CURRENCIES IN COSTPOINT

This topic discusses how currencies are used in Costpoint.

You can run Costpoint in any currency. You can maintain currency information and choose which currency will be your functional currency of the system. You can run Costpoint in any country in the world using the currency with which business is primarily conducted in that country.

During Costpoint setup, you can customize the following:

• Currency name displayed on screens and printed on reports

• Format of currency amounts

• Formats of dates, times, and numbers

These settings apply throughout Costpoint.

This topic covers:

• How data is formatted in a multicurrency environment

• How to prepare Costpoint to run in any currency

• How the Costpoint screens and reports use the currency settings

• Special types of data

• How currency data is stored in the Costpoint database

• Error messages

Data Formatting Options in Costpoint and Windows®

For many companies using Costpoint, the dates, times, numbers, and currency amounts are formatted in the standard format for the United States. These formats affect data entry, display of data on screens, and printing of data on reports. To run Costpoint with the currencies of other countries, you must use the formats commonly used in those countries. If Costpoint's default settings (U.S. format as shown in Table 1) are satisfactory for your organization, you do not need to adjust the settings.

To accommodate other countries' formats, Costpoint supports many options for the formatting of dates, times, numbers, and currency. This table compares the formats used in the United States with those used in the Netherlands:

If you run Costpoint in the Netherlands (or in the currency of the Netherlands), you can set up Costpoint to display all date, time, number, and currency information using the formats appropriate for the Netherlands.

A Deltek Costpoint client  in any country can specify any formats. Decide on the options you want, associate them with a currency, and select that currency as the functional currency for the database.

Formatting Issues

The formatting options in Costpoint are similar to those in the Windows Control Panel. The following is a list of the Windows settings you can associate with a currency in Costpoint:

• Date format

• Date separator

• Time format

• Time separator

• A.M. Indicator

• P.M. Indicator

• Thousands separator

• Decimal separator

• Currency symbol

• Number of currency decimals

• Currency format if positive

• Currency format if negative

In addition to the above settings, Costpoint requires the following information for a currency:

• ISO (International Standards Organization) currency code

• Formal currency name

• Informal singular currency name

• Informal plural currency name

Making Sure Costpoint Data Is Consistent

Most formatting options in Costpoint are similar to those in the Windows Control Panel. Why, then, does Costpoint not simply use the Windows settings, instead of having a Costpoint screen that asks for much of the same information? The reason is as follows:

You can choose any settings you want in the Windows Control Panel. Because of this, Costpoint screens and reports may look different, depending on what individual users have chosen. However, in the Costpoint user environment, the data format (especially on reports) must be consistent among all users. The only way to ensure this is to control the data format through the settings on the Manage Currencies screen. The Costpoint system manager can restrict access to this screen so that only authorized users can change the settings. This ensures control over the appearance of data.

Consistency is especially important when it involves the number of decimal places used by the currency. If different users have different settings for the number of decimal places, then currency amounts entered, processed, or calculated could have different values because Costpoint rounds all currency amounts to the number of decimal places for the designated currency.

Preparing Costpoint to Run in Your Chosen Currency

Complete the following steps to prepare your Costpoint database to run in the currency of your choice:

1. Choose a functional currency.
   
   All accounting systems designate a currency as the functional currency. The functional currency is the basic currency of the accounting system. You can select any currency in the world as the Costpoint functional currency, and all date/time, number, and currency formatting will be based on your choice. Costpoint's default settings upon installation are for the United States dollar and related formats. If these settings are satisfactory for your organization, you do not need to adjust the settings.
   
   Before setting up Costpoint, decide which functional currency you will use in Costpoint. The functional currency is not always the local currency. Accounting standards specify how to determine the functional currency. You need to consider the currency of the parent company (if the company is a subsidiary), the currency in which the company conducts most of its business (if not the local currency), and whether the business operates in a highly inflationary economy.

