I paid expenses in USD and AED over three months; which exchange rate should I type to get one total in my home currency?
Type the rate your bank or card actually applied, not one you saw on a news ticker. The tool fetches no exchange rates; it applies the single rate you type for each currency to every entry in that currency, and labels the total as calculated with your own rates. If the rate moved a lot between months, convert each month on its own with its rate.
How conversion works in the tool
In the Expense summary generator tool each currency stays on its own line and is never added to another. When you pick a reporting currency, a field appears for every other currency where you type how many units of the reporting currency one unit of it is worth. The rate must be a number greater than zero. You then get a converted line per currency, one total underneath, and a note that it uses the exchange rates you typed, not official or live ones.
Example: a USD software plan and AED ads
Three months, each with a 49 USD software subscription and 300 AED of ads, converted into SAR as the home currency. The tool first showed the original total per currency: 147.00 USD and 900.00 AED. We then tried two sets of rates, purely illustrative:
- At 3.75 for USD and 1.02 for AED: the USD line is 551.25 SAR, the AED line 918.00 SAR, and the converted total 1,469.25 SAR.
- At 3.76 for USD and 1.03 for AED: the USD line is 552.72 SAR, the AED line 927.00 SAR, and the total 1,479.72 SAR.
A small change in the rate moved the total by more than ten riyals. With bigger amounts or more volatile currencies the gap grows, which is why the tool does not choose for you.
Three approaches, by how exact you need to be
- Most exact: if your card statement shows the amount debited in your home currency for each purchase, record the expense at that amount in that currency and put the original USD figure in the note. You need no rate at all, and the figure includes your bank's foreign transaction fees.
- Month by month: if the rate clearly moved, enter January's entries alone, type January's rate and download the summary, then repeat for February and March. With the first set of example rates, January alone came to 489.75 SAR.
- One rate for the period: if the rate barely moved, or you want a rough picture rather than a figure for a filing, one rate for all three months is enough.
What the tool does not do
It does not know the rate on the date of each expense, it does not apply two rates to the same currency in one report, and it does not keep your rates after you close the page. If the figures are for an official filing or for your accountant, ask them which rate they use and enter it as given. This is a summariser, not a source of exchange rates.
Common questions
Is the original amount still shown after converting?
Yes, the original total per currency stays visible, and the converted amounts sit in their own section below.
What if I forget the rate for one currency?
No converted total appears, and the tool names the currency whose rate is missing.