Glossary
QuickBooks Home Currency
The QuickBooks home currency is the one currency a QuickBooks Online company keeps its books and reports in: every foreign-currency transaction also carries a home-currency value, and once Multicurrency is turned on the home currency can no longer be changed.
Also called: QuickBooks Online home currency, QuickBooks base currency, change home currency QuickBooks, home currency equivalent
Definition
Every QuickBooks Online company has exactly one home currency. Intuit describes it as "usually the currency your business uses for its transactions based on where your business is located", so a US company’s home currency is USD and a Canadian company’s is CAD, whatever currency its customers pay in.
In a single-currency file you never see the term, because every amount is already in it. It starts to matter the moment you turn on Multicurrency. From then on, a transaction can be recorded in a foreign currency, but QuickBooks still needs to know what it is worth in the home currency, because that is the only currency its reports speak. Intuit puts it without qualification: "Reports will always show the home currency regardless of the currency used in transactions."
So a multicurrency file quietly keeps two numbers for every foreign transaction: the amount in the currency it happened in, and its value in the home currency at the rate used that day. Most of the confusion in a Stripe-to-QuickBooks setup with more than one currency comes from forgetting that the second number exists, or assuming it keeps updating on its own.
Key points
- +Every QuickBooks Online company has one home currency, usually the currency of the country the business is located in.
- +Intuit states that once Multicurrency is enabled, you can no longer change your home currency, and you can no longer turn Multicurrency off.
- +When Multicurrency is turned on, all existing customers, vendors and accounts are assigned your home currency.
- +Income and expense accounts always use the home currency. Foreign currencies are assigned to customers, vendors, and accounts such as bank and credit card accounts.
- +Reports always show the home currency, whatever currency the underlying transactions used.
- +A foreign transaction’s home-currency value is fixed at its own exchange rate. It changes afterwards only if you revalue the balance with a home currency adjustment.
- +Multicurrency, and with it any currency other than home, is available on Essentials, Plus and Advanced. It is not available on Simple Start.
Why the home currency is fixed once Multicurrency is on
Intuit is direct about both locks: "Once multicurrency is enabled, you can no longer change your home currency," and "Once Multicurrency is on, you can no longer turn it off."
The reason is structural. When you switch Multicurrency on, Intuit says all existing customers, vendors and accounts are assigned your home currency, and every transaction from then on stores a home-currency value alongside its own. Changing the home currency afterwards would mean restating every one of those values at some rate nobody recorded, so QuickBooks does not offer it.
The practical consequence is that the home currency decision is made once, at the moment you turn Multicurrency on, and it is worth making on purpose. The right answer is almost always the currency your business reports and pays tax in, not the currency most of your Stripe revenue arrives in. A Canadian company that sells mostly to US customers still keeps its books in CAD. The US dollars are foreign currency, handled with foreign-currency accounts, and translated into CAD for every report.
Which accounts can hold a foreign currency, and which never do
Intuit says you can assign a single currency to "most types of accounts including customers, vendors, and accounts in the chart of accounts (like bank and credit card accounts or accounts receivable)." QuickBooks also creates accounts receivable and accounts payable for each currency as you create transactions in it.
The exception is the one that shapes your profit and loss: "Income and expense accounts always use your home currency." A sale in euros is recorded against a euro customer and, if it is paid, lands in a euro-denominated asset account. The revenue line on the same transaction is booked in your home currency, translated at that transaction’s exchange rate.
That split is why a multicurrency P&L never needs revaluing, while a multicurrency balance sheet does. Revenue and expenses are translated once, when they happen. Cash, receivables and payables in a foreign currency keep existing after the day they were recorded, and the rate they were recorded at goes stale.
The home-currency value is set once, and only a revaluation moves it
On a sales or purchase transaction in another currency, Intuit says the amounts are in the customer’s or vendor’s currency "and the home currency equivalent is listed for the transaction total." That equivalent comes from the exchange rate on the transaction. QuickBooks updates its exchange rates automatically every four hours, and you can override the rate on an individual transaction.
