Most settings in Circumz can be changed at any time. The base currency cannot, and getting the others right at the start saves a clean-up later. This guide lists what to set, in order.
1. Base currency
The base currency is the company's accounting currency, any of 43 ISO 4217 codes. Rounding, formatting and parsing follow the currency's own minor units: SAR has two decimals, JPY none, KWD three.
It locks. Once the company has quotations, orders, invoices, bills, expenses, budgets or leases, the base currency cannot change, because relabelling existing amounts would change what they mean. Choose it before you create documents.
Money columns are stored to two decimal places. Three-decimal currencies (KWD, BHD, OMR) are formatted correctly but documents round to two. Check this against your needs before choosing one.
2. Country and regime
Pick the company's country. Circumz has 19 regions, each setting defaults for currency, time zone, date format, number style, postal format and a tax regime: the tax name, the tax-ID label and format, and standard and reduced rates.
These are starting points, editable per company, and not tax advice. Check them against your own filings.
The country also decides what the company profile asks for. Tax ID and postal code are validated for the country. Saudi-only fields, such as the Arabic name, commercial registration and national address, are required only for Saudi companies.
3. Tax codes
Tax codes are seeded per company. Each has a code, a category and a rate:
| Category | Meaning | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| S | Standard | The code's rate |
| Z | Zero-rated | Always 0% |
| E | Exempt | Always 0% |
| O | Out of scope | Always 0% |
One standard code is the default, and its rate becomes the company's default VAT rate, which quotations, orders and bills pick up. Every line form offers the active tax codes, and the server resolves the chosen one to a category and rate.
Add reduced-rate codes now if you sell goods taxed differently.
4. Formats and time zone
Set the number style (en, eu, fr, ch or in), the date format and the time zone. Pages, reports and print views follow them. CSV exports stay machine-readable regardless.
Amount fields in forms accept plain 1250.50 or 1,250.50. A misplaced separator such as 1250,50 is rejected rather than misread.
5. Exchange rates
If you will issue documents in other currencies, enter rates as dated entries: foreign currency to base. A document uses the latest rate on or before its date, unless you type one. A missing rate is an error.
There is no rate feed, so make this a recurring task. The foreign-currency article explains how rates and payments interact.
6. Language
English and Arabic are available. Set a company default, and each person can switch from their account menu. The page direction follows the language.
Translation works by matching text against a catalogue of about 400 entries covering navigation, settings, common fields, actions, statuses and document headings. Text with no entry stays in English, so you will see a mix on less common screens. Dates keep English month names.
7. E-invoicing mode
For a Saudi seller in SAR, invoices are issued with the ZATCA structure: hash chain, UBL XML and QR, in a labelled demo mode that does not submit to ZATCA. A Saudi seller's foreign-currency invoice is refused.
For every other country, invoices are plain numbered tax invoices with a per-rate breakdown and the country's tax name and tax-ID label. They are never described as filed. No country-specific e-invoice format exists yet, such as Peppol or CFDI.
A short checklist
- [ ] Base currency chosen and confirmed
- [ ] Country set, tax ID validated
- [ ] Standard and reduced tax codes reviewed
- [ ] Number style, date format and time zone set
- [ ] First exchange rates entered, with a recurring reminder
- [ ] Language default chosen
- [ ] Company profile complete for your country