How to import ECB exchange rates

What is it for?

Invoices and movements in a foreign currency (for example dollars) use the exchange rate of the day. fiscaldoo imports the European Central Bank (ECB) reference rates from a file you save from the ECB page: nothing is downloaded from the internet. Each rate is stored per day and per currency, and a day that already exists is not duplicated.

When to use it?

• At the end of the month, before the exchange revaluation (month-end closing), to have the rates of the last day.
• When you enter an invoice in a foreign currency and the day has no rate.
• Do not expect the rates to update on their own: the import is manual, with the ECB XML file (eurofxref-daily.xml for one day, or the history file).

Where to find it?

With developer mode active (the Administrator sees these menus without it; the other profiles do not):

• Import: Accounting › Configure › General › Import exchange rates.
• Import log: Accounting › Configure › General › Exchange rate import history.
• Imported rates: Accounting › Review › Taxes and treasury › Exchange rates.

Before you start

• The profile that imports is the Certified accountant (tested). The Accountant sees the Exchange rates list, without a New button, and, with developer mode active, also has Import exchange rates and Exchange rate import history under Configure › General: they import just like the Certified accountant (tested).
• You saved the ECB XML file without changing it. The currency must be active: inactive currencies are ignored.
• The example uses a test file with three days (28, 29 and 30/10/2026) of US dollar (USD) and pound sterling (GBP), first in a company whose currency is the euro and then in a company whose currency is the dollar.

How to use it

1. Open Accounting › Configure › General › Import exchange rates. The Import ECB rates window opens, with the note “Nothing is downloaded from the internet”, the ECB file (XML) field and the option Replace rates that already exist with a different value?.

2. In Choose a file, choose the ECB XML file. Leave the replace option off, unless you want to correct rates that are already stored.

3. Click Import. The window shows the Result and the link to the Log. On the first import of the example: “3 created, 0 updated, 0 unchanged, 0 kept with a different value; 1 currencies ignored (not active).” The 3 created are the dollar on the three days; the pound was ignored because the currency is not active. Importing the same file again gives “0 created, 0 updated, 3 unchanged…”.

4. Click Open the log (or Exchange rate import history): each import keeps the date, the user, the file name and the file's start and end date, and the totals of Created, Updated, Unchanged and Kept (different value). Nobody creates or edits these records by hand.

5. To see the rates, open Exchange rates. For each day and currency it shows Units per company currency and Company currency per unit. In the example, on 30/10/2026 the dollar is worth 1,09 per euro (file: 1.085), on 29/10/2026 1,08 and on 28/10/2026 1,08.

6. A rate that already exists with a different value. Import a file in which a day already stored has another value (in the example, the dollar on 30/10/2026 at 1,09 instead of 1,085). With the option Replace rates that already exist with a different value? off, the result is “0 created, 0 updated, 2 unchanged, 1 kept with a different value; 1 currencies ignored (not active).” and the stored rate stays as it was. With the option on: “0 created, 1 updated, 2 unchanged, 0 kept with a different value; 1 currencies ignored (not active).”

7. A company with a currency other than the euro. The window has the Company field. In a company whose currency is the dollar, the ECB file is imported all the same and the rate is stored for the euro: in Exchange rates, on 30/10/2026 the EUR line shows Units per company currency 0,92 and Company currency per unit 1,09 (dollars per euro). Importing the same file again gives “0 created, 0 updated, 3 unchanged, 0 kept with a different value; 1 currencies ignored (not active).”

Expected result

• One rate per day and per active currency, and an import log with the totals. The ECB publishes units of foreign currency per 1 euro: with the company in euros, the rate is stored as published.
• This article creates no journal entries: it only stores rates. The rates are used in foreign-currency invoices and in the exchange revaluation.

Important notes

• The screen shows rates with 2 decimal places. The file said 1.085 and the list shows 1,09. To check the exact rate, compare with the file.
• Only active currencies are imported. Activate the currency before importing, or the rate is not stored (“currencies ignored”).
• Existing rates. If the day already has the rate with another value, the import keeps the existing one and counts it under Kept (different value); it only replaces it if you tick the option (step 6).
• The Accountant can also import, with developer mode active, through the same Import exchange rates menu.

Common problems

“Invalid operation: the file is not an ECB reference rates file”

• Symptom: when you click Import, you see “Invalid operation. The file is not an ECB reference rates file: it is not a well-formed XML file. Download eurofxref-daily.xml (or the history file) from the ECB statistics page and load it without changes.”
• Cause: the file is not the ECB XML, or it was changed.
• What to do: save the file again from the ECB page and load it without opening or editing it.