2. Enter formats on the Manage Currencies screen.
   
   You specify currency formatting information on the Manage Currencies screen. On this screen, use Lookup in the Currency ISO Code field to select the standard ISO code for the currency you plan to use as your functional currency. Then enter the format settings you want to use. The screen has sample displays, which show how data will be displayed and printed based on the format options you choose.

If the currency you want is not in the Lookup list, call Deltek Customer Care for assistance. The currency you want may be on the list, but not with the standard currency name you expect. Deltek Customer Care can help you locate the currency you want to use.

For more information on the Currencies screen, see Manage Currencies.

3. Choose a functional currency on the Configure General Ledger Settings screen.
   
   Use the Functional Currency block on the Configure General Ledger Settings screen to select the functional currency for the database. When you first display this screen, the United States dollar is the default functional currency. To change to the functional currency of your choice, enter the code for the currency in the ISO Code field, or use Lookup to select the currency. If the currency you want is not available in Lookup, then it has not been set up on the Manage Currencies screen. You must set it up there before you can select it here.
   
   For more information on the G/L Settings screen, see Configure General Ledger Settings.

4. Check your Windows Control Panel settings. For reports to print properly, your date, time, number, and currency settings in the regional options in Windows Control Panel must match the settings associated with the Costpoint functional currency. Also make sure the Measurement setting (English or Metric) is the setting you want.

5. Run Costpoint and make sure the settings work properly.
   
   You can confirm that your Windows Control Panel settings match the Costpoint functional currency settings simply by starting Costpoint. If the settings don't match, you receive a warning before the menu screen appears. Once you log in, display one screen and one report that show dates and currency amounts. If these amounts are formatted correctly on both the screen and the report, your currency information is set up properly.

Currency and Related Formatting Settings in Screens and Reports

This section describes how data on Costpoint screens and reports are formatted to match your functional currency settings. Each type of data is illustrated with sample data using the formats for the United States and the Netherlands. These illustrations show how the appearance of the data can be different for different currencies.

Dates/Times

Dates and times are all formatted for data entry, display, and printing using the formats associated with the functional currency. The formatting choices are the following:

• Dates:  Order (MMDDYY, DDMMYY, or YYMMDD)

• Day-Month-Year separator

• Times:  12-hour or 24-hour format

• For 12-hour format:  AM and PM strings

• Hours-Minutes-Seconds separator

This table provides some sample date/time data:

Numbers, Percents, and Currency Amounts (data entry)

Formats for data entry use the numeric format associated with the functional currency. When entering a number that includes a value (other than 00) after the decimal separator, you must enter the decimal separator (comma or period). You do not have to enter the thousands separator. Costpoint automatically adds it when you proceed to the next field. However, if you enter the decimal separator, it must be the selected separator of the functional currency. For negatives, you can enter the minus sign either before or after the number. Costpoint encloses the amount in parentheses if the data field is a currency amount and if the functional currency calls for parentheses around negative numbers.

As you finish entering data and move to the next field, the data you entered is reformatted. The reformatted display uses the thousands separator and decimal separator of the functional currency. If the number is negative, the reformatted display uses the format appropriate for your settings.

The negative format depends on the type of data. For numbers and percents, the negative format has a minus sign before the number. For currency amounts, the format is in accordance with the following functional currency specifications:

• Use of parentheses or a minus sign.

• Placement of the minus sign either before or after the number.

• Placement of the minus sign before or after the currency symbol.

Percents are displayed with a percent sign. Currency amounts are displayed without the currency symbol and are rounded to the number of decimal places specified for the functional currency.

Here are some examples of how entered data is entered and then reformatted when you move to another field on the screen:

In the above example, parentheses around negative numbers have not been selected for either currency. If you want parentheses around negative numbers, you must specify it on the Manage Currencies screen. In that case, currency entry and redisplay would look like this:

Numbers, Percents, and Currency Amounts (screen displays and reports)

Screen displays and reports use the format of the functional currency. The data is displayed based on these options:

• With or without decimals

• With or without thousands separator

• With or without currency symbol

• In thousands

• In millions

Here are some examples of numeric data on screens and reports:

Screens:

*  The "In Thousands" format rounds off  the amount to the nearest thousand. This format is used for financial reporting, especially for large numbers.

