Zoho CRM multi-currency: what to know before you switch it on

What turning it on does, per Zoho

Zoho's help says multi-currency is available in all paid editions and that the free edition does not support it. An Administrator sets the home currency under Setup > General > Company Settings > Currencies. Per Zoho, once activated the feature cannot be turned off; existing records receive the home currency, and Currency and Exchange Rate fields are added to modules.

Zoho's FAQ adds that the Currency Locale field is replaced by the Currencies tab once multi-currency is active.

Source: Zoho Help: Managing Multiple Currencies, Zoho Help: FAQs on Multiple Currencies

Where Zoho's two pages disagree on the home currency

The main help page says changing the home currency is a one-time action: after the change it cannot be changed again, the new currency code applies to existing records, and their values stay the same.

The FAQ page says the home currency cannot be changed after it is set, and that if you still want to, you must email support@zohocrm.com from your primary account email. It says existing amounts keep their numbers but move to the new home currency, and that all configured currencies except the new home currency are deleted.

These statements are not identical and may reflect different points in time. Advice: treat the home currency as a permanent decision, and confirm the current behaviour with Zoho Support before you rely on being able to change it.

Source: Zoho Help: Managing Multiple Currencies, Zoho Help: FAQs on Multiple Currencies

Exchange rates: manual, automatic and per record

• Each added currency has an exchange rate update type, Automatic or Manual. Manual rates stay the same until someone edits them on the Currencies page.
• Automatic rates come from Open Exchange Rates and apply at currency level. Live Update refreshes roughly every 30 minutes; Daily Update refreshes once a day at a chosen time. Zoho says automatic updates are rolling out in phases and are currently limited to organisations in specific data centres, so check your own account.
• Each record stores an Exchange Rate field capturing the rate at creation. Editing a currency's rate does not change existing records by default.
• Record-level refresh can be enabled: manually (an admin allows users to refresh, which needs the Refresh Exchange Rate profile permission, and which Zoho says counts as a field update that can trigger workflows) or automatically per module on record edit or picklist change.

Source: Zoho Help: Managing Multiple Currencies

Where multi-currency limits what you can do

• Forecasts do not support multiple currencies; amounts are listed in the home currency (both pages).
• Criteria on currency fields in list views, workflow rules and reports can only use the home currency, and sorting a currency column uses home-currency values.
• Reports and dashboards show amounts in the home currency by default, and Zoho says reports may not work properly when filters compare currency fields from different modules.
• Mass currency updates are not supported; changing a record's currency means editing records individually.
• On import, if the currency field is not mapped, or a mapped value differs from what is in CRM, the home currency is used.
• Quotes, invoices and orders: line items are in the home currency and are converted to the record's currency.

Source: Zoho Help: Managing Multiple Currencies, Zoho Help: FAQs on Multiple Currencies

Currency limits and deactivation

Zoho says currencies cannot be deleted, only deactivated. Existing records keep a deactivated currency, but new records cannot use it, and users' preferred currencies revert to the home currency.

The FAQ says administrators can add unlimited currencies but only a set number can be active, and quotes up to 50 active with the Ultimate edition, with limits varying by edition. The help page gives no numeric limits. Check your edition's number in your account.

Downgrading to the free edition deactivates all added currencies, and you must reactivate them manually after upgrading.

Source: Zoho Help: Managing Multiple Currencies, Zoho Help: FAQs on Multiple Currencies

Checklist before you activate (advice)

• Name one home currency your finance team reports in, and get that agreed first.
• Decide manual or automatic rates per currency, and who owns changing manual rates.
• List every forecast, workflow and report that filters on amounts, and test them in a sandbox or test org first.
• Check how your imports, web forms and integrations (for example accounting) handle the Currency field.
• Write down what you expect to see in forecasts, since they remain home-currency only.

When to bring in help

If you already sell in several currencies and your reports or forecasts no longer add up, the cause is usually a mix of exchange-rate settings, imports and amount-based rules. A review of those together is part of Zoho CRM customization. Skyfall Labs is an official Zoho Partner and has a commercial interest in Zoho projects, so we limit product facts to what Zoho's pages state.