Global companies need multi-currency accounting software to complete transactions in different currencies, hedge against currency fluctuations in payables, and prepare consolidated financial statements. Although small businesses start needing multi-currency accounting solutions once they globalize suppliers and hire international freelancers, mid-market and larger companies should consider choosing a multi-currency accounting system (and a multi-entity accounting software platform) that provides more functionality for companies with multiple entities.
Multi-currency accounting software includes ERP or basic accounting software and add-on automation software like AP automation and advanced FX software for payables. Learn which multi-currency accounting software may be the best choice for your business needs.
What is Multi-Currency Accounting Software?
Multi-currency accounting software is a business system that uses currency conversion (FX) to invoice, pay, receive money, and record transactions in different currencies. Multi-currency software is also used to record foreign currency gains or losses and to translate financial statement account balances to the parent’s functional currency in consolidation.
Besides accounting and ERP software, multi-currency accounting software includes integrations with third-party add-on automation software for payables, global payments, foreign currency (FX), and other accounting and finance workflows.
Top-Rated Accounting Software with Multi-Currency Capabilities
Some top-rated accounting software with multi-currency capabilities are:
Tipalti
Best For: multi-entity companies needing efficient payables, global payments, and FX solutions
Price Range: $-$$
Tipalti makes multi-currency add-on finance automation software products for multi-entity companies that integrate with your company’s ERP system or accounting software. These software products include AP automation, mass payments, Multi-FX, FX Hedging, Expenses for employee expense reimbursement and spend control, and purchase order management in procurement.
Tipalti AP Automation and Mass Payments Software
For its AP automation and mass payments software, Tipalti offers a choice of payment methods, with payments in 196 countries and over 120 currencies. The Tipalti AP automation platform includes multi-currency features that are enhanced with its advanced FX software products. You get views of payables, supplier invoices, and global payments by entity and at the combined level for the whole corporation. Tipalti provides near real-time business intelligence with dashboards and Tipalti Pi AI-driven queries.
Tipalti software gives your company efficiencies to reduce by 80% the time required to complete streamlined end-to-end payables processes, reduces errors by 66%, and speeds the accounting close by 25% through its automated reconciliation of global payment batches for up to thousands of invoice payments. Tipalti software scales with business growth. Tipalti is used by companies of all sizes but primarily serves medium-sized and larger companies.
The 12 payment methods that Tipalti provides its worldwide customers are:
- ACH for domestic-only U.S. transactions
- Global ACH (like SEPA for European member-country transactions in euro currency)
- Wire transfer
- PayPal
- Prepaid debit card
- Paper checks
Tipalti Advanced FX Software Products
Tipalti Multi-FX and Tipalti FX Hedging software are Tipalti software products for companies needing advanced foreign currency exchange functionality.
Multi-FX software works well for multi-entity companies and supports over 30 currencies. With Tipalti Multi-FX software, you can fund global payments in local currencies by using a virtual currency account instead of needing to set up regional international bank accounts through a network of international banks.
In cross-border transactions, you convert from a base currency into another currency for making a payment. You’ll get live foreign exchange rates and beneficial foreign exchange conversion rates for transactions by leveraging Tipalti’s massive platform payment transaction volume of $42 billion. Tipalti will enable transaction payments with your business funds on your company’s behalf, using a choice of country-available payment methods.
Tipalti Hedging software lets you manage currency fluctuations between invoice receipt and the future payment date. When your company hedges transactions, it can better forecast results, attempt to optimize foreign currency exchange gains and losses, and better manage cash flow.
Tipalti Customer Testimonials
Tipalti’s customer Lucidworks is a software company that integrates Tipalti with NetSuite ERP for multi-currency and multi-entity uses.
I don’t think about FX or currencies anymore—we pay bills out of Tipalti and exchange them into any currency. That’s essential for a growing, international business.
Andrew Jenks | Senior Accounting Manager, Lucidworks
Tipalti customer, Younique Products, integrates Tipalti with its NetSuite ERP. Younique, a retail company, has gained tremendous benefits from Tipalti multi-currency automation software, including AP automation and Multi-FX. Younique has saved $1 million on currency transaction fees and centralized foreign exchange transactions.
Tipalti has played a big part in minimizing the FX impact. We now have a better process so that we can fully maximize our savings.We’ve been able to significantly reduce merchant processing and FX repatriation fees.
Frank Pepe | VP of Finance, Controller & Treasurer, Younique Products
QuickBooks
Best For: smaller companies with lower budgets
Price Range: $-$$
QuickBooks multi-currency is accounting software for bookkeeping that includes cloud-based QuickBooks Online multi-currency software and on-premises QuickBooks Desktop multi-currency. The QuickBooks Desktop product line includes different software products with a choice of computer operating systems, QuickBooks Mac multi-currency or QuickBooks Windows multi-currency.
QuickBooks software is a popular choice for startups and small businesses and works for some medium-sized companies. QuickBooks software has a maximum number of users, which varies depending on the software product and SaaS pricing plan. For example, QuickBooks Online Advanced, the highest SaaS plan, has a 25-user limit. The maximum number of user licenses for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is 40 users.
If QuickBooks is the right accounting software for your small business that has multi-currency transactions, see our guide for How to Set Up QuickBooks Multicurrency features. And remember, with QuickBooks, there’s no turning back. Once you set up QuickBooks Multicurrency, you’ve made a commitment.
