Which exchange rate to use for foreign currency deals
Which CBN rate a Nigerian business can use to record a foreign-currency deal, how to read the CBN tables, and what Achekam's books can hold.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
A Nigerian business that buys software in dollars, sells consulting to a client in London or imports stock priced in yuan faces the same small question every time: what is this worth in naira? The answer goes into the books, the VAT records, the tax computation and, eventually, the financial statements. If different people use different rates from different websites, the books stop agreeing with themselves.
The simplest fix is a written policy that names one official source and one rule for picking the day. This article explains what the Central Bank of Nigeria publishes, how to read it, and what Achekam's books can and cannot hold for a business with foreign-currency dealings.
The NFEM rate: the official rate for the day
The CBN publishes a rate for the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM). It says the NFEM rate is derived at volume weighted average and stands as the official exchange rate for the day.
As an example of what the table shows: on 9 October 2026, the CBN's NFEM rate, the official exchange rate for that day, was ₦1,331.1860 to the US dollar, with a highest rate of ₦1,333.5000, a lowest rate of ₦1,330.5500 and a closing rate of ₦1,332.4900. That figure is quoted only to show the table's layout; it will be stale by the time you read this. Find the current rows on the CBN's exchange rates page, which publishes the daily official naira to US dollar rate from the NFEM.
Use the row for the transaction date
The NFEM table has one row per trading date. The rule that keeps books consistent is to use the row for the date of the transaction, not today's rate and not a rate someone remembered.
A worked example in words. A Lagos design agency invoices a client abroad in US dollars on a Tuesday, and the client pays two weeks later. The invoice is recorded at the official rate for that Tuesday. The payment is recorded at the official rate for the day it arrives. If the naira moved in between, the difference between the two naira amounts is an exchange gain or loss, not a change in the sale. Weekends and public holidays have no row; agree in your policy which earlier trading date you use.
Buying, central and selling rates
The CBN also publishes a currency rates table covering 13 currencies, including the euro, the yuan, the rand and the CFA franc. Each currency has three figures: a buying rate, a central rate and a selling rate. For 9 October 2026, that table gave the US dollar a buying rate of 1330.1860, a central rate of 1330.6860 and a selling rate of 1331.1860, and pound sterling a central rate of 1758.5015.
Two details are worth knowing. The table does not state its unit, although its US dollar selling rate equals that day's NFEM rate in naira per dollar. And for currencies other than the dollar, this table is where you find a CBN figure at all. Choose which of the three columns your business uses, with your accountant, write it in the policy and use it every time.
Naira as the presentation currency
Whatever currencies a business deals in, its financial statements are presented in naira. Under FRC Rule 8, the presentation currency for all general-purpose financial statements in Nigeria is the Nigeria Naira, including statements filed for statutory purposes and those presented to directors, shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders. The same rule allows an annexure of the main statements in the functional currency as supplementary information, provided the exchange rates used are disclosed.
So even a company that thinks in dollars needs a naira set of figures it can stand behind, and the rates used to get there need to be on record.
What Achekam's books can hold today
Achekam has clear limits here, and a business with foreign-currency trade should know them before it relies on the books for those transactions.
- No foreign-currency invoices. Neither of Achekam's invoice forms lets a business invoice in another currency.
- One currency per bank account. Each bank account takes one currency. A business with a domiciliary account sets it up as its own account.
- Rand on screen. The ledger screens show every amount in rand, and the chart of accounts is stored in ZAR, even for a Nigerian business. Until the ledger follows the business's own currency, read the screen labels with that in mind.
In practice, the foreign-currency detail of each deal has to live alongside the books: the original currency, the amount, the rate, the date of the rate and the CBN table it came from. For a related view of holding foreign money, see running a US dollar bank account, and for selling abroad, billing overseas customers.
Keeping the rate evidence with each entry
A short exchange rate policy, agreed with your accountant, might say:
- Source: the CBN's NFEM rate for US dollars; the CBN currency rates table, at the chosen column, for other currencies.
- Date: the row for the transaction date; for a weekend or holiday, the last trading date before it.
- Evidence: a saved copy or screenshot of the CBN row, kept with the invoice, bill or bank entry.
- Settlement: the payment is converted at its own date's rate, and any difference is recorded as an exchange gain or loss.
- Year end: balances still open in foreign currency are reviewed with the accountant, who decides how they are translated.
- Disclosure: where statements include a functional-currency annexure, the rates used are disclosed.
Written down once and followed every time, this keeps foreign-currency figures defensible when an auditor or the NRS asks where a number came from.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
