Shopify Multi-Currency Reconciliation: Presentment vs Settlement Currency
If you sell internationally on Shopify, you've encountered two currency columns in your Payments CSV: presentment currency (what the customer paid) and settlement currency (what you received). Here's how to reconcile both in QuickBooks.
The Two Currencies in Shopify Payments
When a customer in France buys from your US-based Shopify store, Shopify records two currency amounts:
Presentment Currency
What the customer saw and paid in their local currency.
This is the amount on the customer's credit card statement.
Settlement Currency
What you received in your bank account after Shopify's currency conversion.
This is what hits your US bank account and must match your bank statement.
✅ For QuickBooks: Use Settlement Currency
QuickBooks reconciliation must use settlement currency because that's what deposits into your bank account. Presentment currency is for customer records only.
Why Multi-Currency Breaks Manual Imports
If you manually import Shopify CSV into QuickBooks without grouping by settlement currency, you'll create mixed-currency journal entries that QuickBooks rejects:
❌ Invalid Mixed-Currency Entry
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Clearing | $55.00 USD | — |
| Shopify Clearing | £42.00 GBP | — |
| Revenue | — | ??? |
QuickBooks error: "You cannot mix currencies in a single journal entry"
✅ Correct: Separate Entries by Currency
USD Journal Entry
| Shopify Clearing USD | $55.00 | — |
| Shopify Fees USD | $1.65 | — |
| Revenue USD | — | $56.65 |
GBP Journal Entry
| Shopify Clearing GBP | £42.00 | — |
| Shopify Fees GBP | £1.26 | — |
| Revenue GBP | — | £43.26 |
Understanding Shopify Payments CSV Columns
The Shopify Payments Transactions CSV contains both presentment and settlement data. Here's what each column means:
| Column Name | Currency Type | Use For |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Settlement | QuickBooks journal entries (use this!) |
| Fee | Settlement | QuickBooks fee expense (use this!) |
| Net | Settlement | Bank deposit reconciliation (use this!) |
| Currency | Settlement | Group transactions by this (USD, EUR, etc.) |
| Presentment Amount | Presentment | Customer record keeping only |
| Presentment Currency | Presentment | Customer record keeping only |
Important: Ignore Presentment Columns
Do NOT use "Presentment Amount" or "Presentment Currency" for QuickBooks accounting. These are for customer-facing records only (e.g., "Customer paid €50").
Step-by-Step: Multi-Currency Reconciliation
- 1
Export Shopify Payments CSV
Navigate to: Shopify Admin → Finance → Payouts → View Transactions → Export → Plain CSV
Download a complete payout period (e.g., November 1-30) to ensure all transactions for one reconciliation cycle.
- 2
Group by Settlement Currency
Sort transactions by the "Currency" column (this is settlement currency, NOT presentment currency).
Group 1: Currency = USD → 127 transactionsGroup 2: Currency = EUR → 43 transactionsGroup 3: Currency = GBP → 18 transactions - 3
Create Separate Journal Entries
For each currency group, create a QuickBooks journal entry using:
- Amount column (settlement currency gross)
- Fee column (settlement currency fee)
- Net column (settlement currency deposit)
- 4
Reconcile Bank Deposits
Match each journal entry Net total against your bank statement deposits:
USD Net from CSV: $12,450.32→Bank deposit: $12,450.32 ✅EUR Net from CSV: €3,210.15→Bank deposit: €3,210.15 ✅
Do You Need to Track Exchange Rates?
Short answer: No, if you use settlement currency. Shopify has already converted everything to your settlement currency (e.g., USD) by the time the CSV is generated.
Example: Customer Pays in EUR
The conversion is already done. You record $55.00 USD in QuickBooks. You never touch the €50.00 amount.
Exception: Multi-Currency QuickBooks
If you're using QuickBooks Multi-Currency feature and want to track revenue in multiple currencies separately (e.g., USD Revenue vs EUR Revenue as different GL accounts), then you can use presentment currency for reporting purposes. However, your bank reconciliation still uses settlement currency.
Common Multi-Currency Mistakes
❌ Mistake 1: Using Presentment Amount for Journal Entries
Recording the customer's original payment amount (€50) instead of what you received ($55) causes bank reconciliation to fail.
Fix: Always use the "Amount" column (settlement currency), never "Presentment Amount".
❌ Mistake 2: Mixing Currencies in One Journal Entry
Combining USD, EUR, and GBP transactions into a single journal entry creates an unbalanced entry that QuickBooks rejects.
Fix: Group by "Currency" column and create separate journal entries for each currency.
❌ Mistake 3: Manual Exchange Rate Calculations
Trying to manually calculate USD equivalent of presentment currency using historical exchange rates introduces rounding errors and timing mismatches.
Fix: Don't convert anything. Shopify already did the conversion. Use the settlement currency values directly.
How TrestleFinance Handles Multi-Currency Automatically
TrestleFinance detects Shopify multi-currency exports and groups transactions by settlement currency automatically:
- 1
Reads "Currency" Column
Identifies which column contains settlement currency (not presentment).
- 2
Groups by Settlement Currency
Separates USD, EUR, GBP, etc. transactions into distinct groups.
- 3
Creates Currency-Specific Journal Entries
Generates separate journal entries for each currency, ensuring balanced debits and credits within each currency.
- 4
Validates Bank Reconciliation
Verifies that Net totals per currency match expected bank deposits.
Simplify Your Shopify Multi-Currency Accounting
Upload your Shopify Payments CSV and get currency-grouped QuickBooks journal entries in seconds. No manual sorting required.
Try TrestleFinance Free