Tipalti AP automation software and other finance automation products integrate with QuickBooks multi-currency accounting software.
NetSuite
Best For: mid-market ERP customers needing multi-currency
Price Range: $$
The NetSuite multi-currency ERP system is mid-range in price and functionality. NetSuite OneWorld, a Suite (module) or standalone ERP, provides multi-currency functionality for global companies with multi-entity business structures. Although NetSuite ERP works for companies of all sizes, it provides excellent value and features for mid-market / medium-sized businesses.
NetSuite OneWorld gives you real-time views at multiple global consolidation levels and drill-down views of general ledger accounts. OneWorld provides multiple currencies and multiple languages. NetSuite OneWorld works for GAAP or IFRS accounting standards in financial statements. It also offers business intelligence and dashboards with KPI performance metrics.
Your business can complete transactions with foreign currency conversion, see gains and losses on foreign exchange and foreign currency exposure, and translate financial statements in local currencies into the parent’s functional currency as they’re rolled up for consolidation.
All Tipalti automation software integrates with NetSuite ERP, including Tipalti advanced FX software, AP automation, and global payments software.
Xero
Best For: small businesses wanting unlimited user pricing
Price Range: $
Cloud-based Xero multi-currency accounting software is also multi-entity accounting software for different entities owned by a parent company. Therefore, it works well for small businesses with more than one company in its corporate structure, having global and international transactions and operations.
The Xero multi-currency features also work for sole entities paying overseas suppliers or receiving money from foreign customers. Two different currencies are involved in a cross-border transaction if invoices aren’t denominated in U.S. dollars (or the company’s different functional currency if the business is based outside the United States).
Xero uses 160 currencies in its multi-currency accounting software. Your contacts can be set up for specific currencies. Foreign currency conversions for transactions are instant. With Xero cloud accounting software, you can view business reports in local or foreign currencies. Xero reports show current foreign currency exposure.
Sage 50 Accounting—formerly Sage 50cloud
Best For: small businesses needing multi-currency with optional live exchange rates
Price Range: $-$$
Sage 50 (formerly Sage 50cloud) is small business accounting software. Sage 50 is multi-currency, cloud-connected software that’s also deployed as desktop accounting software. Sage 50cloud can be used by up to 40 users, depending on the SaaS subscription pricing plan.
Sage 50 lets your company choose either live exchange rates for transactions or manually enter other desired exchange rates for a currency. Sage 50 has ledger accounts for exchange rate gains or losses.
When creating a contact record for new customers or suppliers, you can select the applicable currency to be used later for transactions. Once you choose a currency for a contact, it can’t be changed. To use a different currency, you would need to create a second contact record (with a slightly different name, including the location, for example) for that supplier or customer.
In Sage 50, you assign a currency to each bank account. When you record invoices for customers or suppliers, Sage 50 Accounting will automatically convert the currency to the currency selected in their contact record and let you toggle between two currencies involved in the currency conversion. When transferring between bank accounts, you can convert to a foreign currency. Sage 50 also revalues account balances and records gains and losses for foreign currency fluctuations.
Tipalti AP automation, global payments, and advanced FX products integrate with Sage 50cloud Accounting software.
How can your business use the best multi-currency software?
Download our eBook, “Payment Methods Guide” to learn how your growing business can use multi-currency in payment methods.
Use AP automation and advanced FX software with self-service supplier onboarding, a choice of global payment methods in 196 countries and 120 different currencies, and optional Multi-FX and FX Hedging to manage foreign currency fluctuations.
How to Choose the Best Multi-Currency Accounting Software
Choose the best multi-currency accounting software by ensuring that its features meet your business needs and budget.
Tips for choosing the best multi-currency accounting software are:
- Access to competitively priced, current foreign currency conversion rates
- Status of foreign currency conversion and foreign transaction payments
- Accurate financial reports and financial statements
- Ability to efficiently and cost-effectively pay global suppliers in local currencies, with global regulatory compliance
- FX hedging capabilities to manage foreign currency fluctuations
- Entity and consolidated or combined data views for multi-entity corporations
- Instant reconciliation of large global payment batches having different payment methods
You need multi-entity accounting software that lets your company record unrealized foreign currency gains and losses in shareholders’ equity on the balance sheet and record recognized and realized FX gains and losses on the income statement. When you set up multi-currency and assign currencies to your bank accounts, you’ll see bank feeds with amounts in the assigned local currency that you can use for bank reconciliation.
Conclusion
Companies doing business or using suppliers in foreign countries need multi-currency accounting software for accounts receivable, accounts payable, global payment transactions, expense tracking, and GAAP compliance in financial statements. Multi-currency software can help your company achieve excellent financial management and business management.
The best multi-currency accounting software can help your company:
- Streamline accounting and payables processes
- Eliminate manual transactions through electronic AI-driven automation
- Handle foreign currency exchange and hedging
- Efficiently and cost-effectively make cross-border payments
- Reduce fraud risk and achieve global regulatory compliance
- Prepare entity financial statements and translate them into the functional currency for consolidation (after intercompany eliminations)
For how to best use multi-currency software for payables, download our white paper, “How Multi-Entity Businesses Scale Payables.”
