Reporting Currency

International companies have to actually specify what currency they're using when they report results. Your local dry cleaner reporting via his accountant to the IRS, or for his state tax returns, probably doesn't need to specify that yes, the $8,389 he grossed in sales this month is in U.S. Dollars.

Why does the currency even matter? Well, the numbers are vastly different if you're reporting in yen versus dollars (lots more yen to make up a dollar). And tax rates in the U.S. are based on volume, i.e. up to 20,000 of the U.S. Dollar unit currency and the tax rate is 5% or something like that; the equivalent amount in yen is millions.

So it's all confusing, and most of the time currencies get converted into whatever the home country is, for tax purposes. Makes it easier for all. Except when you write the check.