How To Update Exchange Rates Automatically in Dynamics NAV

* Please, note that the Bank of Canada has discontinued providing noon currency exchange rates on which the original video and article were based. The author has updated parts of the article to allow the readers to set up the Exchange Rates service successfully; however, the video and the screenshots remain unaltered. Therefore, in case of differences between the video or screenshots and the text of the article, please, rely on the text. We apologize for any inconveniences and encourage you to contact the Encore team if you have any related questions.

This article (and video) discuss how to set up Currency Exchange Rate Services in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016. This functionality is based on Web services (e.g. the Bank of Canada website) and ensures that the system updates currency exchange rates automatically instead of having users doing it manually. This can increase the accuracy of exchange rates and save time that an employee would otherwise spend on updating currency exchange rates.

The Currency Exchange Rate Services function is based on Job Queues. Therefore, before setting up Currency Exchange Rate Services, it is first necessary to update the following pages for this exercise:

• Job Queue Category List (671)
• Job Queues (670)

To Set Up a New Job Queue Category List

• Go to Departments>Administration>Application Setup>Job Queue>Job Queue Category List or type “Job Queue Category List” in the search box
• Click on the “Edit List” button in the ribbon
• Enter a code and a description:

To Set Up a New Job Queue

• Go to Departments>Administration>Application Setup>Job Queue>Job Queues or type “Job Queues” in the search box
• Click on the “Edit List” button in the ribbon
• Enter a code, a description, and select a Job Queue Category Filter
• Uncheck the “Start Automatically From NAS” box/ select “Start on This NAS Computer” option, if needed
• Click on the “Start Job Queue” button in the ribbon:

Once the job queue is set up, proceed to the “Curr. Exch. Rate Service List” (1650) page and related settings:

• Go to Departments>Administration>IT Administration>Services or type “Currency Exchange Rate Services” in the search box
• Click on “New” button in the ribbon
• Enter a code and a description
• Enter service URL (this is the Web page from which the exchange rates need to be updated). In this case we are using http://www.bankofcanada.ca/valet/observations/group/FX_RATES_DAILY/xml?start_date=2017-11-01
• Enter the service provider name and the terms of service URL
• Specify the field mapping information
• Depending on what Web services your company is using, it may be necessary to set up an additional transformation rule:

When this setup is ready, click on the “Job Queue Entry” button in the ribbon to set up how often and when exactly exchange rates need to be updated:

• Enter description, Job Queue Category Code, and Earliest Start Date/Time
• Setup recurrence:

Lastly, when all the settings are set up satisfactorily, enable the currency exchange service that has been set up by clicking on the “Enabled” checkbox on the Curr. Exch. Rate Service Card.

If the Currency Exchange Rate Services that you are trying to set up do not work in the expected way, please see the Troubleshoot section of this article below and/or get in touch with Encore care for a consultation: 888.898.4330 or contact us.

In summary, this article has explained how to set up Currency Exchange Rate Services in Dynamics NAV 2016. This new functionality in Dynamics NAV 2016 can help to increase the accuracy of exchange rates and save time that employees spend on updating exchange rates manually, regardless of how often exchange rates need to be updated.

Troubleshooting Notes:

1) The exchange rates do not update automatically (user has to refresh them manually to update the foreign exchange rates).

Possible solution: Make sure that the job queues are set up properly.

2) Currency Exchange Rate Services do not work for Mexican Peso.

Possible solution: Make sure that the currency is named correctly, i.e. MXN on your currency list (by default NAV uses “MXP”).

3) Currency Exchange Rate Services work only for some currencies, but not for others.

Possible solution: Make sure that Transformation Rules are set up correctly. Make sure that the Web service from which you are getting your exchange rates supports the currencies you want.