Hi Tony,
GP Multicurrency works as you would expect.
My thoughts on your first question:
There are two types of currency - Functional Currency (The home currency of the company, in your case USD), and Originating Currency (The foreign currency - in your case, everything else).
In the sub ledger (Receivables, Payables etc) you can add a transaction in any currency.
If you add it in the Functional (USD) currency, then there is no problem, no translation to be done and no originating value to be maintained.
If you add a transaction in any other currency, immediately GP will look for an Exchange rate beween this currency and USD. These exchange rates are maintained in FX Tables that you set up and maintain. There is a lot of functionality around these, but for now its enough to know they exist and you are responsible for maintaining them. (note that if GP cannot find a valid rate, then you can add one on the fly while creating the transaction).
This transaction now has two values. The originating amount, and the functional amount (which was calculated by GP based on the FX rate). You can switch between displaying the functional or originating amount.
So you post a sales invoice for GBP100.00 which equates based on that days FX rate of 1.5 to $150.00.
When the customer pays, they pay GBP 100.00. However the FX rate between GBP and USD has changed. GBP100.00 is now worth $125.00 - so you have lost $25.00 due to FX rate fluctuation. When you apply the payment to the invoice in GP, GP calculates the FX gain/loss and posts a GL journal to reflect it (also, if you afterwards unapply the payment from the invoice, the FX effect is reversed). Note that once the originating amounts agree (GBP 100.00) then the Debtors account is cleared.
The above are realised gains and losses - you actually have incurred them, since the customer did pay.
At the end of a month, you might look at your outstanding sales invoices and want to revalue them as at the FX rate for the end of the month. GP has a revaluation process that does just this - calculating an unrelised gain or loss, which again is reflected in your GL.
My thoughts on your second question:
a) - the transaction is maintained in both Yen and Pound values (it has an originating and functional currency amount which you can swap between when looking at the transaction).
You can revalue an unpaid invoice to create unrealised Gains and Losses...or once you apply a payment to the Invoice GP generates a realised gain/loss.
b) - If your UK company has a home currency of GBP and you require reports in USD, GP has a third currency term called Reporting Currency. You can set a reporting currency and record the spot FX rate between this and the functional currency at a point in time. Thus, your reports will be converted at this spot rate.
So, for your UK company:
Functional Currency = GBP
Reporting Currency = USD
All other currencies are known as Originating Currencies, and an FX table with valid rates needs to be mintained so GP can convert them to GBP.
Hope this explains. There is a lot in Multicurrency, but as I said, it works as you would expect.
Best regards,
Ian.
