Understanding FX Currency values in lists and reports

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Understanding FX Currency values in lists and reports

    This guide explains how FX Currency values are displayed, filtered, and aggregated in lists and reports within ServiceNow, starting from the Yokohama release. It clarifies how currency values entered in FX Currency fields behave differently from standard currency fields, focusing on display formats, filtering rules, and aggregation logic tied to reference currencies.

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    FX Currency values in list views

    • FX Currency fields in lists show formatted currency strings according to settings configured in System Localization > FX Currency Configuration, such as display digits and currency format.
    • Dependent FX Currency fields inherit display configurations from their parent FX Currency field, allowing different display formats without impacting the original field’s data.
    • Because FX Currency fields store references (sysid), their column length is limited to 32 characters.

    Filtering FX Currency values in lists

    • Filtering is based on the currency type originally entered in the FX Currency field, not on the reference currency used for display.
    • When filtering by a currency (e.g., USD), only records originally entered in that currency appear, even if the displayed value converts to another currency.

    FX Currency reporting, aggregation, and grouping

    • FX Currency fields can be included in reports and display similarly to lists, using the getDisplayValue() format.
    • If session currency display is enabled, reports show values in the user’s session currency.
    • Aggregation (SUM, etc.) works only on FX Currency values sharing the same reference currency; mixed currency types result in empty aggregation values.
    • Aggregated values are returned as strings combining currency code and amount (e.g., USD:134.98).
    • Grouping by FX Currency fields groups by currency and amount or reference currency and reference amount, enabling detailed currency-based analysis.

    Practical implications for ServiceNow customers

    • Understand that FX Currency field values display based on configured localization settings, ensuring consistency with your organization’s currency display preferences.
    • Be aware filtering respects the original currency entered, which impacts how data is retrieved and viewed in lists.
    • When creating reports or performing aggregations on FX Currency fields, confirm that currency types are consistent to get meaningful totals.
    • Use dependent FX Currency fields to present alternate currency views without altering the original data.

    By default, the currency values that appear in the FX Currency fields in lists and reports are the values that you directly enter into the FX Currency fields. For reports, the aggregations of FX Currency fields are, by default, reference currency values.

    FX Currency values in list views

    In lists, FX Currency values appear as a formatted currency string returned from getDisplayValue().
    For an FX Currency field that depends on another FX Currency field, the currency value comes from the Currency Instance [fx_currency2_instance] record associated with the latter. The display value format is based on how you configured its display settings in System Localization > FX Currency Configuration.
    Note:
    An FX Currency field in a custom table is a reference field that stores the reference (sys_id) to the actual record. Because the sys_id is 32 characters, the Max length of the FX Currency column must be 32 (default).

    Filtering FX Currency values in lists

    In lists, FX Currency field filtering behaves differently than with standard currency fields. The filtering takes place using the currency type selected when a currency value is originally entered into an FX Currency field. It doesn't take reference currencies into account when you filter a list. So, if the unfiltered list contains FX Currency field entries in multiple currencies, a filtered list would only contain those records originally entered using the specified filtering currency.
    • For example, if you entered a currency value in Euros (EUR) and the reference currency is US Dollars (USD), the reference currency value may appear in an unfiltered list.
    • However, if you filter the list, and select USD as the currency, the currency value, originally entered in Euros, doesn't appear. In this case, only currency values originally entered in USD would appear.

    Dependent FX Currency fields

    Use of FX Currency view or dependent fields enable you to use alternate display configurations defined in System Localization > FX Currency Configuration for a particular FX Currency field. To learn more about FX Currency field configurations, see Configuring FX Currency field behavior.

    When you create an FX Currency field, you can mark it as dependent on another FX Currency field. Marking an FX Currency field as dependent enables it to use the configuration settings for the original FX Currency field to display the amount values in different currency. Any changes that you make to the dependent field don't affect the original FX Currency field.

    FX Currency reporting, aggregation, and group by

    You can select FX Currency fields for inclusion on reports, and they display in the same manner as in list views.
    • FX Currency fields appear as a formatted currency string returned from getDisplayValue().
    • If you set the Display Value Currency field in System Localization > All Properties to Display in Session Currency, the session currency assigned to the user running the report appears.

    You can aggregate like reference currency values within a Currency Instance record. The following is the aggregated FX Currency data format in the ServiceNow AI Platform®:

    Table 1. Aggregate FX Currency value
    Type Description
    String Value of the aggregation. If the values being aggregated are FX Currency values, the returned value is in the format currency_code:currency_value, such as:

    USD:134.980000

    Otherwise, the returned value is just the currency value, such as: 134.980000.
    Note:
    If the field contains FX Currency values of mixed currency types, the values cannot be aggregated. The value is returned as a semicolon (;).
    For example, if the Cost field on a transaction record is an FX Currency field, you can group by cost.amount or cost.currency.
    • Aggregation operations, such as SUM, translate as SUM(amount) or SUM(reference_amount). The aggregation source determines the translation when the currency associated with the currency values in the grouping is the same.

      For example, the aggregate value returned by GlideAggregate.getAggregate() is a string of the format USD; 1234.56. The total currency value is expressed in the single reference currency that is associated with all currency values in the grouping.

    • If there are different currencies associated with currency values in the grouping, then the aggregate value is empty. For example, if some of the currency values are in US Dollars, some are in Euros, and others in Yen, the aggregate value would be empty.
    You can also use a Group By command on FX Currency fields.
    • It is equivalent to grouping by currency and amount, or by reference_currency and reference_amount, as dictated by the aggregation source.
    • The value of the grouping is available by dot-walking on the FX Currency field, or using an API such as getDisplayValue().