A UK parent with US, UAE and Singapore companies on Zoho Books: how the group accounts are built
One worked month for a pound parent with dollar, dirham and Singapore dollar subsidiaries: the translation, the reserve to the pound and the share that belongs to outside owners.
Part of: Zoho Books for a group of companies: the complete guide
In this post 7 sections
In short
To build group accounts for a UK parent with US, UAE and Singapore subsidiaries, translate each company’s trial balance into pounds: profit at the average rate, assets and liabilities at the closing rate, share capital at its historical rate. The gap is the translation reserve. Outside owners of the 80 percent Singapore company get 20 percent of it.
Key takeaways
- Translate each company in its own currency first. Zoho Books, QuickBooks, Xero or a trial balance all give the same starting point.
- Three rates do the work: average for profit, closing for assets and liabilities, historical for share capital.
- The reserve is the balancing figure, not a gain or loss, and you can rebuild it from the rates.
- Outside owners get their share of the reserve too, not only of the profit.
What does the group look like?
Zenvara Group Ltd is the parent. It keeps its books in Zoho Books in pounds sterling, which is also the group’s presentation currencyPresentation currencyThe currency in which the group's financial statements are presented.Open the glossary entry. It owns three companies whose functional currencyFunctional currencyThe currency of the main economic environment in which a company operates. It is usually the currency the company records its transactions in.Open the glossary entry is not the pound: Fernhollow Inc in the United States (US dollars, 100 percent), Palmridge Hospitality LLC in the United Arab Emirates (dirhams, 100 percent) and Kestrelwick Pte Ltd in Singapore (Singapore dollars, 80 percent).
Whatever system each subsidiary uses, the method below is the same. All it needs is a trial balanceTrial balanceA list of every account balance at a date, with total debits equal to total credits. It is the starting point for consolidating a company's figures.Open the glossary entry in the company’s own currency and three rates for the month.
- US dollar: average 0.7540, closing 0.7560 (30 Sep), 0.7500 (31 Aug).
- UAE dirham: average 0.2025, closing 0.2040 (30 Sep), 0.2010 (31 Aug).
- Singapore dollar: average 0.5850, closing 0.5870 (30 Sep), 0.5820 (31 Aug).
Each rate is the value of one unit of the foreign currency in pounds. They are the group’s rates for September 2026, one set for every company.
How do you translate one subsidiary?
Take Palmridge. Profit for September is translated at the average rateAverage rateThe exchange rate for a period, usually the month, used to translate a foreign subsidiary's income and expenses into the group's presentation currency.Open the glossary entry, assets and liabilities at the closing rateClosing rateThe spot exchange rate on the last day of the reporting period, used to translate a foreign subsidiary's assets and liabilities.Open the glossary entry, and share capital and earlier profits at the historical ratesHistorical rateThe exchange rate on the date a transaction took place or an item arose. It is used to record a foreign currency transaction and for the equity of a foreign subsidiary at the date it arose.Open the glossary entry when they arose1. The translated statement does not balance on its own. The translation reserveTranslation reserveThe part of group equity that holds exchange differences from translating a foreign subsidiary into the group's currency.Open the glossary entry is the figure that makes it balance.
| Palmridge Hospitality LLC | AED | GBP |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel property and equipmentclosing rate 0.2040 | 11,200,000 | 2,284,800 |
| Cash and receivablesclosing rate 0.2040 | 5,305,000 | 1,082,220 |
| Liabilitiesclosing rate 0.2040 | (2,600,000) | (530,400) |
| Net assets at 30 September | 13,905,000 | 2,836,620 |
| Share capitalhistorical rate 0.2100, assumed | 2,000,000 | 420,000 |
| Retained earnings at 31 Augusthistorical rate 0.2060, assumed | 10,000,000 | 2,060,000 |
| Profit for Septemberaverage rate 0.2025 | 1,905,000 | 385,762 |
| Translation reserve(68,000) at 31 August plus 38,858 for September | (29,142) | |
| Total equity | 13,905,000 | 2,836,620 |
Example group used across Finconsol guides. Historical rates are assumed for the example. The group translates revenue and costs line by line and rounds each line, so September profit is 385,762 (972,000 less 586,238). Figures rounded to the pound.
Net assets of AED 13,905,000 at 0.2040 are GBP 2,836,620. The pieces of equity add to more than that until the reserve is included, and the reserve, a debit of GBP 29,142, closes the gap. It is the earlier months’ movements, (68,000) at 31 August, plus the September movement of GBP 38,858, which the next section builds from the rates.
Free: Translation reserve workbook
This free Excel workbook works out the month's movement in the translation reserve for up to five foreign subsidiaries. You enter the opening net assets, the profit and three rates, and it shows how each part of the movement arises, with a check that the result ties. A worked example is filled in.
- Inputs for up to five subsidiaries, in each subsidiary's own currency.
- The movement on opening net assets, on profit, and on capital or dividends, worked out by formula.
Where does the reserve movement come from?
