Software makes euro calculations automatically

An Irish businessman has developed the first application to automatically handle complex euro currency conversion calculations in Microsoft Word. Mr Hal Sisk, a director of Sisk Builders Contractors, stands to make millions of pounds with software that automatically converts traditional currencies to their euro value and inserts the euro symbol.

Mr Sisk patented his technology after he realised software houses were only focusing on conversions for financial systems, such as accounting and payroll packages. To date, Microsoft's efforts to incorporate the euro simply insert the symbol into fonts, but do not carry out conversion calculations. Mr Sisk recognised the need for a euro converter in ordinary word processing programmes, which will insert the euro symbol and calculate its value in any document using simple keyboard commands. It will be useful wherever monetary amounts appear in word processed documents, letters, faxes, emails, quotations and reports.

More importantly, the EuroSymbol enhancement to MSWord 97 will convert any defined currency amount into euro values, to six significant figures, and will either replace or append the converted value. This can be conducted by automatically searching and replacing or appending each currency unit with the corresponding euro value throughout a document.

Mr Sisk has been involved in a number of single product start-up companies from marine electronics to measurement equipment. He says he is open to any offers from Microsoft, if it decides the EuroSymbol Converter should be integrated into Word. But in the meantime he plans to sell it commercially, distributing it through networks. The target market will be larger corporations and it will go on sale in two week's time.

According to Mr Mark Taylor, director of consulting with Microsoft, the Eurosymbol Converter is the first application Microsoft is aware of that automatically does the euro conversion calculations. "They have done a very good job of using the open interface of Microsoft to incorporate this conversion tool. It seems a very good innovation," says Mr Taylor.

Once downloaded the EuroSymbol is illustrated as "euro" between "edit" and "view" on the main menu bar in Word. The official symbol is accessed with "Alt+u". Using the "triangulation" method and the six figure multiplier, in accordance with EU regulations, one European currency can automatically be converted to another via the euro's fixed conversion rates for the appropriate currencies. Similarly, currencies outside Europe can be converted to those within Europe by calculating the Euro value at the variable exchange rate, and then using the conversion rate for the local currency.

The Association of Keyboard Manufacturers has already said it will not include the euro symbol on future keyboards, and a committee of the European Commission has recommended the key command, "Alt Gr+e" (e) be used in the short term. Now the EuroSymbol Converter will work through the "find and replace" function. Instead of selecting a word to replace, a base currency is targeted and all occurrences of this currency in a document are identified, the amounts are converted to replace the original, or are appended in brackets using the new symbol.

According to Mr Sisk the EuroSymbol Converter will be especially useful for large companies that operate fixed exchange rates for accounting purposes over limited periods. This application ensures all transactions over the period will be calculated at exactly the same rate, leaving little room for error. Because it is network distributed and controlled, EuroSymbol will offer significant management advantages.

"I can't understand why this hasn't been invented before," says Mr Sisk. "Originally it looked like there would have to be hand calculators, which would have led to all sorts of human error. Then I thought of combining the "find and replace" function with an arithmetic convertor."

The EuroSymbol has been developed completely in accordance with EU regulations to ensure the tedious euro calculations can be guaranteed correct. This gives the enhancement a significant product advantage over other word processing features, because it could actually protect businesses against legal liabilities for inaccurate calculations.