If you’ve ever tried juggling finances in multiple currencies, you’ll know it feels about as easy as teaching a wombat to waltz. Between tracking fluctuating exchange rates, updating spreadsheets, and ensuring your financial data stays accurate, it’s a time-consuming and error-prone process. But what if you could automate it all?

HubSpot’s new “Schedule Automatic Exchange Rate Updates” feature, is a game-changer for businesses operating across borders. This tool takes the manual labour out of currency management, ensuring your exchange rates are always up to date without lifting a finger. Let’s dive into how this feature works, why it’s a must-have for your business, and how to get started.

 

What Is HubSpot’s Automatic Exchange Rate Update Feature?

In a nutshell, HubSpot’s new Beta feature automates the process of updating exchange rates for your currencies. Instead of manually adjusting rates every month or worse, forgetting to update them altogether, you can now schedule updates to occur automatically.

Here’s how it works:

  • You can set a schedule for updates to occur monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
  • The exchange rate that takes effect on the first day of the month (or quarter, or year) will automatically sync with your HubSpot account.
  • If you enable the feature mid-month, HubSpot will align your rates with the official exchange rate from the first of that month.

It’s like having a personal finance assistant built right into HubSpot, ensuring your currency data is always accurate and up to date.

Why Accurate Exchange Rates Matter

Accurate exchange rates might not sound like the most exciting part of running a business, but they’re critical if you’re dealing in multiple currencies. Here’s why:

  1. Avoid Costly Errors: Manual updates are prone to mistakes. A misplaced decimal or outdated rate can lead to inaccurate financial reporting, which can snowball into bigger problems like incorrect pricing, miscalculated revenue, or even compliance issues.
  2. Save Time: Updating exchange rates manually is a tedious task that eats into your team’s productivity. Automating this process frees up time for more strategic work.
  3. Improve Reporting Accuracy: With automatic updates, your financial reports will always reflect the most current exchange rates, giving you a clearer picture of your business performance.

By automating exchange rate updates, you’re not just saving time, you’re also reducing risk and improving the accuracy of your financial data.

How to Enable Automatic Exchange Rate Updates

Getting started with this feature is simple, but you’ll need the right permissions. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

  1. Check Your Permissions: You’ll need Super Admin or Edit account defaults permissions to enable this feature.
  2. Access Currency Settings: Click the settings icon in HubSpot’s main navigation, then select Account Defaults and navigate to the Currency tab.
  3. Enable Automatic Updates: At the top of the Currency page, you’ll see the option to “Schedule automatic exchange rate updates.” Toggle it on.
  4. Set Your Frequency: Choose how often you want the updates to occur monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
  5. Save and Relax: Once enabled, your selected currencies will automatically update according to your chosen schedule.

From here, HubSpot will handle the rest. Your exchange rates will update like clockwork, ensuring you never miss an important shift in the global currency market.

What About Closed Deals?

One of the biggest concerns with currency updates is how they affect historical data. After all, no one wants to discover months later that a closed-won deal was calculated using an outdated or incorrect exchange rate.

Thankfully, HubSpot has thought of this. For any deal that’s already closed, HubSpot locks in the exchange rate from the specific day the deal was closed. This ensures historical accuracy, so your past financial data remains reliable even as your current exchange rates update.

While your Currency Settings table will display the latest exchange rates, all closed deals will retain their original rates, keeping your financial records consistent and accurate.

Why Your Finance Team Will Love This Feature

If you’ve ever had to manually update exchange rates or worse, chase down your finance team for the latest numbers, you’ll know how much of a headache it can be. HubSpot’s automatic exchange rate updates eliminate this hassle entirely.

Here’s why your finance team will thank you:

  • Fewer Errors: Automated updates reduce the risk of typos, misplaced decimals, or outdated rates creeping into your financial data.
  • Time Savings: No more fiddling with spreadsheets or manually inputting rates. Your team can focus on higher-value tasks.
Better Collaboration: With accurate, up-to-date rates synced across your HubSpot account, everyone—from sales to finance—can work from the same reliable data.

The Bigger Picture: Building a Borderless Business

HubSpot’s automatic exchange rate updates might seem like a small feature, but it’s part of a larger trend toward smarter, more efficient business operations. By automating routine tasks like currency updates, you’re freeing up time and mental energy to focus on what really matters, growing your business.

Think about it:

  • You’ll have more time to plan your global expansion strategy.
  • Your financial data will be more reliable, giving you the confidence to make informed decisions.
  • You’ll reduce the risk of errors that could damage your reputation or bottom line.

In short, this feature helps you build a business that’s not just local, but truly global.


HubSpot’s new automatic exchange rate updates might not make you a currency expert overnight, but they will make your life a whole lot easier. By automating this once-tedious task, you’ll save time, reduce errors, and ensure your financial data is always accurate.

Whether you’re managing a handful of currencies or juggling dozens, this feature is a must-have for any business operating across borders. So go ahead, flip the switch, and let HubSpot handle the heavy lifting.

 

Your finances will thank you, and so will your team.