Multi-Currency – How It Works Across the Platform

SparkyMinis is built for professionals who operate across borders. Multi-currency support is embedded at every layer — from your contact records, through your projects and expenses, all the way to your reports and net worth calculations.

Your Home Currency

Your Home Currency is set in Settings > Preferences. This is the currency your reports, net worth totals, and Dashboard summaries are expressed in.

All foreign currency amounts are converted to your Home Currency for aggregated totals.

How Currency Flows Through the System

1. Contact Level

When you create a Client Contact, you set their default currency (e.g., a US client defaults to USD, a European client to EUR).

Effect: Any new invoice you create for that client will default to their currency. This eliminates the manual step of changing currency every time.

2. Project Level

A project inherits the currency of its linked client contact.

• The Project Value field is expressed in the client's currency.
• When the project is marked complete and revenue is realised, the system converts the value to your Home Currency using the stored exchange rate snapshot.

3. Expense Level

Every expense has a currency field. You can:

• Log an expense in a foreign currency (e.g., €120 for a client dinner).
• The system records both the foreign amount and the equivalent in your Home Currency.
• The exchange rate used is captured at time of entry (based on the rate you enter or confirm).

Reports always show expense totals in your Home Currency.

4. Invoice Level

Invoices are issued in the client's currency (pulled from the contact). This means:

• Your Indian client might receive an invoice in INR.
• Your UK client receives the same format invoice in GBP.
• The invoice PDF shows the currency symbol and amount in the client's currency.
• For your internal reports, the invoice value is converted and recorded in your Home Currency.

5. Travel Expenses (Lifestyle Suite)

When creating a Trip, you set your Trip Currencies (the local currencies you will spend in). Inside the trip:

• Expenses are entered in the local trip currency.
• The system stores both the local amount and your home currency conversion.
• The Budget Bar tracks spending relative to your budget in the trip's primary currency.
• The Reports view converts trip totals to your Home Currency.

6. Net Worth (Lifestyle Suite)

Assets held in foreign currencies (e.g., foreign bank accounts, international investments) can be entered in their native currency. SparkyMinis converts them to your Home Currency for your total net worth calculation.

Exchange Rates

SparkyMinis does not pull live exchange rates automatically (to avoid API dependencies and ensure the app works offline). Instead:

• You enter the rate at the time of creating a transaction.
• The rate is stored with the record, creating an immutable snapshot.
• This means your historical records are accurate, even if rates have changed since.

Best practice: Check xe.com or Google for the day's rate before logging a foreign-currency expense, and enter it in the Rate field when prompted.

Currency Display in Reports

In Reports & Taxes, all financial summaries are shown in your Home Currency. Foreign amounts are converted using the rate stored at the time of each transaction. This means:

• Monthly P&L is in your Home Currency.
• Expense category breakdowns are in your Home Currency.
• Individual transaction details show both the original and converted amount.

Changing Your Home Currency

Your Home Currency can be changed in Settings > Preferences. Note that:

• Historical records retain their original currency values.
• New conversion calculations use the updated Home Currency.
• Reports will reflect the new Home Currency for all historical data (re-calculated at the stored rates).

Common Multi-Currency Scenarios

Scenario 1: Indian freelancer with a UK client

• Home Currency: INR
• Client Currency: GBP
• Invoice issued in GBP → Client sees and pays in GBP → Revenue recorded in INR at the GBP/INR rate you enter.

Scenario 2: Travel to Japan for work

• Home Currency: USD
• Trip Currencies: JPY, USD
• Expenses logged in JPY → Budget tracked in JPY → Reports show total trip cost in USD.

Scenario 3: US SaaS subscription

• Home Currency: INR
• Expense in USD ($49/month) → Enter rate (e.g., 84.5) → Expense recorded as ₹4,140.50.