How to Make Foreign Payments from QuickBooks
A step-by-step guide for CastleFX clients paying foreign vendor bills. Import your bills, convert and pay in one place, then send the completed payments back to QuickBooks.
One-Time Setup
Four things need to be in place before your first payment. Castle Currency walks every client through this during onboarding.
The steps below explain each item in general terms, then give a specific example using a Canadian company paying a European vendor. If your business operates in different currencies, the same principles apply - substitute your foreign currency and home currency where indicated.
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Enable multi-currency in QuickBooks Online
In QuickBooks Online, go to Settings > Account and Settings > Advanced > Currency. Enable Multicurrency and confirm your home currency. This only needs to be done once and cannot be undone, so confirm your currency settings are correct before proceeding.
Our example: Home currency is CAD.
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Set your vendor's currency in QuickBooks
For each vendor you pay in a foreign currency, open their vendor profile in QuickBooks and assign the currency they invoice you in. This is what tells QuickBooks to track the bill in that currency and calculate the exchange difference when you pay. Once a currency is assigned to a vendor profile it cannot be changed, so confirm it during setup.
Our example: Vendor is Meridian Components. Their currency is assigned as EUR in QuickBooks.
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Enter your vendor's banking details in QuickBooks
Add the banking details for each foreign vendor to their vendor profile. QuickBooks only accepts US ACH routing format, so if your vendor banks outside the United States their real routing or IBAN details will not validate. Enter the placeholder details Castle Currency provides. These are never used to move money - you confirm the correct banking information on the CastleFX platform, and that is what payments are sent against.
Our example: Meridian Components banks in Europe, so placeholder details go into QuickBooks and the real IBAN is confirmed on the platform.
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Connect CastleFX to QuickBooks
Castle Currency connects your CastleFX account to QuickBooks Online using secure authentication. No IT work required. Once connected, the platform shows your connection status at the top of the Tools screen, and you can disconnect at any time.
Our example: Connection confirmed. You are ready to import vendors.
How It Works
Paying foreign vendors is a single currency event. You owe in a foreign currency, you pay in a foreign currency, and the exchange difference is settled the moment the payment goes out. There is nothing to hold and nothing to reconcile afterwards.
Example used throughout this guide
We use a Canadian company paying a European vendor as our specific example. If your business operates in different currencies, the same workflow applies.
- Vendor: Meridian Components
- Bill amount: EUR €10,000
- Bill date rate: 1 EUR = 1.6000 CAD
- Payment date rate: 1 EUR = 1.5900 CAD
- All rates are illustrative. Your actual rates will vary.
Import your vendors
On the CastleFX platform, open Tools and select the Import Vendors tab. Your vendors pull directly from QuickBooks with their contact details, country, and currency. Review the list, then import.
The platform prompts you to confirm banking details for any new vendor. This is where the real routing, wire, or IBAN information goes - the details you enter here are what payments are actually sent against. You only do this once per vendor.
Import your vendor bills
Select the Import Vendor Bills tab. Your open bills appear from QuickBooks with the invoice number, currency, amount, and vendor. Nothing is retyped and nothing is guessed - what you see is what your accounting system already holds.
Pay your vendor bills
Select the Pay Vendor Bills tab and choose the bills you want to pay. You can pay one vendor or several in a single payment order.
Click Quote to see a live exchange rate. The payment summary shows what you send in the foreign currency, what it costs in your home currency, and the rate applied. If the rate works for you, accept it and the payment goes out. If it does not, you are under no obligation - close the quote and come back later.
Optional: require approvals
You can set your account so that payments need approval from one or more people before they are committed. One person prepares the payment, an approver reviews and commits it. You choose who can approve, and you can apply it to every payment or only above a threshold you set, such as $10,000. Approvers are notified by email when something is waiting for them.
Send the completed payments back to QuickBooks
One click. No data entry.
Open the Bills Paid tab. Your completed payments are listed with the amount, invoice date, reference ID, currency, and value date. Select the ones you want to record and click Send Bills Paid.
QuickBooks records each bill as paid, at the actual rate you achieved, and posts the exchange gain or loss for you. You can confirm what was pushed on the Sent to QuickBooks tab. No journal entries, no chasing rates after the fact.
What QuickBooks Records
Two entries, start to finish. Here is what your books look like using the Meridian Components example.
When you enter the vendor bill
Meridian Components bills you EUR €10,000. Because their vendor profile is set to EUR, QuickBooks records the bill in EUR and the home currency equivalent at the bill date rate of 1.6000.
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory or Expense | CAD $16,000 | |
| Accounts Payable - Meridian Components (EUR) | CAD $16,000 |
You owe EUR €10,000. Your books carry that obligation at CAD $16,000. From this point until you pay, the exchange rate is your only open exposure.
When you pay through CastleFX
You pay the bill at a rate of 1.5900, so the EUR €10,000 costs you CAD $15,900. Your books carried the payable at CAD $16,000, so the CAD $100 difference is recorded as an exchange gain.
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Payable - Meridian Components (EUR) | CAD $16,000 | |
| CAD Bank Account | CAD $15,900 | |
| Foreign Exchange Gain | CAD $100 |
The rate can move either way between the bill date and the payment date. If EUR had strengthened instead, the same entry would show an exchange loss. Either way QuickBooks records it automatically when the payment is sent back - you do not calculate it.
Final position
| Account | Balance |
|---|---|
| Accounts Payable - Meridian Components | $0 |
| Inventory or Expense | CAD $16,000 |
| Cash paid out | CAD $15,900 |
| Foreign Exchange Gain | CAD $100 |
The payable is cleared and the vendor is paid. You booked a CAD $16,000 cost and CAD $15,900 left your bank, with the CAD $100 difference recorded as an exchange gain. Everything ties, and none of it required a manual journal entry.
Also receiving foreign payments from customers? See our step-by-step receivables guide.