Once the transaction is saved, its home-currency value stays where it is. A euro bank account that took in deposits across a month holds the sum of each deposit’s home-currency value, at each day’s rate, which is a blend that matches no single rate. QuickBooks does not restate it when rates move.
The tool that does is the home currency adjustment, which Intuit describes as changing "the home currency value of your foreign balances, recalculating them based on a new rate." It posts a realized gain or loss on bank-type accounts and an unrealized one on receivables and payables. It is a period-end step you run, not something QuickBooks does for you.
Where a Stripe settlement currency meets your home currency
Stripe has its own version of the same idea. By default, Stripe "automatically converts all incoming funds into your default currency". If that default currency is also your QuickBooks home currency, which is the common case for a business with one bank account, your Stripe clearing account is a home-currency account and there is nothing to translate or revalue on it. Currency differences are settled inside Stripe, before the money ever reaches your books.
The home currency starts doing real work when Stripe holds money in something else. With multi-currency settlement, Stripe can accrue balances in additional currencies and pay each one out to a bank account in that currency. The faithful QuickBooks mirror is a clearing account and a bank account in each foreign currency, and each of those is an account whose home-currency value will drift between revaluations.
Two events then need care. A payout from a foreign balance is a transfer between two accounts in that foreign currency, with an exchange rate attached. A conversion between two Stripe balances is a transfer between two different currencies, and it realizes an exchange gain or loss against the rate the converted funds were carried at. Both are covered in the posts linked below.
How Acodei works with your QuickBooks home currency
Acodei has two levels of multicurrency support, Multicurrency Support and Invoice Multicurrency, and both are turned on by the Acodei team on request rather than being self-serve toggles. QuickBooks Online’s own Multicurrency setting has to be on as well: if Multicurrency Support is on in Acodei and the QuickBooks setting is not, syncs will error.
With Invoice Multicurrency on, Acodei checks the QuickBooks home currency when a Stripe invoice is created. If the invoice currency differs, the invoice is created in QuickBooks in the Stripe currency rather than converted into home currency. The exchange rate is applied when the payment arrives, using Stripe’s rate where it is available and QuickBooks’ rate otherwise. Refunds, credit notes and payouts in a currency other than home currency carry an exchange rate too, and a payout in another currency is recorded as a Transfer. Invoice Multicurrency is not permitted when the holding account is Undeposited Funds.
With Multicurrency Support on, a transaction whose currency does not match the existing QuickBooks customer creates a second customer record in the format "CustomerName - CUR", for example "Acme - CAD". QuickBooks assigns one currency per customer, so this is designed behavior, not a duplicate to clean up. For a Stripe account with more than one balance, Acodei recommends a separate holding account and deposit account for each balance, using regular clearing accounts rather than Undeposited Funds. Zero-decimal currencies such as JPY are not supported today.
Want to see this on your own Stripe data?
Start a free trialFrequently asked questions
Can I change my home currency in QuickBooks Online?
Not once Multicurrency is on. Intuit states that once Multicurrency is enabled you can no longer change your home currency, and that Multicurrency itself cannot be turned off. Choose the home currency before you enable Multicurrency, and pick the currency your business reports and pays tax in rather than the one most of your sales arrive in.
Does my Stripe default currency have to match my QuickBooks home currency?
No, but it is simplest when it does. If Stripe settles everything into your home currency, your Stripe clearing account is a home-currency account with nothing to revalue. If Stripe holds balances in other currencies through multi-currency settlement, each one needs a clearing account in that currency in QuickBooks, and those accounts need a home currency adjustment at period end.
Why is my revenue in home currency when the customer paid in euros?
Because Intuit states that income and expense accounts always use your home currency. The euro amount is kept on the customer and on the asset account the money landed in. The revenue line is translated into home currency at the exchange rate on that transaction, and it is never restated afterwards.
Does QuickBooks update the home-currency value of a foreign balance when rates change?
