Excel Currency Converter & FX Dashboard – How‑to (Free download)

What you got

• Dashboard: dropdown controls + KPI cards + 2 charts.

• Data: an example 90‑business‑day history laid out as Date + currency columns (1 EUR = X).

• Lists: currency codes and names used for dropdowns.

• HowTo (in the workbook): a copy of the key update steps.

Note: The workbook ships with demo history so everything works immediately. You can replace it with real data whenever you want.

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PRACTICE MATERIAL BELOW!👇

1) Use the converter (fast)

1. Open Dashboard.

2. Fill in:

   • Amount

   • From currency

   • To currency

   • Rate date (optional)

3. If you want the newest date, set Use latest date? to TRUE.

The dashboard calculates:

• FX rate (To / From)

• Converted amount

• Inverse rate

• 7‑business‑day change

2) How the conversion works (in plain terms)

All stored rates are per EUR (ECB convention):

• 1 EUR = X USD

• 1 EUR = Y JPY

To convert From → To, the dashboard uses the cross‑rate:

Converted = Amount × (To_per_EUR / From_per_EUR)

3) Replace demo data with real ECB data (recommended)

The easiest, most Excel‑friendly approach is Power Query.

A) Pull the data

1. Excel → Data → Get Data → From Other Sources → From Web.

2. Paste the ECB Data Portal endpoint (example: daily rates vs EUR, last 90 observations):

   • https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/EXR/D..EUR.SP00.A?lastNObservations=90&format=csvdata

3. In Power Query:

   • If it asks, choose CSV.

   • If you need to force it, set the request header Accept to text/csv.

B) Load into this workbook

1. Load the query result into the Data sheet starting at A4.

2. Keep the header row as:

   • Date in column A

   • Currency codes across the columns (EUR, USD, GBP, …)

3. Refresh:

   • Data → Refresh All

Download file here:

4) Customize (easy wins)

• Add currencies: extend the Lists table and add matching columns in Data.

• Add KPIs: duplicate a KPI card and point it at a new helper calculation.

• Change chart focus: update the currency lists used for the bar chart.

5) Practical tip for finance/accounting

If you’re doing financial reporting, keep a saved snapshot of the rate table you used (date/time stamped) so you can reproduce historical conversions later.

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