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Setting Up Currency Conversion

This section discusses how to set up exchange rates and includes related background information. It includes the following topics:

• Setting Up Exchange Rates. You must set up exchange rates used to convert currencies.
• Understanding the Euro and Triangulation. If a currency is part of the European Monetary Union, you convert it to other currencies through the Euro.
• Currency Conversion Functionality. The currency conversion rates that you set up are used by a number of features of Siebel applications.

Setting Up Exchange Rates

After you have set up your currencies, but before you use any currency features or import data with foreign currencies, you must set up exchange rates that are used to convert currencies.

If you fail to set up an exchange rate, currency is converted on a 1:1 basis. This means that the amount stays the same but the currency symbol changes.

NOTE:  To calculate exchanges between currencies, you must set up an exchange rate twice—one for each currency. For instance, if you want to calculate exchange rates between U.S. dollars and Japanese yen, you must set up an exchange rate for yen to dollars, and set up another rate for dollars to yen.

To set up exchange rates

1. Navigate to Administration - Data screen > Currencies view.
2. In the Currencies list, select the currency for which you want to establish exchange rates.
3. Click the Exchange Rates view tab.
4. In the Exchange Rates list, create a new record and complete the necessary fields.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Type	Currently, Daily is the only type used.
   To Currency	The currency to which you are converting the currency selected in the currencies list.
   Exchange Rate	The conversion rate.
   Exchange Date	The date of this conversion rate. When converting currencies, Siebel applications use the exchange rate whose date is closest to, but not past, the date of the transaction. Depending on the accuracy that you need and on how much currency values are fluctuating, you may want to enter a new exchange rate every week, month, quarter, or year. Siebel applications use the Exchange Date only to convert currencies in transactions in which money has been or will be received. For example, Quote Item Price has an Exchange Date field, because it represents money that your company will receive, and your sales representatives should enter the date when the money will be received.

5. Repeat this process to add additional exchange rates.

You must restart the Siebel client or use the clear cache command before any changes to exchange rates can be seen in your Siebel application. For more information about clearing the cache, see Clearing the Cache.

The Euro and Triangulation

NOTE:  As of January 2002, the Euro Triangulation method for converting between currencies belonging to EMU members is not needed for present and future currency exchanges. However, the method is still available in Siebel applications, as are the old currencies, so that historical data can be maintained accurately. The following description applies only to historical data needing conversion prior to the 2002 switch to the Euro for the EMU member countries.

If a country is a member of the European Monetary Union (EMU), you should convert its currency to other currencies through the Euro. This is called triangulation, and it is used whenever either currency being converted has EMU Triangulation checked.

For example, if you are converting from USD to DEM and DEM has EMU Triangulation checked, you must set up the conversion rates between US dollars and the Euro and between the Euro and US dollars. You do not have to check the EMU Triangulation field for USD. The DEM is converted to EUR according to the fixed exchange rate set by the European Monetary Union, and then the amount in EUR is converted to USD according the exchange rate you set up.

The EMU Triangulation field is already checked for the following European Monetary Union member nations: Germany (DEM), Belgium (BEF), Spain (ESP), France (FRF), Ireland (IEP), Italy (ITL), Netherlands (NLG), Austria (ATS), Portugal (PTE), Finland (FIM), and Luxembourg (LUF). However, you can check or clear this field. For instance, if the United Kingdom or Sweden joins the EMU, then you can check the field for that currency.

To calculate triangulation conversion, the conversion rate is always expressed to six significant figures. Conversions from one national currency unit into another are made by:

1. Converting the monetary amount from the national currency unit into the Euro.
2. Rounding the result to not less than three decimal places.
3. Converting the result to the target national currency.
4. Rounding the result to the lowest subunit of the target national currency, such as pfennig for the German mark or centime for the French franc.

NOTE:  The EMU Triangulation field should be checked only for currencies that are subdivisions of the Euro.

Currency Conversion Functionality

Currency conversions currently occur in your Siebel application in various features. Some examples follow:

• Price lists. When you change the currency code of a price list, it prompts you for an exchange date and converts the prices of all of the price list items.
• Quotes. When you change the currency code of a quote, it will convert the discount amounts and discount prices.
• Forecasting. When you update forecast information from the opportunity, it will do a currency conversion from the opportunity currency to the forecast currency if the currencies are different. When you roll up the forecast lines, it will do a conversion from the forecast line currency to the rollup forecast currency if the currencies are different.
• Projects. When you create expenses in a currency different from the project's currency and submit the expenses to the project, the expense amount will be converted from the expense currency to the project currency in the Project Time Expenses Summary and Project Time Expenses Adjustments views.
• Rate lists. When you change the currency code of a rate list, it will prompt you for an exchange date and convert the prices of all of the price list items.
• Expense reports. When you prepare expense reports, you can perform currency conversion between the expense currency and your default currency.
• Reports. The following reports support currency conversion:
  • Opportunity Pipeline Report by Rep. Opportunity revenues created in different currencies will be converted in the Total and Subtotal fields to the user's default currency.
  • Euro Expense Report. If expenses have been created in an EMU currency, all expenses will be displayed in dual currencies.
  • Project Limit Summary Report.
  • Forecasting Reports.
  • Current Quotes Report.
• Charts. The following charts support currency conversion:
  • Opportunity Current Opportunity Analysis. Opportunity revenue will be converted to the user's default currency if both the opportunity currency and the revenue currency are different from the user's default currency.
  • Forecast Analysis.