Irish Company Paid in GBP or USD: A Bookkeeping Checklist

Can an Irish LTD keep accounts in a currency other than euro?

The CRO distinguishes internal bookkeeping from formal financial statements. Its guidance accepts formal accounts in a currency with legal effect at the financial year-end, while internal records must allow the financial position to be established accurately and an audit to be carried out without difficulty.

That is not permission to choose whichever currency makes the results look most attractive. Confirm the reporting framework and the appropriate treatment with the accountant before configuring the software. Receiving one foreign payment is a fact to record, not a complete accounting-policy decision.

Equally, an Irish company does not need a new incorporation merely because a customer wants to pay in GBP or USD. Confirm the commercial terms and the account provider's supported currencies, legal-entity details and requirements separately. Incorporation does not guarantee an account, a particular payment method or a provider's approval.

• CRO: currencies for internal records and formal accounts

Separate the currencies before discussing software

A useful first conversation distinguishes what the customer owes, where funds are held and how financial reports are prepared. These may differ without the records being wrong. Problems arise when the system silently treats the distinctions as the same choice.

Use the following labels in your accountant brief. The table is a discussion aid, not an instruction to select a particular functional currency or tax exchange rate.

• FRC: FRS 102, section 30, functional and presentation currency

A USD account does not by itself establish functional currency

Under FRS 102, functional currency reflects the business's economic environment. Important evidence includes currencies influencing sales prices and operating costs; financing and retained receipts also matter. Presentation currency can differ. A functional-currency change follows changed underlying circumstances, not a preference for a better-looking result.

Give the accountant a factual picture: customers, pricing decisions, supplier costs, staff costs, funding and where receipts are retained. An Irish consultant billing a few UK projects and a business whose prices and costs are mainly dollar-driven should not be assumed to have identical conclusions.

FRS 102 is one reporting framework, not a statement that every Irish company must apply it. The FRC identifies other frameworks, including FRS 105 for qualifying micro-entities. Ask which framework and current version apply to your company and period, and retain the conclusion with the accounting setup notes.

If a previous adviser already determined the functional currency, obtain that assessment before changing settings. Explain real changes in trading rather than overwriting the opening balances to make an imported statement fit.

• FRC: FRS 102 scope, current edition and amendments
• FRC: section 30, currency assessment and changes

Build records that preserve the original transaction

Section 282 requires consistent, timely records that explain transactions and support the company's financial position and financial statements. A converted bank-feed total alone may not show which invoice was settled, the original liability, a separate fee or money still held in another currency.

Keep the original invoice or credit note, contract reference, transaction date, currency, amount, payment reference and settlement evidence together. Record the conversion source and date used in the books. Where payment is partial, identify the remaining balance in the original currency instead of marking the entire invoice paid.

For a foreign supplier, retain the purchase document and business purpose as well as the card statement. Keep corrections visible through the proper accounting process; do not edit the supplier's invoice into a euro version and discard the original. Make sure refunds and cancelled invoices can be traced back to the transaction they reverse.

• Companies Act 2014, section 282: adequate accounting records

Agree a rate policy rather than copying today's internet quote

FRS 102 uses the transaction-date spot rate at initial recognition. Approximate rates may be appropriate, but a period average is inappropriate where exchange rates fluctuate significantly. Ask the accountant how that principle should be implemented for your actual transaction volume and software.

Document the rate source, direction and relevant date. A quote of USD per EUR is not the same as EUR per USD: dividing when the calculation requires multiplication can produce a plausible-looking but wrong result. Preserve enough information for another person to reproduce the entry.

The ECB publishes reference rates for information, not as executable transaction prices. A reference rate therefore does not promise what your bank or payment provider will pay. Keep the provider's actual conversion evidence and separately establish the rate required for accounting or a particular tax task.

Do not make retrospective bulk changes simply because a new software feed uses a different default. Ask how existing entries, open items and prior reports should be reviewed before the new settings are used.

• FRC: section 30, transaction rates and approximations
• ECB: purpose of euro foreign-exchange reference rates

Worked example: a USD invoice, an exchange gain and a fee

Consider a fictional Irish service company with EUR as its assessed functional currency. Assume it has earned and recognises USD 1,000 on the relevant date, at an illustrative rate of EUR 0.90 for USD 1. The recorded revenue and receivable are EUR 900. These are invented rates, not current quotes.

The customer later settles the full USD 1,000. Assume conversion and accounting both use EUR 0.92 per USD 1, with no embedded spread, giving EUR 920 before a separately identified EUR 10 provider fee. The bank receives EUR 910. With no intervening reporting date, the settlement produces an EUR 20 exchange gain and a separate EUR 10 expense.

The bridge is EUR 900 revenue plus EUR 20 exchange gain minus EUR 10 fee, matching EUR 910 received. Simply posting EUR 910 as sales would hide both the exchange movement and the fee. It would also lose the connection to the original dollar receivable.

This example isolates those movements. It does not determine VAT treatment, the correct revenue-recognition date, deductibility or taxable profit. An actual case with partial payments, reserves, refunds or an intervening year-end needs the full record reviewed.

