Exchange Rate
- Eric Heuvelmann
Content
Overview
DaVinci is supporting foreign currencies and with this miscellaneous exchange rate tables for various purposes. The document will give an overview of this exchange rate tables and explains in which context they are used in the software.
DaVinci is generally supporting unlimited currencies.
Each currency a Tour Operator wants to work with has to be registered.
(see chapter 2)
One of the registered currencies must be the basic currency in the system. (see chapter 3)
Any foreign currency amount inside a DaVinci price line has a corresponding amount field where the intime calculated equivalent in basic currency is stored. In case an amount was created as basic currency the corresponding amount field will get same the same value.
Following we name amount fields “FC” and “BC” (foreign and basic currency)
Additionally, Davinci supports in its database amount fields for a third currency of a price.
We call this the “Pricetable Currency” (following mentioned as “PT”). This kind of currency handling must be activated explicitly by a setting described in chapter 4.
Additionally, Davinci supports the so called “Markups” where a dynamic calculation is filling amount values related to certain currency. (See chapter 5)
DaVinci is supporting payments in all registered currencies. These payment values are calculated intime to a value in BC using the separate exchange rate table for actual rates defined under the registered currency.
In the basic travel data DaVinci support sales prices and purchase prices.
Each (sub price table can have any currency that is registered, independent from the BC.
While a price value is calculated the system use the according exchange rate table for sales or purchase and store the value of the BC simultaneously.
To complete the overview, we also mention here the possibility to use separate exchange rates for the Supplier-Invoice-Control functionality which can have fix rates from the moment when a certain calculation has been made.
Register Currencies
Program surface you find under “System settings - Accounting”
Details of a currency:
The Basic Currency
The “BC” is sometimes mentioned as “Country Currency” and database fields have the extension “LW”, standing for “Landeswährung”. It is the German expression for country currency and it is the currency the Tour Operator is doing his balance and paying his taxes.
It is defined under Accounting settings – Currency settings:
It is recommended to use one default currency and enter it in lines 1 to 3.
(Different defaults are not explained here)The number of decimal digits for values stored as amount in BC is taken from here (5).
Rounding is to be set off (=0).
The value (3) for “Unit” at this settings table is unknown.
Most of the TO have the same currency for sales prices and the basic currency.
DaVinci assume this as a default wherever a price is created. ( for purchase prices as well)
A user must overwrite this default when crating prices in a foreign currency.
Exchange rate tables for special markets
The surface to define the exchange rate tables is more complex than it seems at a first look.
It was developed as a hierarchical tree view.
On the highest level (We name this here level “Zero”) we can mark a registered currency and enter there the actual rates for the currency in our DaVinci database.
On the level underneath (Level 1) there is the option to define additional currency rates for certain markets with special rates for the purchase prices, represented by a TO adsress.
This option of Market currencies is not described in examples here to keep this document simple. (Currently there is no TO using this optional rate set)
But for a complete understanding of the data tree it must be mentioned.
Following we are working with the actual rates from level zero and the level 1 data, generated and named automatically as “Basic”.
Foreign Currencies and their levels
Mark the “Level 1” (“Basic”) and watch the tabs appearing at the button of the tree view!
Each FC supports on the basic level a set of 3 exchange rate tables for various purposse in the software.
“Purchase” – “Sale” – “Supplier settlement”
They are treated as separate tabs on Level 1.
Mark the tab on the bottom and the according rates are shown in the pane above.
Functions accessing exchange rate tables
There are various places where an exchange rate table is used.
First, they are necessary to calculate automatically values of currency related database fields.
(see 6.1)
They are also used to fill defaults while creating the price data in DaVinci. (6.2)
Another function that will access to the exchange rate tables is the Price Conversion (6.3)
Calculation of the BC amount fields
The database fields containing an amount in the basic currency are calculated and filled automatically by GenVas in case of a booking or rebooking.
Calculation “Sales” to BC
Assuming the TO has defined sales prices in a currency which is not his own basic currency the system has to calculate the equivalent of the sales price into a value in basic currency and store it in a BC field. To do this calculation it is used the exchange rate table “Sale”
Calculation “Purchase” to BC
Usually the TO has defined purchase prices in the currency of the suppliers country. The system calculates the equivalent of the purchase price into a value in basic currency for the according BC field. To do this calculation it is used the exchange rate table “Purchase”
Calculation values of “Supplier Invoice” to BC
It is necessary to separate the calculation of amounts posted in the supplier invoice control from the calculated purchase prices as they can have different rates.
Default for the “Sub-Price-Chart”
While defining price data in the DaVinci travel basic data we need the information about the currency. (in case it is not the default)
In the moment a subprice chart is created the currency must be selected by the user.
Assuming it is a purchase price chart DaVinci is accessing the exchange rate table from the group “Basic” and the tab “Purchase”.
From this chart it fetch the matching rate record and copies into the dialogue “Price subchart (Purchase)” .
If the user does not overwrite or wipe the field: “Calc. exch. Rate” it is used for all the related prices lines created in the booked services later. Even though a rate in the exchange rate table will change during the season the exchange rate will always been taken from the subprice chart and not from the exchange rate table.
If a Tour Operator wants to get the rates from the exchange rate table he must leave the rate field in the Subprice chart empty.
This logic is the same for all sub-price-charts. If the rate has been taken out here
the GenVas calculates the amounts with the rate from the exchange rate table.
In case of purchase prices, the system considers additionally to the “valid date” also the access parameter “Departure Date” while selection of the matching rate record. For sales pricea this column has no meaning (and makes no sense).
Conversion “Purchase Prices” to “Sales Prices”
DaVinci provides a function that creates from existing purchase prices (in the currency of the supplier) the sales prices in a certain target currency.
In the dialogue: “Price transformation (Purchase)” an exchange rate is suggested as default and can be edited. The default is taken from the exchange rate table in the moment a user has selected the target currency of the sales prices.
In this example the target currency is EUR (for the European market) and with this the same as the BC.
The Calculation for the US-market would make it necessary to calculate the sales price in two steps.
The conversion function in DaVinci does support this two-step-calculation by building a resulting exchange rate of the two rates it has read from the “Purchase-“ and the “Sale-“ exchange rate tables.
Details of a rate record
The user can define in such a table a date and a rate.
“Valid from” The date and (optional) the time from what moment the rate must be taken.
“Rate” The rate is the value of the exchange calculation related to the BC.
The (optional) fields “Catalog” and “Departure date” are supported but only for purchase prices!
“Catalog” If a rate is only valid for bookings of a certain catalogue.
“Departure date” Checks if a departures is not before the date of the rate record.
For sales prices the last two criteria make no sense.
Payments
DaVinci allows to enter client payments in any registered currency. It does not matter if the payment is not in BC or even different to the currency of invoiced amount.
In case of doing payments in an FC the system will use the rates of level 1 “Actual rate” to calculate the payment amount in BC.
Dynamic price calculation
To work with a third currency is an option and not the usual way a Tour Operator works.
This third currency is needed in case a tour operator has defined prices in a price table source (assuming prices defined in EUR) and makes a booking for a client living in the USA.
So he has to calculate the value from EUR to the client currency (assuming US$) while his basic currency (BT) is Suisse Franc (assuming CHF).
How to work with this “third currency” and the dynamic calculation of sales prices needs to be described in a separate document and it will be skipped here.
Markup Calculation
Not described here as this module has its own definition and exchange rate fields.