No. Each transaction keeps the home-currency value from its own exchange rate. The balance is only restated when you run a home currency adjustment, which Intuit places under Settings, then Currencies, then Revalue Currency. It posts a realized gain or loss on bank-type accounts and an unrealized one on receivables and payables.
What does Acodei do when a Stripe invoice is not in my home currency?
With Invoice Multicurrency enabled by the Acodei team, the invoice is created in QuickBooks in the Stripe invoice’s currency, and the exchange rate is applied when the payment is recorded, from Stripe where available and from QuickBooks otherwise. QuickBooks Online Multicurrency must be on, the holding account cannot be Undeposited Funds, and zero-decimal currencies such as JPY are not supported.
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Related reading
- QuickBooks home currency adjustment for Stripe balances
- Stripe Settlement Currency
- Recording a Stripe currency conversion in QuickBooks
- QuickBooks Transfer
More glossary terms
- Undeposited Funds
- Stripe Balance Transaction
- Available vs Pending Balance
- Stripe Dispute
- Stripe Dispute Evidence
- Stripe Fee
- Stripe Balance Adjustment
- QuickBooks Credit Memo
- Stripe Tax
- QuickBooks Tax Code
- Stripe Reserve
- Stripe Tax Rate
- Stripe Fee Credit
- Stripe Credit Note
- QuickBooks Product/Service Item
- Stripe Payout
- QuickBooks Sales Receipt
- QuickBooks Bank Deposit
- QuickBooks Transfer
- Stripe Authorization Hold
- QuickBooks Refund Receipt
- QuickBooks Payment
- QuickBooks Expense
- QuickBooks Journal Entry
- Stripe Financial Account
- Holding Account
- Accounts Receivable
- Bank Feed
- Deferred Revenue
- Stripe PaymentIntent
- Stripe Checkout Session
- Stripe SetupIntent
- Stripe PaymentMethod
- Stripe Charge
- Stripe Refund
- QuickBooks Invoice
- QuickBooks Class Tracking
- QuickBooks Location Tracking
- QuickBooks Project
- QuickBooks Closing Date
- Stripe Invoice Line Item
- Stripe Proration
- Stripe Invoice Status
- Stripe Shipping Rate
- Stripe Transfer
- Stripe Mandate
- Stripe on_behalf_of
- Stripe Invoice Item
- QuickBooks Estimate
- Stripe Invoice Payment
- Stripe Invoice Payment Settings
- Stripe Billing Meter
- Stripe Invoice Template
- Stripe Price
- Stripe Subscription Schedule
- Stripe Subscription Item
- QuickBooks Recurring Transaction
- QuickBooks Sub-Customer
- QuickBooks Audit Log
- QuickBooks Bank Rule
- Stripe Subscription Status
- Stripe Mixed Interval Subscription
- Stripe Trial Settings
- QuickBooks Payment Terms
- Stripe Pending Update
- QuickBooks Tags
- QuickBooks Credit Card Credit
- QuickBooks Vendor Credit
- QuickBooks Bill
- QuickBooks Delayed Charge
- Stripe Billing Mode
- QuickBooks Billable Expense
- Stripe Customer Cash Balance
- QuickBooks Purchase Order
- QuickBooks Opening Balance
- QuickBooks Account Type
- QuickBooks Sales Tax Center
- Stripe Webhook
- Stripe Metadata
- Stripe Outbound Payment
- Stripe Received Credit
- Stripe Outbound Transfer
- Stripe Inbound Transfer
- Stripe Received Debit
- Stripe Payout Method
- Stripe Financial Account Transaction
- Stripe Financial Address
- Stripe Application Fee
- Stripe Connected Account
- Stripe Destination Charge
- Stripe Separate Charges and Transfers
- Stripe Direct Charge
- Stripe Payment Method Configuration
- Stripe Dynamic Payment Methods
- Stripe Payment Method Rules
- QuickBooks Bundle
- Stripe Account Capability
- Stripe Merchant of Record
- Stripe Data Pipeline
- Settlement Currency
- Hosted Invoice Page
- Stripe Customer
- Stripe Product
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