I picked a reporting currency but the converted total does not appear. What am I missing?
At least one currency in your data has no exchange rate typed in, or has an invalid one. The tool will not show a partial converted total or guess a rate; it shows a warning naming the missing currency. Read the warning, type a rate greater than zero for each currency it lists, and the total appears.
Example: one dinar entry held up the total
The Expense summary generator tool has three January entries: hosting 250 SAR, ads 100 AED, and a payment to a Kuwaiti supplier of 12.345 KWD. We picked SAR as the reporting currency and typed only the AED rate, 1.02. Result:
- A line AED × 1.02 worth 102.00 SAR, and the SAR line at 250.00 SAR as it is.
- No converted total; instead a warning: 'A converted total needs a rate for these currencies first: KWD.'
We then typed 12.2 for KWD, an illustrative figure, and a line KWD × 12.2 appeared at 150.61 SAR, followed by a converted total of 502.61 SAR and a note that it uses the exchange rates you typed.
Why not show a partial total?
Because a total that adds riyals and dirhams but skips the dinar looks complete when it is not. In the example it would have said 352.00 rather than 502.61, and nobody reading the PDF later would realise a dinar entry was missing from it. So the converted lines stay visible for currencies that have a rate, and the total stays hidden until every rate is in.
The four usual causes
- A currency you forgot: one entry in a rare currency buried in a long file. The warning names it, so search your file for it if you do not remember.
- A typo in a currency code: the tool accepts any three Latin letters, so an entry typed SRA instead of SAR becomes a currency of its own that needs a rate. If the warning shows an odd code, fix it in the file rather than give it a rate.
- An invalid rate: zero, negative or text. The field shows 'A rate must be a number greater than zero' and the rate is treated as missing.
- An empty rate field after changing the reporting currency: picking a different reporting currency changes the list of rate fields, so check them all again.
How to read a rate field
Each field asks how many units of the reporting currency one unit of this currency is worth. With SAR as the reporting currency, the dinar's rate is above 1 because the dinar is worth more, and the Egyptian pound's is below 1. Type it the wrong way round and you get a wildly odd figure, so check each converted line before you trust the total. The rates are always yours; the tool fetches none.
Common questions
Does the reporting currency itself need a rate?
No, it counts at a rate of 1 automatically and gets no field.
Does the converted total appear in the PDF and CSV?
Yes, once every rate is in. Until then, only the converted lines that exist are included, with no total.