nothing else.

It is a little strange that she is in the country without changing the money already really!

 

[Pete Brindle]

It is a little strange that she is in the country without changing the money already really!

I know, but the good news is that at least the lesson went well, and the girl is now on our books and thriving!

 

[Jennie Stamp]

Hi Gemma, I thought you might be interested to hear that we have just introduced multi-currency banking in FreeAgent. Users now have the option to record bank accounts in a foreign currency. Thought this might be quite useful in these situations

http://www.freeagent.com/central/multi-currency-banking-arrives?utm_campaign=cptag_co_multicurrencybanking_article__sbf_outreach&utm_source=SBF&utm_medium=outreach

 

[Gemma Rowlands]

Hi Gemma, I thought you might be interested to hear that we have just introduced multi-currency banking in FreeAgent. Users now have the option to record bank accounts in a foreign currency. Thought this might be quite useful in these situations

http://www.freeagent.com/central/multi-currency-banking-arrives?utm_campaign=cptag_co_multicurrencybanking_article__sbf_outreach&utm_source=SBF&utm_medium=outreach

Thanks Jennie that looks like it will prove to be very useful indeed!

 

[Jennie Stamp]

Thanks Jennie that looks like it will prove to be very useful indeed!

You're very welcome. As well as banking, our invoicing is also multi-currency which could be very useful for you.

 

[Lauren Turner]

I occasionally get people asking whether they would be able to pay in Euros, and even dollars on very very odd occasions. If I am posting orders out then they pay via PayPal which isn't an issue as obviously they then convert the money for me. If people want to pay I will accept common currencies that I know the rough exchange rate for. I keep the euros because we go to France a lot so I can always use them there, and then I just leave the dollars. I'm sure to go to America some day and it will be nice to have some spending money. I hardly get any dollars at all though so it's really not a problem.

 

[Gemma Rowlands]

I occasionally get people asking whether they would be able to pay in Euros, and even dollars on very very odd occasions. If I am posting orders out then they pay via PayPal which isn't an issue as obviously they then convert the money for me. If people want to pay I will accept common currencies that I know the rough exchange rate for. I keep the euros because we go to France a lot so I can always use them there, and then I just leave the dollars. I'm sure to go to America some day and it will be nice to have some spending money. I hardly get any dollars at all though so it's really not a problem.

Nothing's worse than getting paid in a currency and then exchanging it, only to find that the rate was nothing like what you thought you were charging. I have been on the wrong end of that process a number of times, and it's horrible. You're right though, if you're going to the country and you know that you're not selling yourself short then it's worth a go accepting the payments.

 

[Pete Brindle]

I occasionally get people asking whether they would be able to pay in Euros, and even dollars on very very odd occasions. If I am posting orders out then they pay via PayPal which isn't an issue as obviously they then convert the money for me. If people want to pay I will accept common currencies that I know the rough exchange rate for. I keep the euros because we go to France a lot so I can always use them there, and then I just leave the dollars. I'm sure to go to America some day and it will be nice to have some spending money. I hardly get any dollars at all though so it's really not a problem.

To be honest I'd be careful about that, because exchange rates can change, so if you don't go abroad for a few years you might find that it's worth much less than you thought. It works the other way round obviously, in that it could be worth more, but it's a bit of a risk, especially if you're in the early days of trying to build up a viable business.

 

[Mike Turner]

To be honest I'd be careful about that, because exchange rates can change, so if you don't go abroad for a few years you might find that it's worth much less than you thought. It works the other way round obviously, in that it could be worth more, but it's a bit of a risk, especially if you're in the early days of trying to build up a viable business.

We do go quite a lot to Europe, so the Euros aren't a problem at all. And the amounts she's talking are rather small anyway to be honest, nothing that I would bother worrying about exchange rates for, or anything like that.

 

[florri]

Do you bill the amount to pay in what currency? The fact is that international payments are made at the interbank rate. still need to know the bank terms in which your account is. What size of the commission does the bank charge for international settlements?

 

[highlandspring]

It will be interesting to see how volative the pound is now we have more certainty with Brexit.