Currency management
SAM Core on Snow Atlas supports the use of multiple currencies. This means that the users of SAM Core can use different currencies when they register license purchases and other costs, or when they view costs in detail views, lists, and reports.
In Snow Atlas, the base currency is defined for each Snow Atlas system which means that all users of that system have the same base currency. Additionally in SAM Core, you can select your preferred currency to see costs in detail views, lists, and reports converted to a another currency than the base currency. The conversion is done by using defined currency exchange rates, or fixed rates, in Snow Atlas.
The table provides a description of base currency, fixed rate, and preferred currency, and how they relate.
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Base currency | The base currency is set per Snow Atlas system. All users of that system have the same base currency. |
| Fixed rate | The fixed rate is the defined exchange rate for a currency compared to the base currency in Snow Atlas. There can be exchange rates for multiple currencies, and each rate is set to apply for a defined period of time. It is the system administrator of the Snow Atlas system who manages the fixed rates. |
| Preferred currency | SAM Core users who want to see costs in detail views, lists, and reports in another currency than the base currency, can set their preferred currency. The costs are then converted to the selected currency by using the defined fixed rate for that currency. |
When you register, for example, a new license purchase, you select in which currency the purchase is made. You can choose between all currencies that have a currency rate defined for the date of the purchase. To enable conversion to other currencies, like other users' preferred currencies, the purchase will also be converted to and saved in the base currency, by default.
Preferred currencies
You select your preferred currency in your Account settings, under Profile. For information, see Select your preferred currency. Available currencies are the 31 currency codes listed by the European Central Bank (ECB). When you have selected your preferred currency, you will see costs converted to your preferred currency in the detail views, lists, and reports in the user interface of SAM Core.
It is the system administrator of your Snow Atlas system who defines the currency exchange rates and the time periods when they are valid. The table describes the different scenarios that can occur depending on if there is an currency exchange rate defined for your preferred currency, or not.
| Currency rate defined for today's date? | Currency rate defined for a particular purchase date? | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | - | All prices and costs will appear in your preferred currency in detail views, lists, and reports. |
| Yes | Yes | The cost for this particular purchase will appear in your preferred currency in detail views, lists, and reports. |
| Yes | No | The cost for this particular purchase will not appear at all in any currency in detail views, lists, and reports. |
| No | - | All prices and costs will appear in the base currency in detail views, lists, and reports. |
| No | Yes | The cost for this particular purchase will appear in the base currency in detail views, lists, and reports. |
| No | No | The cost for this particular purchase will not appear at all in any currency in detail views, lists, and reports. |
When you have a preferred currency set, note the following:
- Calculated sums, like Total cost of computer, Total maintenance cost, and Total support cost, are first calculated in the base currency and then converted to your preferred currency by using the currency rate valid for today's date.
- For objects with a purchase date, like licenses, computers, and mobile devices, the following applies:
- When you register, for example, a license purchase, the cost is converted to your preferred currency by using the currency rate valid for the date of the purchase.
- When you register a maintenance and support period for a license, the cost for the period is converted to your preferred currency by using the currency rate valid for the starting date of the period.
- For objects without a purchase date, like properties of type "currency" for custom objects, custom fields of type "currency", and application price per metric, the following applies:
- When you register a cost, it is converted to your preferred currency by using the currency rate valid for today's date.
Note: If you change your preferred currency, the currency codes change automatically in the user interface. However, to have the costs converted to the new currency, you need to clear the temporary cache memory and recalculate compliance.
Missing currency rates
It is recommended to not delete currency rate periods in Snow Atlas and to have no gaps between the periods. Also, the recommendation is to have endless periods for the currency rates, that is, periods with no set end dates. If a currency rate is deleted or the end date has expired, it can lead to that values no longer appear in the detail views, lists, and reports in SAM Core.
If you have entered information in a particular currency in SAM Core and the exchange rate for that currency is then deleted, note the following:
- For objects with a purchase date, like licenses, computers, and mobile devices, the following applies:
- If you have registered, for example, a license purchase cost, the next time you edit the license the value will remain unchanged but the currency will be empty. When you save, you will be notified that the currency will change to the Snow Atlas base currency if you choose to complete the save.
- For objects without a purchase date, like properties of type "currency" for custom objects, custom fields of type "currency", and application price per metric, the following applies:
- If you have registered a cost, the next time you edit the object the value will remain unchanged but the currency will change to the first currency in the list of your available currencies.
If you notice inconsistencies, or missing or empty values, you can do the following to get information on any used currencies in SAM Core that are missing a currency rate:
- Go to the Reports page and open the Missing currency rates report. The report shows any missing currency rates, for what dates they are missing, and where in SAM Core they are missing.
- Go to the Alert list, under warnings, and look for the warning [x] currencies are missing currency rates for [x] days.
Contact the system administrator of your Snow Atlas system if you believe that currency rates and time periods are missing and need to be added.