Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fees: How FX Rows Should Appear in Excel

Foreign card purchases can involve original currency, converted amount, exchange rate and markup fee rows. This guide explains how those rows should be preserved in Excel so credit card statements reconcile cleanly.

Last updated 2026-06-12

Foreign-currency rows are the single biggest source of "the totals don't match the PDF" complaints we see. They look like one purchase but they're three accounting entries — and every one of them affects the closing balance.

What the Three Rows Actually Are

Original-currency line — informational. Shows the amount in the merchant's currency (USD 49.99, EUR 89.00, etc.). Not always a separate debit; sometimes printed inside the description.
Home-currency line — the real debit. The original amount converted at the network rate plus the bank's spread. This is what hits your statement balance.
FX markup / conversion fee — a separate debit, typically 1.5–3.5% of the home-currency amount. On Indian cards it includes 18% GST on the markup.

How Generic Converters Get It Wrong

Merge into one row — sums all three into a single debit. Balance stays correct but the original currency and markup are lost.
Drop the markup — captures the home-currency line only. Balance is off by the markup amount and balance verification fails.
Duplicate by mistake — captures both original and home currency as separate debits. Balance is off by the original-currency value.

The Correct Excel Layout

ClearlyLedger keeps all three rows and tags them clearly in the Category column. A €89.00 hotel charge on an Indian Visa might land as:

Date	Description	Debit (INR)	Category
2026-05-14	HOTEL ABC LISBON PT (EUR 89.00)	8,234.10	Travel
2026-05-14	MARKUP FEE	288.19	FX Markup
2026-05-14	GST ON MARKUP	51.87	Tax

All three sum into the running balance, the original EUR amount is preserved for receipts, and the markup is a separate filterable row for tax/reimbursement.

Why This Matters for Expense Reimbursement

Most expense policies reimburse the home-currency amount only. Markup and GST on markup are reclaimable separately (input tax credit on Indian GST), and filtering the Category column for "FX Markup" + "Tax" surfaces them in seconds.

Why This Matters for Balance Verification

Balance verification only works if every cent on the statement is in the Excel. Drop the markup and the equation fails by ₹340. Merge the rows and you can't reclaim the markup. The three-row layout is the only one that keeps both the math and the audit trail.

Convert with FX rows kept intact

ClearlyLedger preserves the original currency, home currency, and markup as three reconciled rows on every credit card statement.

Convert a Statement Now Read the credit-card guide