• FRC: section 30, settlement differences

Reconcile every currency balance, not just euro payouts

A platform may hold customer receipts in one currency before paying out another. Ask for the full activity report and balance statements, not only the notification that a bank transfer arrived. Identify gross sales, refunds, charges, conversions, reserves or amounts still awaiting payout.

Reconcile the opening balance, movements and closing balance for each currency account. If USD is moved from one company account to another, match both sides rather than creating a second sale. Preserve transfer references so an accountant can distinguish money moving within the company from payment for new work.

Where a marketplace or platform is involved, ask the accountant to establish the company's contractual role and which amount is its revenue. Do not assume every business can use the same gross-sales template. The aim is a traceable reconciliation, not a rule that a particular platform balance always equals company turnover.

Before closing a payment account or cancelling a subscription, export complete records in a usable format. A screenshot of the last balance will not explain the preceding month's adjustments or reconstruct earlier settlements.

• Companies Act 2014, section 282: transactions, receipts, expenditure and balances

Check unpaid invoices and held currency at year-end

FRS 102 requires foreign-currency monetary items to be translated at the reporting-period closing rate. A year-end review can therefore involve more than transactions that have already been converted into euro or paid into the main bank account.

Give the accountant lists of outstanding customer and supplier balances by currency, with original dates and amounts, payments since year-end and any disputed items. Include all company currency balances and relevant loans. Label anything you cannot reconcile rather than clearing it to an unexplained adjustment.

Ask how the accounts distinguish settlement differences from reporting-date movements. Do not automatically apply one closing-rate conversion to equipment, inventory, customer invoices and every other balance: the classification and applicable accounting requirements need review.

Check that the following period's opening balances agree with the final accounts. If the bookkeeping system reverses an adjustment automatically, identify it in the handover so it is not accidentally posted twice.

• FRC: section 30, monetary items at the reporting date

Exchange differences and Irish tax need a separate assessment

Revenue's foreign-currency manual explains that section 79 can bring qualifying trade-related exchange differences into trading income whether realised or unrealised, where properly recorded under accounting principles. The trade-purpose conditions matter. Do not assume every account, investment or shareholder movement receives that treatment.

Give the tax adviser the nature and purpose of the balance, not just a spreadsheet column headed FX. Distinguish customer receivables, suppliers, trading funds, investment funds and director or group funding. Ask which accounting adjustments carry into the tax calculation and which require different treatment.

Revenue's section 402 manual separately addresses capital allowances and trading losses for companies with a non-euro functional currency. That is another reason not to translate every accounting and tax schedule using one convenient rate. Identify the relevant computations rather than assuming the tax return is simply the bank balance converted at year-end.

Revenue requires company tax filing and payment through ROS. Agree the tax work, conversions, evidence and payment responsibilities separately from CRO accounts filing. Receiving sterling or dollars does not itself settle the company's tax residence, VAT position or a founder's home-country obligations.

• Revenue: Part 04-05-01, foreign-currency gains and losses
• Revenue: Part 12-04-01, functional-currency allowances and losses
• Revenue: Corporation Tax and ROS filing

Where VAT invoicing applies, check the euro information too

Revenue says a VAT invoice issued in foreign currency must also show the corresponding euro figures. Its guidance specifies the Central Bank selling rate when the invoice is due to be issued, or an alternative method agreed with Revenue and used consistently as required.

Confirm whether a VAT invoice is required for the actual supply and which information must appear. Neither a GBP contract nor a US customer's address by itself supplies that answer.

Have the invoice template, tax assessment and accounting conversion process reviewed together. A software exchange-rate setting is not evidence of Revenue agreement to an alternative method. Keep the agreed approach and any approval with the records, rather than changing old invoices informally when a later settlement uses another rate.

• Revenue: foreign currency on a VAT invoice

What to prepare for a multi-currency accounting quote

A useful quote request shows the work involved, not just that the company has one bank account. Explain how many currency balances and sales channels exist, how often transactions occur, whether bookkeeping is current and which first-year or catch-up filings are needed.

Provide sample reports with unrelated personal information removed where appropriate. Use an agreed secure channel for financial records, and do not send account passwords. Ask who configures the system, performs reconciliations, approves adjustments and handles queries after the reports are prepared.

• Company identity, activity, financial year-end and applicable reporting framework if known.
• Customer and supplier currencies, pricing patterns and assessed functional currency.
• Every bank, wallet and processor balance, with transaction volumes and export formats.
• Examples of invoices, credit notes, fees, conversions and payout reconciliations.
• Outstanding balances, funding, assets and unresolved historical differences.
• Required bookkeeping, accounts, CRO attachments, tax returns and advisory work.
• Responsibility for software access, review, deadlines and the total payable.

Arrange support before the currency differences accumulate

StartCompany.ie's accountant service connects businesses with accounting support for bookkeeping, financial statements and tax work. Explain the GBP or USD flows when requesting a quote, and ask whether the proposed accountant can handle the reporting framework, platforms and currencies involved.

Confirm the included work, frequency, historical cleanup, software responsibilities and total payable. A formation package or ordinary B1 filing should not be assumed to include multi-currency setup or ongoing reconciliations. The team and authorised partners can discuss the appropriate scope; no service purchase guarantees a tax treatment, bank approval or exchange-rate outcome.