Reports:  All numbers in reports, if they are in columns, line up at the decimal point.

Special Types of Data

This section describes some special types of data in Costpoint and how they are affected by the choice of currency.

• Hours, quantities, and unit prices

Hours, quantities, and unit prices are treated in Costpoint as numbers, but not currency amounts.

You would not expect hours and quantities to be treated as currency amounts, but the same may not be true for unit prices. Unit prices are treated as non-currency numbers because they often require more decimal places than allowed by the currency. Most currencies are rounded to two decimal places. Unit prices often must be recorded with at least four decimal places.

Because these types of data are not treated as currency, negative amounts are displayed with a minus sign in front of the number, the standard format for numbers that are not currency amounts. The negative currency format, which might include parentheses, is not used.

• Percentages

Percentages, including rates (withholding or sales tax rates, for example), are treated as numbers, even if they refer to currency amounts. Since they are numbers, they can be stored with a greater number of decimal places than are normally used for currencies.

All percentages are shown with a percent sign immediately following the value.

• Rounding

All currency amounts are rounded to the number of decimal places of the functional currency. This includes amounts entered on screens, stored amounts, and computed amounts. Many calculations, such as revenue and taxes, produce different numerical results when done for a currency with no decimal places instead of two decimal places (such as U. S. dollars).

• Currency names

On the Manage Currencies screen, you enter three currency names :  formal name, informal singular name, and informal plural name. Costpoint uses these names in various screens and reports. For example, a report selection screen might give a choice to "Print amounts in whole dollars" if the report is run in U. S. dollars. The same screen would say "Print amounts in whole francs" if the report is run in francs. You can select your own names because currency names may differ by language (Francs suisses or Swiss francs, for example).

• Size of currency amount columns

Costpoint stores all currency amounts with 12 digits to the left of the decimal place, and two digits to the right. This means that the highest amount that can be stored is 999,999,999,999.99 units of the functional currency. Since the units of different currencies do not have the same value, the highest currency amount that can be stored for one currency can be worth either more or less than the highest amount for another currency.

• Changing the functional currency

If you decide to change your functional currency, you must plan the conversion carefully. Accounting standards specify how to determine whether the functional currency should be changed and when the change should take place. Also, you cannot go into the Configure General Ledger Settings screen and simply select a new functional currency. Costpoint does not convert all the currency amounts in the database to the corresponding amount in the new functional currency. (You may notice that there is no place to enter a currency exchange rate.) For example, 255,000 units of the old functional currency, before the change, will be recorded as 255,000 units of the new functional currency after the change.

• Addresses and phone numbers

In all versions of Costpoint, you can enter addresses and phone numbers from countries other than the United States. All addresses have a country code field, and the first address level within a country is the state or province. The postal code fields on the Manage Postal Codes screen are large enough to accommodate the postal codes of any country. Telephone numbers are 25-character strings, enough to accommodate long telephone numbers, including international routing codes and the special characters used in most countries (parentheses, dashes, periods, and spaces).

Currency Data Storage in the Costpoint Database

Costpoint currency information is stored in the Costpoint database. You do not need to change this information using a database utility. You can make all necessary changes from Costpoint screens.

• Standard currency codes

Standard currency codes are stored in the S_CURRENCY table. The only data in this table are the International Standards Organization (ISO) currency code and a suggested currency name. You access this table when you look up currency codes on the Manage Currencies screen. The table contains every standard currency code in use at the time of the Costpoint release (about 200 codes). Deltek updates this table for each new Costpoint release.

