# How to convert a USD receipt to CAD for your Canadian books

> Convert a foreign-currency receipt to Canadian dollars using an exchange rate for the day the transaction happened, not the day you do your books and not the day your card statement closed. The Bank of Canada daily rate is the standard reference, and the CRA also accepts another source used consistently. Record the original amount, the currency, the rate and the CAD figure together, so the conversion can be checked later.

Source: https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/usd-receipts-to-cad
Published: 2026-09-15 · Last reviewed: 2026-09-15

## Key facts

- **Rate to use:** The rate for the transaction date
- **Standard source:** Bank of Canada daily exchange rates
- **Consistency:** Use one source and stay with it
- **What to keep:** Original amount, currency, rate, CAD figure
- **GST/HST on US purchases:** Usually none — watch for import charges instead
- **Retention:** Six years, with the original receipt

## Which exchange rate does the CRA expect?

The rate in effect on the day the transaction took place. Not today's rate, not the month-end rate, and not an annual average applied across the whole year for convenience. The CRA's general position is that the Bank of Canada daily rate for the transaction date is acceptable, and that another source — your bank's published rate, for instance — is also acceptable provided it is used consistently and is verifiable.

Consistency is doing real work in that sentence. Picking the Bank of Canada rate on the receipts where it is favourable and your card issuer's rate on the others is not a method; it is rate shopping, and it is the thing the consistency requirement exists to prevent.

> **There is no Bank of Canada rate for a weekend.** Rates are published on business days. For a Saturday purchase, use the most recent published rate and apply the same convention to every weekend transaction, all year.

## Why the transaction date and not the statement date?

Because the expense was incurred when you bought the thing. A US$100 lunch on 3 March is a 3 March expense whether the card posts it on the 4th, the 6th, or after the statement closes on the 28th. Using the posting date introduces a systematic lag into every foreign transaction, and over a year of travel that lag is not noise — it moves expenses between months and occasionally between fiscal years.

The card issuer's own conversion is a separate figure again, and it is not the same thing as the transaction-date market rate. It bundles in a foreign-exchange spread and often a foreign transaction fee, typically around 2.5%. That fee is generally a deductible business expense in its own right — but it is a bank charge, not part of the cost of the meal, and merging the two hides it.

*Three different CAD figures for one US$100 purchase, and what each one is*
| Figure | Where it comes from | What it represents |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Transaction-date conversion | Bank of Canada rate for the purchase date | The expense, valued when it was incurred |
| Card issuer's posted amount | Your statement | The expense plus the FX spread and any foreign transaction fee |
| Today's conversion | Whatever rate you looked up while doing the books | Nothing. It reflects a date the transaction has no connection to |

## How to convert a foreign receipt, step by step

1. **Read the original amount and currency off the receipt** — Take the figure as printed, in the currency printed. Do not start from the CAD amount your card showed you — that number already has a spread and possibly a fee baked into it.
2. **Find the rate for the transaction date** — Look up the Bank of Canada daily rate for the date on the receipt. For a weekend or holiday, use the most recent published rate and apply that convention to every such transaction.
3. **Multiply, and keep the arithmetic** — Original amount × rate = the CAD figure for your books. Record the rate itself, not just the result, so the conversion can be reproduced years later without hunting for a historical rate.
4. **Record the foreign transaction fee separately** — If your card charged a foreign transaction fee, enter it as its own expense line — bank charges — rather than inflating the cost of what you bought.
5. **Check whether any Canadian tax applies** — A purchase from a US supplier usually carries no GST/HST, so there is nothing to claim. Imported goods are different: GST is typically collected at the border, and that charge does support an input tax credit. Keep the customs paperwork with the receipt.
6. **Attach the original receipt to the record** — Keep the foreign-currency document itself for six years, alongside the converted figure. The conversion is your working; the receipt is the evidence.

## Is there GST or HST on a US purchase?

Usually not on the receipt itself. A US supplier with no Canadian presence generally does not charge GST/HST, so there is no input tax credit to claim on the purchase — the whole converted amount is simply an expense.

- Imported goods: GST is normally assessed at the border, and sometimes provincial tax with it. That is claimable, and the evidence is the customs or courier documentation rather than the supplier's invoice.
- Digital services and subscriptions: many non-resident suppliers are now registered under the simplified GST/HST regime and do charge tax to Canadian customers. If the invoice shows GST/HST and a registration number, it is claimable like any domestic purchase.
- Imported services and intangibles used in a commercial activity: self-assessment rules can apply. Worth an accountant's view if the amounts are material.

The practical rule: if a foreign invoice shows a Canadian tax line and a GST/HST registration number, treat it as a domestic purchase. If it does not, convert the total and move on — do not manufacture a tax figure by applying a Canadian rate to a foreign purchase.

## Doing this without a spreadsheet

Done by hand, each foreign receipt is a rate lookup, a multiplication and a note about which rate you used — three or four minutes, times however many receipts a trip generates. The error rate on that is not low, and the errors are invisible, because a wrong conversion still looks like a plausible number.

SimpleLoonie detects the currency on the receipt, converts to CAD at the rate for the transaction date rather than today's, and stores the original amount, the currency, the rate and the converted figure as separate fields on the transaction. It supports over 170 currencies plus BTC, ETH and LTC. The original receipt image stays attached, so the conversion and its evidence never get separated.

## Frequently asked questions

### What exchange rate should I use for a US receipt on my Canadian taxes?

The rate for the day the transaction happened. The Bank of Canada daily rate for that date is the standard reference, and the CRA also accepts another verifiable source — such as your bank's published rate — provided you use the same source consistently rather than choosing per receipt.

### Can I use the exchange rate from my credit card statement?

You can use it as a source if you apply it consistently, but understand what it contains: the issuer's rate bundles a foreign-exchange spread and often a foreign transaction fee of around 2.5%. Using the transaction-date market rate for the expense and booking the fee separately as a bank charge gives you a cleaner and more defensible record.

### Can I use an average annual exchange rate instead?

Not for individual expense transactions. Annual average rates exist for specific reporting purposes, but an expense is converted at the rate for the date it was incurred. Applying one average across a year of receipts will not match the CRA's expectation for supporting records.

### Which date do I use — the purchase date or the date it posted to my card?

The purchase date, which is the date printed on the receipt. The posting date is a banking artefact that can lag by several days and occasionally crosses a month or fiscal-year boundary.

### Do I claim GST or HST on a purchase from a US supplier?

Only if the invoice actually shows Canadian tax and a GST/HST registration number, which some non-resident digital suppliers now do. Otherwise there is no Canadian tax on the purchase to claim. Imported goods are the common exception: GST assessed at the border is claimable, supported by the customs documentation.

### What should I record for a foreign-currency expense?

Six things: the original amount, the currency, the transaction date, the exchange rate you used, the resulting CAD amount, and the original receipt. Keeping the rate alongside the result is what lets anyone reproduce the conversion years later without hunting for historical rates.

### Is the foreign transaction fee on my card deductible?

Generally yes, as a bank charge, where the underlying purchase was a business expense. Record it on its own line rather than folding it into the cost of what you bought — it belongs to the payment method, not to the item.

## Sources

- [Canada Revenue Agency — Foreign currency](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/charge-collect-which-rate/foreign-currency.html)
- [Bank of Canada — Daily exchange rates](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/daily-exchange-rates/)
- [Canada Revenue Agency — Business expenses](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed-income/business-expenses.html)