Converting to USD

Technical Kit & Additional Hardware
1

Hi,
I understand that all teams have a maximum expenditure of $3500 (USD). We are in Australia and were wondering which exchange rate do we use? i.e. Do we exchange AUD to USD when we buy the parts, at competition or whenever we like?

Thanks in advance,
timytamy

PS:Move this to where it should be (I wasn’t too sure)

2

TINAOA (This is not an official answer), but…

My first reaction to this question would be to say to use exchange rate at time of purchase. For certain items(Jaguar speed controllers, etc.) you will be purchasing from US suppliers, so that is when the exchange rate will be calculated for those items, so it would make sense to use the same standard across the board. However, from a bookkeeping standpoint, I can see where it would be simpler to track the BOM in two sections - US suppliers and local suppliers. That would allow for calculation of the USD amount much simpler for the locally procured items. In any event, I think it’s safe to say that it will be basically the honor system that the “correct” exchange rate is used, as I don’t imagine that this will be on the checklist of items for the inspectors at the events to verify.

Thankfully, however, you are not the first international team competing in FRC, so I imagine that FIRST already has a proper procedure for this. Maybe one of our more seasoned international teams can join in and let us know how they have handled this in the past?

3

I will suggest the same procedure I suggested to your mentor in another thread.

4

Thanks for the replys,
Where would I go to find the offical answer?

Thanks,
timytamy

5

The Q&A section of the official FIRST forums, which opens Wednesday at noon (GST -5).