Explain a foreign-currency sale that settles for a different amount

A customer can pay in one currency while the processor settles the merchant in another. Keep the original amount and currency, transaction date, settlement amount and currency, and conversion details. A converted bank deposit alone cannot explain the original sale or a later refund.

Check whether the store report converts orders using a reporting rate that differs from the processor's settlement rate. Both reports may be functioning as designed. The accountant needs the actual records to determine the ledger treatment and any exchange difference under the company's policy.

Suppose an illustrative EUR 1,000 collection converts at USD 1.08 per euro, producing $1,080 before a $35 processing charge. The net amount is $1,045. Keep the conversion and the fee separate; calling the entire difference from another dollar estimate a processing fee loses information.

If the transaction had already been recorded at a different approved accounting rate, reconcile that carrying amount to settlement through the appropriate exchange treatment. Do not change the original euro amount to make a dollar bank line agree.

A refund made later can have a different exchange outcome from the original payment. Record the customer-currency amount returned and the actual merchant-balance adjustment, including any fee or conversion information supplied by the processor. A refund is not always the exact negative of the original settlement in the merchant's currency.

Keep the refund linked to the original charge and order. That allows customer support to confirm what was returned while finance explains why the bank movement differs. Avoid promising a customer a particular local-currency outcome that depends on their issuer's conversion rules.

Maintain separate processor balances by currency where the platform holds them separately. Reconcile native-currency activity first, then apply the approved translation process. Combining currencies too early can allow a missing payment in one currency to be concealed by an unrelated difference in another.

Retain the rate source, date convention, and treatment of rounding with the close file. Review unusual exchange differences by transaction rather than clearing them automatically to fees. The final bridge should explain the customer sale, the processor conversion, and the bank receipt without changing the facts of any of them.