To import foreign currency transactions into QuickBooks Online, first turn on multicurrency in Account and settings. Then create a bank account and assign it the foreign currency, such as euros. Finally, upload a file whose amounts are in that same currency, exactly as the foreign bank printed them, and pick that account on the upload screen.
Turning on multicurrency before a foreign currency import
Multicurrency is the QuickBooks Online setting that lets an account hold a currency other than your home currency. Intuit's multicurrency help article puts it under Settings, then Account and settings, then Advanced, in the Currency section. It cannot be turned off once it is on.
That last point deserves a pause. The same article says that once multicurrency is on, you can no longer turn it off, and you can no longer change your home currency. Your home currency is the one your business reports in, usually the currency of the country where you file taxes. Make sure it is set correctly in the Currency section before you switch multicurrency on, because the two choices lock together.
The article also says multicurrency works on the Essentials, Plus and Advanced plans and is not available to Simple Start users. If you are on Simple Start, you have two options. Upgrade, or keep the foreign account outside QuickBooks and record only the transfers that reach your home currency account. The second option loses detail, so talk to whoever prepares your taxes before choosing it.
What changes after you turn it on
Once multicurrency is active, you can enter transactions in other currencies, and QuickBooks converts them to your home currency for you. The multicurrency article says your existing accounts default to the home currency, shown in the Currency column of the chart of accounts. Only the accounts you create in another currency hold foreign amounts.
Creating the bank account in its own currency
A foreign currency bank account is an ordinary bank account in the chart of accounts with a currency chosen at creation. Intuit's article on adding a foreign currency account gives the steps: open the chart of accounts, choose New, pick the account type and detail type, name the account, select the currency from the Currency dropdown, and save.
Name the account so it cannot be confused with your home account. "Business checking EUR 2290" says the currency and the last four digits. "Bank 2" says nothing, and on the upload screen the two names sit side by side in one dropdown.
Choose the currency carefully, because it locks. The multicurrency article says that once an account has a transaction posted to it, you can no longer change the account's currency. If you pick dollars by mistake and upload a month of euro lines, the fix is a new account and moving or re-importing every line, not a quick edit.
One account per currency
Each account holds a single currency. A business with euro and sterling accounts at the same bank needs two QuickBooks accounts, one in each currency, even if the bank shows them on one combined statement. Split that statement into one upload file per currency before you start.
Which currency should the upload file's amounts be in?
The upload file's amounts should be in the currency of the account you upload into, exactly as the foreign bank printed them. Intuit's help article on uploading transactions lists three or four columns for a CSV and none of them is a currency. The currency comes from the account you choose on the upload screen.
That means the file itself never says "euros". A row reading -120.00 becomes minus 120 in whatever currency the chosen account holds. Pick the euro account and it is 120 euros. Pick the dollar account and it becomes 120 dollars, which is wrong and silent.
A worked example
The table below shows a sample euro account for one week. The amounts and the exchange rate are made up for illustration. The dollar column is only there to show what your reports might display. It does not go in the file.
| Date | Description | Amount in the file (EUR) | Example USD equivalent at 1.08 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/02/2026 | Client payment, invoice 311 | 2400.00 | 2592.00 |
| 03/03/2026 | Co-working desk, Lisbon | -310.00 | -334.80 |
| 03/05/2026 | Local phone plan | -25.00 | -27.00 |
| 03/06/2026 | Bank account fee | -6.50 | -7.02 |
| 03/09/2026 | Transfer to US checking | -1500.00 | -1620.00 |
Only the first three columns belong in the CSV. Before saving, check the format of the numbers. Many European banks print amounts with a comma as the decimal mark and a dot between thousands, such as 2.400,00. A US company file reads that as something else entirely. Change every amount to a dot for the decimal and no thousands separator, so 2.400,00 becomes 2400.00.
Dates need the same care. A European statement usually prints the day first, so 03/05 means 3 May rather than 5 March. Pick the matching date format on the mapping screen, or rewrite the dates before saving. The guide to mapping CSV columns in QuickBooks Online covers the date format setting and the choice between three and four columns.
The upload article also says the file must be in English. A statement export with column headers or descriptions in another language may need its headers renamed before QuickBooks will read it.
Exchange rates on imported foreign currency lines
QuickBooks uses an exchange rate to show each foreign line in your home currency on reports. The multicurrency article defines the rate as the number of home currency units it takes to buy one unit of the foreign currency. It says QuickBooks updates its stored rates automatically every four hours and that you can enter your own.
For a bank account, the rate that matters is the one your bank actually used. The multicurrency article describes entering the foreign amount or your bank's exchange rate when you add a transaction. On the review screen, open a few imported lines and look at the rate QuickBooks applied. If your bank's statement shows a different rate for a conversion, use the bank's figure on that transaction.
Most lines in a foreign account involve no conversion at all. A client in Portugal pays you 2,400 euros into a euro account. A euro desk rent leaves it. The euro balance in QuickBooks should match the euro balance on the statement to the cent, whatever rate the reports use. Reconcile the account in its own currency, and leave the home currency values to the reports.
Where differences appear
Rates move, so the home currency value of the same euros changes over time. QuickBooks tracks that as an exchange gain or loss. That number is an accounting result, not an import error, and you should not try to remove it by editing amounts in the file. If it looks large, ask your accountant to review it at year end.
Is a foreign card purchase on a dollar account a foreign currency transaction?
A foreign card purchase on a dollar account is not a foreign currency transaction for import purposes. Your US bank converted the charge and posted it in dollars, so the statement line is already in your home currency. Import it like any other line into your normal account, with no multicurrency setting needed.
The statement may show the original amount in the description, such as "45.00 EUR". Leave that text in the description if it helps you remember the purchase, but import only the dollar amount. Many banks also charge a foreign transaction fee, sometimes as a separate line. Keep that line too, and categorize it as a bank fee rather than adding it to the purchase.
Multicurrency is for accounts that hold a foreign balance, not for occasional foreign purchases. Turning it on just to record a few holiday-season supplier charges adds a permanent setting you don't need.
Paying people abroad
The same logic covers paying staff or contractors in another country from your dollar account. The payment leaves in dollars, so it is a dollar line. If an outside provider runs that payroll, the post on importing payroll transactions into QuickBooks Online explains how to record the wages and taxes behind each payroll debit.
Moving money between home and foreign currency accounts
A transfer between a euro account and a dollar account shows up twice: as euros leaving one statement and as dollars arriving on the other. Both lines describe one event. Record it once, as a transfer between the two QuickBooks accounts, so it is not counted as an expense in one place and income in the other.
In the worked example, the 1,500 euro transfer to US checking would arrive in checking as a dollar deposit. The dollar figure depends on the rate the bank used, so it will rarely match a simple calculation. When you review the euro line, record it as a transfer to the checking account, and enter the dollar amount that actually arrived. Then match the deposit in checking to that transfer rather than adding it as new income.
The guide to importing bank transfers into QuickBooks Online walks through matching both sides of a transfer in detail.
Before you choose QuickBooks for foreign accounts
Multicurrency in QuickBooks is a one-way door and it sits on the higher plans. If you are leaving another program and have not picked a destination yet, compare before you commit. The guide to switching from Wave to Xero covers a move to Xero instead, for comparison.
If your foreign bank only gives you PDF statements, you'll need a file before any of this works. SimpleBankConvert is being built to turn PDF statements into CSV or QBO upload files with the dates and amount column tidied. It has not opened accounts yet, and SimpleBankConvert's homepage has the details.