How to reconcile Multicurrency transactions in Mews Operations

 

Multicurrency reconciliation helps you verify and understand the fees and earnings from guest payments made in different currencies.

 

This applies to eligible payments processed through Mews Payments, including those taken in Mews Operations, Booking Engine, Payment Requests, Mews POS for in-person payments, and Mews Kiosk.

 

As a front office or finance team member, you need to reconcile these transactions to ensure accurate reporting, transparent fees, and a correct invoice match. You do this during your daily revenue checks or monthly invoice reviews in Mews Operations.

 

In this article, you can learn about:

• Key terms in multicurrency reconciliation
• Steps to reconcile a multicurrency transaction

 

Key terms in multicurrency reconciliation

Before you start reconciling, a few terms for you to understand the structure of a multicurrency payment:

• Multicurrency guest mark-up value: An extra amount charged to the guest when they pay in their own currency. This is usually 3% for online payments or 4% for terminal payments.
• Multicurrency net revenue: Your property’s share from the guest mark-up, typically 1% of the transaction value.
• Multicurrency commission: The part of the markup that Mews receives as a service fee. This value appears on your invoice under Multicurrency fee (charged to guests), is paid by the guest, and does not reduce your revenue.
• Exchange rate fee: A small fee that covers the currency conversion cost at settlement. This is shown on the invoice as Exchange rate fee (charged to guests)

Steps to reconcile a multicurrency transaction

Multicurrency transactions taken in Mews POS follow the same reconciliation process as transactions taken in Mews Operations.

1. Export the Payment Report
   1. In Mews Operations, go to the main menu > Payments Report
   2. On the Payments Report screen, select the export to spreadsheet option.
   3. Locate the transaction paid in a foreign currency.
2. Check the charged amount
   • Value of item: €100.00
   • Guest mark-up: €3.00
   • Total charged: €103.00
   • Identify the base transaction amount and the total charged amount, including the guest markup. For example:
3. Understand the breakdown of the guest markup
   • Multicurrency net revenue (1%): €1.00
   • Multicurrency commission: €2.00
   • Guest mark-up total: €3.00
   • Separate the mark-up into your property’s revenue and Mews service fee. For example:
4. Calculate the actual cost to the property

1. Look at the Fee Total in the Payments Report.
2. Subtract the Multicurrency commission (already paid by the guest) to get the actual cost. For example:

• Fee Total: €8.18
• Multicurrency commission: €2.00
• Actual cost: €6.18
5. Verify your invoice

1. Check your invoice for Multicurrency fee (charged to guests), which represents the Multicurrency commission minus the exchange rate fee.
2. Use the same Payments Report to sum up the Multicurrency commission and exchange rate fee. For example:

• Multicurrency commission: €2.00
• Exchange rate fee: €0.46
• Invoiced value (Multicurrency fee (charged to guests)): €1.54
6. Reconcile with the invoice
• Use this formula to validate your invoice amount:
  Multicurrency commission – Exchange rate fee = Multicurrency fee (charged to guests)

 

Reconcile your Multicurrency transactions by comparing data in the Payments Report, the Payout Report, and your invoice in Mews Operations. This applies to all Multicurrency transactions processed through Mews Payments, including those taken in Mews POS.