In short
Issuing an invoice in a foreign currency starts just like a regular invoice. The key is picking the correct legal entity (if your workspace has more than one) and the correct billing address, and then, in step 3, choosing the invoicing currency and its exchange rate(s). Budget items in step 2 are always shown in your workspace currency — the invoicing currency and exchange rate(s) are only chosen in step 3. Full instructions are in the "How to issue an invoice in a foreign currency" section below.
Whenever an invoice's currency differs from other relevant currencies, Allfred can show up to two separate exchange rates: the Invoice exchange rate and the Project exchange rate.
The Invoice exchange rate is the rate shown on the invoice PDF and sent to accounting. It doesn't recalculate anything inside Allfred.
The Project exchange rate is the rate used to convert the invoiced amount for that project's statistics and reporting inside Allfred.
Each of these two rates can independently be set from one of four sources: ECB (European Central Bank daily rate), Budget exchange rate (the rate used when the budget was created), Custom rate (entered manually), or Client rate (a fixed rate set on the client's profile).
The Project exchange rate is shown whenever the invoice currency differs from the workspace currency — full stop. The Invoice exchange rate is shown whenever the invoice currency differs from the legal entity's own currency — the billing entity's currency doesn't affect this. The exact rules and example tables are in the "When are one, two, or no exchange rates shown?" section below.
How to set up default exchange rates
Admins in Allfred can set up and manage exchange rates for multiple currencies. To configure exchange rates for your workspace:
Access Workspace Settings — click your profile icon in the top right corner, then choose Workspace Settings.
Navigate to the Financial section — in the settings menu on the left, go to Financial, then scroll down to the Currencies & Exchange Rates area.
Configure the exchange rate for each currency:
In the Currency column, select the currency you want to set a rate for.
Automatic from ECB — tick this checkbox to use the daily European Central Bank rate. This rate is applied automatically based on the invoice's supply date.
Manual (Custom) exchange rate — if you'd rather use your own fixed rate, leave the ECB option unchecked and enter the rate you want. This is what feeds the Custom rate source described above.
Managing currencies — once a currency has been set and used for invoicing, it can't be deleted, though you can still adjust its exchange rate settings at any time.
Client-level exchange rate — if you've agreed on a specific exchange rate with a client, you can set a custom rate directly on that client's profile. This is what feeds the Client rate source described above.
How to issue an invoice in a foreign currency
There are two common situations: issuing a foreign-currency invoice as a one-time thing for a particular client, or a client who always needs to be invoiced in a foreign currency. The steps are almost identical — the difference is just where the currency comes from.
Invoice in a foreign currency - One-time scenario
Create a new billing address, if needed — go to the client's detail page and create a new billing address; you can set the required currency as its default.
Start the invoicing process — you can start it from several places: Project Detail (Actions → Invoice), Project List (Actions menu next to the project name → Invoice), the Finance section (Add New button), or the violet +New button (top right) → Invoice.
Step 1 – Enter details — fill in all the necessary details, including the correct legal entity (if your workspace has more than one) and the billing address you want to use for this invoice.
Step 2 – Select items for invoicing — choose the budget items and amounts you want to include on the invoice.
Important: at this step, all amounts are always displayed in your workspace currency — regardless of which currency you'll eventually invoice in. Currency selection only happens in the next step.Step 3 – Set dates and currency — set the required dates and click Generate from Budget Items.
In the top right corner, choose the currency you want to invoice in (unless it's already prefilled from the billing address, or applied automatically — see below). This is the point where you'll first see the amounts converted into the invoicing currency.
Reverse charge — if this invoice should be issued under reverse charge (no VAT calculated), use the Reverse charge checkbox next to the currency and VAT fields in step 3.
Allfred then shows the exchange rate selector(s) that apply for this currency, under the invoice summary. This could be the Invoice exchange rate, the Project exchange rate, both, or neither — it depends on whether the invoice currency matches your workspace currency and your legal entity's currency, as explained further below. For each exchange rate that's shown, you can pick its source: ECB, Budget exchange rate, Custom rate, or Client rate.
Values are automatically recalculated based on the exchange rate(s) you choose.
Finalize and create the invoice — click Create to finalize it. If your role is Project Manager, Team Leader, or Managing Director, click Submit for Invoicing instead.
Invoice in a foreign currency - Always issuing invoices in a foreign currency for a specific client
Client's default billing currency — for foreign clients, the billing address is typically already set to the required currency by default, so it will be applied automatically whenever you invoice this client. You can edit this at any time in the client's detail page.
Start the invoicing process — you can start it from several places: Project Detail (Actions → Invoice), Project List (Actions menu next to the project name → Invoice), the Finance section (Add New button), or the violet +New button (top right) → Invoice.
Step 1 – Enter details — enter all required details, including the correct legal entity (if your workspace has more than one) and the client's correct billing address. The invoice header will already reflect the foreign currency that's set as default for this client.
Step 2 – Select items for invoicing — choose the budget items you want to invoice. At this step, all amounts are displayed in your workspace currency, regardless of which currency you'll eventually invoice in.
Step 3 – Set dates and currency — set the required dates and click Generate from Budget Items.
In the top right corner, confirm that the default foreign currency has been applied. This is where the amounts switch to being shown in that currency.
Reverse charge — if this invoice should be issued under reverse charge (no VAT calculated), use the Reverse charge checkbox next to the currency and VAT fields in step 3.
