Exchange Rate as the Price of Domestic Currency
Working with the euro–dollar exchange rate implies the price of the dollar in euros. You can use this exchange rate to convert a dollar amount into euros, or vice versa.
Using the same example of the American exporter of backpacks who expects 135,000 as a payment for its latest shipment, this time you have the euro–dollar exchange rate of 0.80645 (the inverse of $1.24, or 1 / 1.24; try to keep more than two decimals so that the amounts are the same as in the previous example).
The exchange rate is defined as /$, and the amount is denominated in euros. You cancel the euros to get the amount in dollars by dividing the euro total by the euro–dollar exchange rate:
135,000 / 0.80645 = $167,400
Therefore, the American exporter receives $167,400.
In the example of the American importer of French cheese, the French exporter is paid $185,000. The French firm’s bank applies the euro–dollar exchange rate of 0.80645 and deposits the dollar amount as euros.
This time the exchange rate is defined as /$, and the amount is denominated in dollars. You cancel the dollars to get the amount in euros by multiplying the dollar amount by the euro–dollar exchange rate:
$185,000 x 0.80645 = 149,193
The French firm receives 149,193 from this transaction. (Note that the small discrepancy between this total and the previous result is due to rounding.)