Exchange Rates for Expense Items (Winter 19)

This guide describes the Exchange Rates enhancement on Expense Items included in Kimble Release Winter 19. We have also attached a .pdf version for your convenience. 

Introduction

In Kimble’s Winter 19 Release, Kimble has introduced two new pieces of functionality to support situations where multiple currencies come into play on Expenses.

• Kimble now can show the Reimbursement Amount to Resources entering Expense Items where the Incurred Currency is not the same as the Reimbursement Currency. This behavior is controlled by an organization-wide setting which, when enabled, would prompt the Resource entering the Expense Item to provide an Exchange Rate (within a configured tolerance) between the Incurred Currency and the Reimbursement Currency. This supports the use case of a US-based consultant who travelled in Europe and incurred expenses that are detailed on their personal card statement as the incurred amount and the exchange rate used by the card company.
  
  
• Kimble also now allows a Resource to enter the Reimbursement Amount directly into Kimble when entering Expense Items. This behavior is controlled by an additional organization-wide setting which, when enabled, would prompt the Resource to enter the Reimbursement Amount. Kimble calculates the resulting Exchange Rates (within a configured tolerance). This supports the use case of a US-based consultant who travelled in Europe and incurred expenses that are detailed on their card statement as foreign currency transaction charges; entering the Reimbursement Amount will allow the consultant to recover the full amount.

Previously, Kimble required a Resource to enter the Exchange Rate between the Incurred and Base Currencies when entering a multi-currency Expense Item. The new functionality enables Resources to more easily be reimbursed for credit card currency rates and/or charges that may have been applied.

By default, when upgrading to the Winter 19 release, the existing behavior will be maintained. In order to adopt any new Incurred Currency to Reimbursement Currency behavior, please have your Kimble System Administrator contact Kimble.

 

Essential Concepts

When processing and reimbursing Expense Items, Kimble accounts for three Expense currencies.

• Incurred Currency – the currency in which the expense was paid (the currency on the receipt)
• Base Currency – the currency being used to recognize cost and revenue on the selected Delivery Engagement
• Reimbursement Currency – the currency in which the expense will be reimbursed to the Resource

In many cases, these three Currencies will match – for example, where an American Resource is paying for expenses in the United States on a project that has a Base Currency of USD.

There are scenarios, however, where all three currencies could be different. Consider this scenario: an American Resource is working on a U.K. project in France. This means that the hotel stay for this Resource will be incurred in Euros, accounted in Pounds, and reimbursed to the Resource in U.S. Dollars.

The rest of this guide will outline the three ways that Kimble can handle these multi-currency scenarios on Expense Items, including the two new options introduced in the Winter 19 Release.

An Expense Exchange Rate Tolerance, configured on the Business Unit, will prevent the Resource from submitting an Expense with an entered Exchange Rate outside the tolerance.

Default Option: Incurred Currency to Base Currency

By default, if no settings are altered, Kimble requires the entry of an Exchange Rate where the Incurred Currency is not the same as the Base Currency.  

This Exchange Rate creates the Base Currency values based on the Incurred Currency values.

If the Reimbursement Currency differs from the Incurred value, Kimble works out the Reimbursement Currency value in the background using the reimbursement rules set for the select Delivery Engagement, and the Exchange Rate between the Base Currency and the Reimbursement Currency on the Incurred Date of the Expense Item.

In the above example, an expense was incurred in EUR on an Engagement with a base currency of GBP where the Resource will be reimbursed in USD. The Incurred Amount (EUR), and the Exchange Rate from the Incurred Amount (EUR) to the Base Currency (GBP) is entered by the Resource. Kimble automatically calculates the Reimbursement Amount (USD) by converting from the Base Currency Amount, using the system Exchange Rate.

New Option 1: Incurred Currency to Reimbursement Currency

Kimble has introduced a new option in Winter 19; once enabled, Kimble requires the entry of an Exchange Rate where the Incurred Currency is not the same as the Reimbursement Currency.

The Exchange Rate creates the Reimbursement Currency values based on the Incurred Currency values, making the Reimbursement Amount visible to the Resource who will be reimbursed.

If the Base Currency differs from the Reimbursement Currency, Kimble automatically calculates the Base Currency by converting the Reimbursement Currency to the Base Currency, using the system Exchange Rate.

In the above example, an expense was incurred in EUR on an Engagement with a base currency of GBP where the Resource will be reimbursed in USD. The Incurred Amount (EUR), and the Exchange Rate from the Incurred Amount (EUR) to the Reimbursement Amount (USD) is entered by the Resource. Kimble automatically calculates the Reimbursement Amount (USD), and then calculates the Base Currency Amount (GBP) by converting from the Reimbursement Amount (USD) into the Base Currency Amount (GBP) using the system Exchange Rate.

New Option 2: Calculate Exchange Rate based on Reimbursement Amount

Kimble has introduced a new option in Winter 19; once enabled, Kimble requires the entry of the Reimbursement Currency value. Kimble calculates the Exchange Rate between this and the Incurred Currency automatically in the background.

If the Reimbursement Currency differs from the Incurred Currency, Kimble automatically calculates the Base Currency by converting the Reimbursement Currency to the Base Currency, using the system Exchange Rate.

In the above example, an expense was incurred in EUR on an Engagement with a base currency of GBP where the Resource will be reimbursed in USD. The Incurred Amount (EUR), and either the Exchange Rate from the Incurred Amount (EUR) to the Reimbursement Amount (USD), or the Reimbursement Amount (USD) is entered by the Resource. Kimble automatically calculates the Base Currency Amount (GBP), by converting from the Reimbursement Amount (USD) to the Base Currency Amount (GBP) using the system Exchange Rate.