ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Yes, unfortunately.

Cerridwyn Graffham — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:56:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Cerridwyn Graffham
Post title: Yes, unfortunately.

I do have one agency I work with that pays me in yen, so with conversion rates being so terrible at the moment I wind up losing hundreds of dollars if I convert my pay to USD right away.

Luckily, I’m in a position where I can leave their payments unconverted in my Wise account for now. Here’s hoping the rates go back to normal soon.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | A bit more nuance

Dan Lucas — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 19:24:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: A bit more nuance

[quote]Dan Lucas wrote:
Surely it would only be negative...
...if the currency were to move only in one direction.[/quote]
To explain my earlier and rather gnomic comment, let's assume you are resident in the UK and all your clients are in the US. You translate from your source language into English and charge $0.1 per word. A 10,000-word job therefore nets you 1,000 US dollars(ignoring transfer fees, etc. for the sake of simplicity).

On 1st October 2021, when the exchange rate was 1.35 US dollars (USD) to the British pound (GBP), that $1,000 would have converted to £740.74. Today, on 1st October 2022, with the rate at 1.11, that $1,000 would convert to £900.90. The stronger dollar is a positive for your dollar-denominated business.

Of course, if the exchange rate goes back to 1.35, your converted revenues will decline again to £740.74. So that's a negative. It is partly because exchange rates fluctuate that it's hard to say whether the impact of forex is positive or negative. Positive or negative relative to what, or indeed when?

There is also the issue of price competitiveness. Suppose you invoice your US-based clients in pounds. In doing so you effectively shift the risk of exchange rate volatility from yourself to the client. Fine, if the client will accept that, but then the price paid by the client will fluctuate even if you keep your rate unchanged, which may encourage them to switch to other suppliers.

Let's assume you charge £0.10 per word to a US-based client. A 10,000-word job would therefore be invoiced at £1,000. A year ago, buying those pounds with which to pay you would have cost your US client £1,000 x 1.35 = $1,350. Today it would cost them £1,000 x 1.11 = $1,100. So the weak pound has made your services (on a like-for-like basis) more attractive to US-based clients today than they would have been 12 months ago.

[On the other hand, the weak pound has also made products and services from the US more expensive. You can either pay more for those US products and services, do without them, or find an alternative supplier in the UK. US-based freelancers who invoice UK-based clients in dollars will be less competitive because the stronger dollar (weaker pound) now requires their clients in the UK to pay more in GBP terms for the same amount of work.]

If the pound strengthens and goes back to 1.35 to the dollar, your services - which are invoiced in GBP in this scenario, let's remember - become less attractive in relative terms to US clients, and US-based freelancers invoicing in USD will also be more attractive to UK-based clients.

And this is before we start thinking about translators changing rates in response to their environment. These freelance transactions are a microcosm of the wider economy. It can be complex and is seldom as simple as weak pound (or dollar, or yen, or euro...) bad, strong pound good.

Dan

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Not a lot

Christine Andersen — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 10:12:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Christine Andersen
Post title: Not a lot

I try to avoid currency conversion. Most of my clients pay me in Danish Kroner, and some in GBP. I have accounts in both currencies, and spend the GBP in the UK and the DKK in Denmark. I do have to convert to Swedish kroner if we visit Sweden, but that does not affect my earnings, and I need euros on visits to Germany or anywhere else in the Eurozone, but those are usually for private purposes.

I invoice my client in Norway quarterly, to keep conversion charges down, because guess what, the Norwegians have their own Kroner too!

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Wise

Tom in London — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:20:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Wise

Most of my clients pay me through Wise. Until now, I usually took the euros out of Wise, converted them into Sterling and paid the money into my UK bank account (because I need it).

However, with all the world's currencies going crazy and the Pound Sterling going down the toilet, I've decided to leave the euros in my Wise account and wait to see what happens.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | No

Alex Lichanow — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 05:38:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Alex Lichanow
Post title: No

I somehow managed to only have customers who pay in euros (even my US and Canadian customers).
Been avoiding USD for all of my career due to it always having been slightly weaker than the euro - something I have now come to regret a bit, but I still can't complain about my income, so it is what it is.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Not at all

Aline Brito — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 22:35:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Aline Brito
Post title: Not at all

The opposite, in fact. I live in Brazil, but only work with international clients who pay me in USD or EUR, mostly the previous. USD is always worth more than BRL, our currency, and it has been especially high these last few years. There are the conversion fees, and cost of living has also hugely(!!) increased, so that's a counterbalance, but I still have quite an advantage. I am incredibly privileged compared to most of the population. That's not to say I don't think I deserve my pay; instead, I mean low salaries and inequality are a gigantic problem in Brazil.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Surely it would only be negative...

Dan Lucas — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 18:58:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: Surely it would only be negative...

...if the currency were to move only in one direction.
Does anyone know of any currencies that move only in one direction?

Dan

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | No

Wilsonn Perez Reyes — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 17:48:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Wilsonn Perez Reyes
Post title: No

Fortunately, the US dollar is the official currency in El Salvador, and I work only for US agencies.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | .

Kay Denney — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 15:58:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Kay Denney
Post title: .

Like many others here, I only work with clients in the euro zone.
There I was thinking I was maybe limiting myself, but I see that several others have said the same. Fact is I have enough work, so no need to look any further afield.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | @Kevin

Samuel Murray — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 14:32:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: @Kevin

[quote]Kevin Fulton wrote:
Does it refer to the banking cost of converting one currency to another, or does it refer to fluctuations in the exchange rate? [/quote]
Well, it's a yes/no question about negative impact. So, potentially, the answer could be "no". But a banking cost is always positive, so if the question had referred to banking costs, the answers would always have been "yes". Since "no" is an option, then, the question can't be referring to banking fees.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Cost of currency conversion or exchange rate?

Siobhán Fulton — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 12:48:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Siobhán Fulton
Post title: Cost of currency conversion or exchange rate?

I don't quite understand the question. Does it refer to the banking cost of converting one currency to another, or does it refer to fluctuations in the exchange rate?

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | No, it doesn't, and

expressisverbis — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 10:57:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: No, it doesn't, and

and I can accept the main currencies used by my clients/translation agencies (Euros, USD, CAD and GBP).
I cannot afford to work only with the European continent.
After all, I am a translator: someone who makes possible communication for different cultures, and I also need to make a living :)

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | No

Lieven Malaise — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 10:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: No

I only work in euros and as far as I'm concerned I will keep doing that until the end of my working life or otherwise as long as possible.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | Only visually

Samuel Murray — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:44:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: Only visually

Only visually. If the payment notification says e.g. "1000 received" then I have to adjust my expectations because it's going to be less than "1000"... perhaps even as low as "800". That's because I do business in dollars but live in euros.

Fortunately for me, though, the euro has weakened against the dollar over the past two years, so I gradually get more and more euros (since my dollar rates have stayed roughly the same).

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | No

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:43:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: No

Almost all of my customers are in the Euro zone and two of my non-EU clients have bank accounts in Euro. Occasionally I receive payments in other currencies (USD and CHF), only one of my clients refuses to pay the exchange fee, in this case I don’t mind swallowing it as it is a very small amount (0.20 €).

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | No

John Silva — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:14:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: John Silva
Post title: No

Actually, it impacts me positively!

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings? | I only accept euros

Xanthippe — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:10:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: Xanthippe
Post title: I only accept euros

To be honest, I only accept euros and strongly avoid to work for clients outside the EC.

Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?

ProZ.com Staff — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 08:10:05 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?
Poster: ProZ.com Staff

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Does currency conversion negatively impact your earnings?".

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