Wise Business is popular with UK businesses that pay overseas suppliers, receive money from foreign clients or hold balances in several currencies. That flexibility is also what makes it awkward to account for: one Wise account can hold sterling, euros and dollars at once, and money moves between them several times a month.
How Wise gets into Nexbal
In Nexbal, each Wise currency balance is set up as a manual bank account, and you upload the statement for each month. Nexbal analyses the statement and suggests the counter-account for each line. Lines it can match to an account in the selected month are posted automatically; anything else is listed for your review. The statement’s closing balance is then compared with the ledger, so a missing or duplicated line shows up immediately.
You can add standing guidance for the analysis, for example that payments to a particular overseas supplier are always cost of sales, and it is applied to future statements.
Nexbal is launching in the UK, and as a beta user you can set up your Wise balances as bank accounts in minutes. Join the Nexbal beta.
One account per currency
| Wise balance | Ledger account | Currency |
|---|---|---|
| GBP balance | Wise GBP | sterling |
| EUR balance | Wise EUR | euro |
| USD balance | Wise USD | US dollar |
Each balance is reconciled in its own currency first. Its sterling value is then revalued at each period end, and the difference goes to exchange gains and losses.
Recording a conversion
The business converts €5,000 to sterling and receives £4,260 after a £14 Wise fee.
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Wise GBP | £4,260 | |
| Bank charges | £14 | |
| Wise EUR (€5,000 at book rate) | £4,274 |
If the euros were carried at a different rate in the books, the difference is an exchange gain or loss. A conversion is a transfer between your own accounts, not income or expense, apart from the fee and any exchange difference.
Paying overseas suppliers
When a supplier invoice in euros is paid from the EUR balance, the payment settles the creditor at the invoice’s booked rate. Any difference between the rate on the invoice date and the payment date is a realised exchange difference. For services from overseas suppliers, remember the reverse charge if you are VAT registered.
The same logic applies to sales. Invoices you send from Nexbal in euros or dollars are booked at the daily ECB rate, and the payment into the matching Wise balance settles them; any difference is the exchange gain or loss.
Wise fees and VAT
Wise’s transfer and conversion fees are financial service charges. Record them as bank charges and check the statement for any VAT shown; most money transfer fees carry none.
Cards and team spending
Wise Business cards spending from a currency balance appear on that balance’s statement. Ask cardholders to capture receipts as they go so each card line has its document when the statement is analysed.
Month-end routine
- Download the statement for each Wise currency balance.
- Upload and review the suggested postings.
- Confirm the closing balance in each currency.
- Revalue foreign currency balances at the month-end rate.
For the exchange rules behind this, see foreign currency invoices; for business bank choices, choosing a business bank account.
Keep every Wise currency in step with its statement. Join the beta.