• Currency formats

Currency formats are stored in the CURRENCY table. This table contains the data entered on the Manage Currencies screen (currency code, names, and formatting options). It also contains data format strings that represent the format options. Costpoint uses these when formatting data for screens and reports.

The following are examples of format strings for U. S. format:

MM/DD/YYYY (month, day, and year date format when used with a four-digit year)

#,##0;-#,##0 (whole numbers, positive and negative)

$#,##0.00;-$#,##0.00 (currency amounts, positive and negative)

The format strings are automatically regenerated when you change any format options on the Manage Currencies screen.

• Functional currency

The code for the functional currency is stored in the FUNC_S_CRNCY_CD column in the GL_CONFIG table.

Error Messages Involving Currency

The error messages described  below are those directly related to currencies.

Could not initialize currency data.

This message may be displayed when you start Costpoint. It means that the login program could not obtain the functional currency code from the GL_CONFIG table in the database, or it found the code but was unable to obtain the currency information from the CURRENCY table.

If this message appears immediately after an installation or upgrade of Costpoint, the installation/upgrade did not properly initialize the currency information in these two tables. Call Deltek Customer Care for assistance. Even if you are able to put the necessary currency information into the tables, something else may have gone wrong in the installation/upgrade process. Always call Deltek Customer Care in this situation.

If this occurs during normal Costpoint operation, first see if either the GL_CONFIG or CURRENCY table is locked by another database user. Usually when this occurs, a database utility is the cause, rather than normal Costpoint activity. Ask your database administrator to check on the current user connections and the current locks. If no one is locking the tables, the currency information has probably been deleted from the tables. In that case, ask Deltek Customer Care for help in restoring the currency information to the tables.

Warning:  Most reports will not print properly because some Windows settings do not match the Costpoint Currency settings. To correct this, exit this application and go to the screen...

Costpoint displays this message at startup if your computer's regional options in Windows Control Panel do not match the settings associated with the Costpoint functional currency. The error message tells you exactly what you must change. Either write down the information, or print a copy of the screen. Then exit from Costpoint and change your settings.

You must exit from Costpoint before you change your Windows settings. If you simply switch tasks and change your settings, Costpoint does not recognize the change. Exit from Costpoint, make your changes changes, and then log in to Costpoint again.

You may still get the message the next time you try, even if you exited from Costpoint before making the change. If this happens, close Costpoint, close Windows, reopen Windows, and log in to Costpoint.

The message warns that reports will not print correctly. If you ignore the message and enter Costpoint anyway, the screens still work properly. However, if you run a report, many of the currency amounts are blank. All page and column headings and non-currency data are displayed correctly, but currency amounts are not.

This currency cannot be deleted because it is being used as the functional currency.

This message is displayed on the Manage Currencies screen if you try to delete the currency that is designated as the functional currency. The code for the currency you want to delete is the functional currency code in the GL_CONFIG table.

If you get this message, you cannot delete this currency from the CURRENCY table. Do not go outside of Costpoint and use a utility to delete it.

If you delete the functional currency from the CURRENCY table, no one will be able to log in to Costpoint.

If you really want to delete this currency, you must first go to the Configure General Ledger Settings screen and change the functional currency. Then you can return to the Manage Currencies screen and delete your currency.

You have changed your functional currency from ____ to ____. This will change the meaning of all the currency amounts stored in the database.

This message is displayed on the Configure General Ledger Settings screen if you change the functional currency. The message appears when you save, not when you enter the new currency code. The message warns that all the currency amounts in your database will have a different meaning after the save. For example, if you change the currency from U. S. dollars to Swiss francs, a currency amount of 255,000 will change in meaning from 255,000 dollars to 255,000 francs. Costpoint does not convert the 255,000 dollars to its corresponding value in francs.

The screen provides this warning because you should not change your functional currency after Costpoint operation has begun, unless the original setting was a mistake. Instead, you should follow the applicable accounting standards for changing your functional currency.