Two parts, both from rate changes. The opening net assets are worth more because the closing rate moved from 0.2010 to 0.2040: AED 12,000,000 times 0.0030 is 36,000. The profit was earned at an average of 0.2025 but sits in net assets at 0.2040: AED 1,905,000 times 0.0015 is 2,857.5, or 2,858 to the pound.
| September 2026 | On opening net assets | On profit | Reserve movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fernhollow IncUSD 431,000 x 0.0060; USD 69,000 x 0.0020 | 2,586 | 138 | 2,724 |
| Palmridge Hospitality LLCAED 12,000,000 x 0.0030; AED 1,905,000 x 0.0015 | 36,000 | 2,858 | 38,858 |
| Kestrelwick Pte LtdSGD 4,000,000 x 0.0050; SGD 120,000 x 0.0020 | 20,000 | 240 | 20,240 |
| All three subsidiaries | 58,586 | 3,236 | 61,822 |
Rate changes: closing 30 Sep less closing 31 Aug for opening net assets; closing less average for profit. No dividends or new capital in the month.
The reserve moves to profit or loss only if a subsidiary is sold. Until then it sits in equity, and it is not a gain or loss for the month. A pound-denominated parent that owns dollar, dirham and Singapore dollar assets is exposed to all three, and this is where that shows.
The movement is easy to rebuild for a handful of subsidiaries. If you want to test your own figures, use the tool below with your own rates.
Translation reserve movement
How much of a subsidiary's currency movement comes from its opening net assets, and how much from the period's profit.
In the subsidiary's currency
Closing rate of the previous period
In the subsidiary's currency
What changes for the 80 percent company?
Zenvara consolidates 100 percent of Kestrelwick, then shows the outside owners’ 20 percent separately as non-controlling interestNon-controlling interestThe share of a subsidiary's equity and profit that belongs to owners outside the group.Open the glossary entry2. The exchange difference follows the same split: IAS 21 allocates the part of the reserve that relates to the outside owners to them1.
| Kestrelwick Pte Ltd | Zenvara, 80% | Non-controlling, 20% | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening net assetsSGD 4,000,000 at 0.5820 | 1,862,400 | 465,600 | 2,328,000 |
| September profitSGD 120,000 at 0.5850 | 56,160 | 14,040 | 70,200 |
| Reserve movementfrom Exhibit 2 | 16,192 | 4,048 | 20,240 |
| Net assets at 30 SeptemberSGD 4,120,000 at 0.5870 | 1,934,752 | 483,688 | 2,418,440 |
Each line is split 80/20 and rounded to the pound; the columns add across and down.
Of the group’s September reserve movement of GBP 61,822, GBP 4,048 belongs to the outside owners of Kestrelwick and GBP 57,774 to Zenvara’s shareholders. If the 20 percent were left out, the group reserve would be overstated by that 4,048, and the non-controlling interest in equity would be short by it.
What does Zoho Books do for this?
Zoho Books keeps each company’s books in its own currency, and Zoho’s currencies page says exchange rate feeds are on by default, fetched through Open Exchange Rates, with manual rates possible once the feeds are disabled3. Zoho’s help pages on managing organizations describe creating them, not a report that combines them5.
Zoho’s own workaround for several organizations with different currencies is a Zoho Analytics query. The partner article says its rates are entered by hand in the query, and it does not mention eliminations, non-controlling interest or a translation reserve4. Checked against Zoho’s help centre on 29 Oct 2026.
None of this is a criticism of Zoho Books as a ledger. It records each company well. The group step sits above it.
How does Finconsol handle this?
Finconsol reads Zenvara’s books from Zoho Books directly, read only and every night. The US, UAE and Singapore companies come in as trial balances today, whether they are on QuickBooks, Xero or another system, with direct connections for Xero and QuickBooks coming soon. You set one group rate table, and each company is translated with it.
The translation reserve, the non-controlling interest and the intercompany eliminations come out of the same run, month by month, and a locked month stays as it was reported.
| Company | Net assets | Closing rate | In GBP | Reserve movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernhollow (USD) | 500,000 | 0.7560 | 378,000 | 2,724 |
| Palmridge (AED) | 13,905,000 | 0.2040 | 2,836,620 | 38,858 |
| Kestrelwick (SGD) | 4,120,000 | 0.5870 | 2,418,440 | 20,240 |
Questions
Which rate do you use for share capital of a subsidiary?
The historical rate, the rate on the date the capital was issued. It stays at that figure in group equity, and the difference between it and the closing rate sits in the translation reserve.
Do you use the closing rate or the average rate for the balance sheet?
The closing rate on the last day of the period for assets and liabilities. The average rate is for income and expenses, unless rates moved sharply during the period.
Why does the translation reserve not balance to zero?
It is the balancing figure between profit at the average rate and net assets at the closing rate, plus the effect of the rate change on opening net assets. It stays in equity until the subsidiary is sold.
Can you consolidate a subsidiary that is not on Zoho Books?
Yes. Each company supplies a trial balance in its own currency, from Zoho Books, QuickBooks, Xero or any other system, and the same translation applies.
Sources
- IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates, paragraphs 39 to 41.
- IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements, paragraph B94.
- Zoho Books help, Currencies. Checked 29 Oct 2026.
- Zoho Partner Support, Multi-currency financial reports from multiple Zoho Books organizations in Zoho Analytics. Checked 29 Oct 2026.
- Zoho Books FAQ, Manage Multiple Organizations. Checked 29 Oct 2026.
Prabhu, A. (2026, 25 November). A UK parent with US, UAE and Singapore companies on Zoho Books: how the group accounts are built. The Finconsol Blog. https://finconsol.com/blog/consolidate-foreign-subsidiaries-zoho-books/
Amit Prabhu leads Finconsol at Aaxonix Tech, a Zoho and NetSuite implementation partner based in Pune, India. He works with multi-company groups and the accountants who serve them on closing many sets of books into one set of group numbers.