Allfred then shows the exchange rate selector(s) that apply for this currency, under the invoice summary. This could be the Invoice exchange rate, the Project exchange rate, both, or neither — it depends on whether the invoice currency matches your workspace currency and your legal entity's currency, as explained further below. For each exchange rate that's shown, you can pick its source: ECB, Budget exchange rate, Custom rate, or Client rate.
Finalize and create the invoice — click Create, or Submit for Invoicing if you're a Project Manager, Team Leader, or Managing Director.
Why does Allfred use two different exchange rates?
Agencies often build budgets and quotes using a specific exchange rate — either a custom rate or the daily rate at the time. That same rate also appears on the client's order/quote, so the client already knows exactly what amount will eventually be invoiced. Agencies don't want the client to absorb currency fluctuations that happen between budgeting and invoicing.
At the same time, the account manager responsible for the project wants to see, at the end of the project, that it was invoiced at 100% of the budget — even though, if you recalculated the same amount using a different (e.g. the daily) exchange rate, the resulting value could technically look different.
Example:
Client price: 1,000 EUR
Exchange rate used in the budget: 1 EUR = 25 CZK → 25,000 CZK
At the time of invoicing, the daily rate is, say, 24.16. The agency doesn't want to invoice 24,160 CZK — they want to invoice exactly 25,000 CZK, matching what was budgeted and quoted.
If you used the daily rate instead, 25,000 / 24.16 = 1,034.77 — i.e. not 100% of the budget, even though the correct, agreed amount was actually billed.
The reverse situation (the recalculated value appearing lower than 100%, or higher, depending on rate movement) can also happen.
This is why, whenever the invoice's currency differs from the workspace currency, Allfred works with two separate exchange rates instead of one.
Invoice exchange rate vs. Project exchange rate
Invoice exchange rate
This is the rate shown on the invoice PDF. It's also the rate used when the invoice is sent to accounting. It exists purely for accounting/bookkeeping purposes — it doesn't recalculate anything inside Allfred itself.
Project exchange rate
This is the rate used to convert the invoiced amount for the project's statistics and reporting inside Allfred.
In the example above, the client would see the rate 24.16 on their invoice (Invoice exchange rate), while Allfred's internal statistics (project detail, reports, outgoing invoices listing) would be recalculated using the Project exchange rate — so that, if the agency wants, the statistics reflect the same rate that was used when the budget was originally built (i.e., showing the project as invoiced at 100%).
Where do these exchange rates come from?
Both the Invoice exchange rate and the Project exchange rate can each be set from one of the following sources:
ECB — the European Central Bank daily reference rate
Budget exchange rate — the rate that was used when the budget was originally created; this lets you keep statistics aligned with how the project was budgeted
Custom rate — a rate entered manually
Client rate — a fixed rate set at the client level
If you want your client to bear any currency differences themselves (rather than absorbing them as the agency), simply keep both the Invoice exchange rate source and the Project exchange rate source the same (e.g. both ECB).
Where do I see this when invoicing?
In step 3 of the invoicing process, the summary on the left-hand side shows both conversions of the invoiced amount side by side — how much it is once converted using the Invoice exchange rate, and how much it is once converted using the Project exchange rate.
Important to keep in mind: because these two rates can come from different sources, the amount your accounting will show (based on the Invoice exchange rate) can differ from what your project statistics show in Allfred (based on the Project exchange rate). This is expected — the Project exchange rate exists specifically so that account managers can see project results calculated at the rate they used when they built the budget, rather than at whatever rate applies on the day of invoicing. If you'd rather have both always match exactly, set both rate sources to the same one (e.g. both ECB).
When are one, two, or no exchange rates shown when invoicing?
Whether Allfred shows no exchange rate, only one, or both depends purely on how three currencies compare to each other: the invoice currency, the legal entity's currency, and the workspace currency.
Project exchange rate
Shown whenever the invoice currency is different from the workspace currency. That's the only condition.
Invoice exchange rate
Shown whenever the invoice currency is different from the legal entity's own currency. The billing entity's currency doesn't affect this — it's shown in the tables below just for context, not because it changes the result.
The tables below show all possible combinations, split by whether your workspace currency is EUR or CZK.
Workspace = EUR
Legal entity currency | Billing entity currency | Invoice currency | Invoice exchange rate shown? | Project exchange rate shown? |
EUR | EUR | EUR | No | No |
EUR | EUR | CZK | Yes | Yes |
EUR | CZK | EUR | No | No |
EUR | CZK | CZK | Yes | Yes |
CZK | EUR | EUR | Yes | No |
CZK | EUR | CZK | No | Yes |
CZK | CZK | EUR | Yes | No |
CZK | CZK | CZK | No | Yes |
Workspace = CZK
Legal entity currency | Billing entity currency | Invoice currency | Invoice exchange rate shown? | Project exchange rate shown? |
EUR | EUR | EUR | No | Yes |
EUR | EUR | CZK | Yes | No |
EUR | CZK | EUR | No | Yes |
EUR | CZK | CZK | Yes | No |
CZK | EUR | EUR | Yes | Yes |
CZK | EUR | CZK | No | No |
CZK | CZK | EUR | Yes | Yes |
CZK | CZK | CZK | No | No |
This logic works the same way for any currency, not just EUR and CZK — the tables above just use these two as an example.