Currency Settings
Purpose
Set how money amounts are displayed for your school — currency code (USD, CDF, XOF, etc.), symbol, symbol position, and decimal places. This affects invoices, payments, dashboards, fee reports, and online pay pages.
Who uses it
School Admin, Head Officer, Super Admin (with currency.view permission).
Where to find it
Menu → Configuration → Currency
(or Finance → Currency on some layouts)
Depends on
- A school must be selected in the header (not Global View for per-school currency).
Step-by-step
- Switch to your school in the header (e.g. Green Valley International School).
- Open Configuration → Currency.
- Primary Currency — choose ISO code from the list (e.g. USD — US Dollar ($) or CDF — Congolese Franc).
- Display Symbol — adjust if your school uses a custom abbreviation (e.g.
FC,CFA). Defaults to the standard symbol for the selected currency. - Symbol Position — choose Before amount (
$ 1,250.00) or After amount (1,250.00 $). - Decimal Places — usually 2 for money; use 0 if your school never shows cents.
- Check the Live Preview panel on the right.
- Click Save Currency Settings.
Example story
Green Valley in Kinshasa sets CDF with symbol FC, symbol before amount, 0 decimal places. Invoices show FC 125,000 instead of $ 125.00. A sister school in Abidjan keeps XOF with CFA after the amount.
Where this applies
| Area | Effect |
|---|---|
| Invoices & payments | Line totals, balance due, receipts |
| Student fee balances | Outstanding amounts on student profile |
| Dashboards | Collection totals for admins and accountants |
| Online pay page | Amount shown to parents paying via Mobile Money |
| Reports | Class fee summary, financial exports |
Each school can have its own currency. Switch institution in the header to configure another school.
Common questions
Q: I changed currency but old invoices still look wrong?
A: Display updates immediately for all screens. Historical amounts are stored as numbers — only the symbol and formatting change, not the stored values.
Q: Can we use two currencies?
A: The display currency is one per school. Some institutions store a secondary currency on the institution profile for reference; day-to-day billing uses the Currency Settings page.
Q: Parents pay in CDF but we report in USD?
A: Set the display currency to what parents and staff should see on invoices. Payment gateways (PawaPay, CinetPay) use the currency configured for online pay at transaction time.
Still need help?
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