Open Forum

Does anyone have suggestions on how they handle daily currency exchange rates?  We are struggling to decide the best approach for daily exchange rates to be able to reflect in our budget module correctly.

Stacie,

I don't believe there is any method to manage the daily currency exchange rates within Cvent right now, so you would need to update Cvent manually after each time the currency changes. I'm sure this is very difficult to do with many events going on at the same time and in many different countries / currencies.

I would recommend speaking with your Cvent Account Manager and ask if it is possible to build an API and integrate with your Cvent account to automatically/manually update all currencies within your account. I'm not sure if it is possible, but it is worth asking. 

Good Luck.

My concern is how Cvent would change the budget module even if we did have an API built to update the exchange rates.

For example, I propose my budget during one currency rate, but then actually pay my vendor or recognize the fee during a different exchange rate.  I don't know which rate should win in our budget in Cvent.

You have a good point. Let's see what Cvent of someone else with a different solution has to say.

Regarding the exchange rate issue, the only way I control the exchange rate from causing the group to pay out more is to have the vendor honor an agreement that the exchange rate won't affect pricing. This is usually done by paying for all of their services within a 2-week to 1-month time frame. Some vendors won't agree to this, but there are a lot that will. This agreement is a gamble for both parties, as if you agree to pay for a room at $200 USD and then the exchange rate goes down causing the rate to change to $150 USD, you would be out the savings (this is how you can sell it to the vendors). But at least you are not paying more if the exchange rate goes the other way.

Good Luck.

Has anyone has any success dealing with this issue since this original question?  I have a couple of examples that I'd like help with.

The first is the same as described above...the budget is developed using one exchange rate for budgeted expenses.  The actual expense is usually paid at a different exchange rate.  Has anyone found a way to handle this?  

Also, I have 2 (or more) budgets requiring a conversion rate for the same currency (converting USD into CAD) for events happening at different times during the same year.  Because I am trying to anticipate the exchange rate at the time of the event, I want to use different conversion rates for each event.  Has anyone found a way to deal with this?  I thought I could use date ranges, but it seems that whichever is set as the current rate is the one that gets used for all budgets using that currency.   

We do forwards for most of our groups that require a currency exchange. This helps guarentee the rate months in advance. While it is not helpful if the rate goes down significantly as you will remain at the higher rate, it is a great benefit to your budget if the rate goes up since you will still be paying at the lower rate you secured.