Capture Bitcoin Exchange Rates in NetSuite

This article is relevant if you are accounting for Bitcoin in your NetSuite Financial System.

Background

If you are going to work with the emerging virtual currency, Bitcoin, in your business, it is important to maintain exchange rates.   NetSuite maintains an exchange rate table for all ISO supported currency.  It also has automatic currency rate exchange updates provided as part of the service.

Bitcoin, however, is not a government-issued fiat currency.  It is not traded in traditional currency exchange markets.  Instead, a number of private exchanges have developed where Bitcoin are traded.  For example, the three leading exchanges for trading USD for Bitcoin are Mt. Gox, Bitstamp.net and BTC-e.  Each of these private exchanges offers rate feeds designed to be consumed for software applications.

Bitcoin Transaction Coordinator Offers Exchange Rates

The Bitcoin Transaction Coordinator for NetSuite offers exchange rate services and collects rates from a major exchange.  The rates are captured and stored in your NetSuite account according to the frequency you set for the scheduled SuiteScripts.  The most frequent setting available is 15 minutes.  As an emerging asset, Bitcoin prices are volatile and hence, more frequent updates are necessary to reflect the current market.  Driven by your specific configuration, the system will update NetSuite’s native currency rate table for Bitcoin pricing.  The software offers a configurable feature to mark up or mark down provided prices to derive an effective rate” you will use to perform your foreign currency accounting.

Price your Invoices in Equivalent Bitcoin

Once you have exchange rate pricing in NetSuite, you can take your invoices, which will be denominated in your local (base) currency, and you can determine the price for equivalent Bitcoins.  The Bitcoin Transaction Coordinator for NetSuite will allow you to initiate payment requests from NetSuite to your customers.  The software intelligently determines when your customers have paid the request and will appropriately mark the invoice as paid and perform all the proper accounting.  Because the module treats Bitcoin as a foreign currency, NetSuite will perform all the proper accounting to recognize gains/losses from Bitcoin market price changes.

If you are interested in learning more about this platform, you can contact the makers here.

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Marty Zigman

Holding all three official certifications, Marty is regarded as the top NetSuite expert and leads a team of senior professionals at Prolecto Resources, Inc. He is a former Deloitte & Touche CPA and has held CTO roles. For over 30 years, Marty has produced leadership in ERP, CRM and eCommerce business systems. Contact Marty to set up a conversation.

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