New Syrian Pound: Two Zeros Removed, a 15-Point Business Checklist

The new Syrian pound removes two zeros from the old one: 100 old pounds equal 1 new pound, and the piastre (qirsh) is back as one hundredth of a pound. Decree No. 293 of 2025, dated 24 December 2025, set the ratio and applied it to every price, salary, contract and debt. Nothing lost value; only the unit changed.

The timeline, from Central Bank of Syria (CBS) decisions and statements:

• 29 December 2025: the new notes are unveiled in six denominations, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 new pounds, and CBS Decision 705 sets the implementing rules.
• 1 January 2026: the exchange starts, for 90 days that could be extended. Old and new notes circulate side by side, both legal tender.
• 17 and 22 February 2026: the small old notes, from 50 to 500, join the exchange, and the window is extended by 60 days from 1 April.
• 29 June 2026: after a further extension in May, Decision 372 closes the exchange on 30 July 2026.
• 31 July 2026: old notes lose legal tender status, and "Syrian pound" in all official decisions, instructions and dealings now means the new pound, as the CBS announced.
• For five years from 31 July 2026, the CBS withdraws old notes and pays their value in new pounds into a bank account. Its notice of 13 August 2026 opens online requests to individuals only, not companies.

So as of November 2026 the switch itself is over. What remains for businesses is the clean-up: price lists still carrying old figures, quotations and contracts that don't say which pound, systems with unconverted balances, and staff who still count in old pounds. No software will flag it for you: the ISO 4217 list, updated in September 2026, still shows the code SYP with two decimals.

Four rules from the decree and the CBS implementing instructions, Decision 705, shape everything a business does:

• One ratio for everything: prices of goods and services, salaries and wages, and every financial obligation of any kind convert at 100 to 1.
• Old documents keep their value: unless the parties agreed otherwise, contracts, commercial papers, records and accounts issued or signed before the exchange began are settled at their old-pound value, so 3,500,000 old pounds of rent is now paid as 35,000 new pounds.
• New documents name the new pound: since the exchange began, documents creating financial obligations must be written in new pounds only and say "new Syrian pound" explicitly. An undated document, or one dated within the exchange period, that doesn't say which pound it means is refused unless the parties agree or a court decides.
• No fees: nobody may charge commission, tax or fees on the conversion.

The decree also required everyone to show amounts in both old and new pounds during the exchange period, which ended on 30 July 2026; as of November 2026 we found no decision extending that duty. Ask the Ministry of Economy and Industry before you drop old-pound labels: its Decision 8998 of 24 December 2025, summarized in the CBS legislation digest, fines shops that fail to display prices, then closes repeat offenders for 3 days and, a third time, for 7.

On rounding, the CBS Governor explained on 1 January 2026 that unit prices may use piastres, and only the final amount to pay is rounded to the nearest denomination in circulation, not each line. His example: an item at 630 old pounds is 6.30 new pounds; two make 12.60, and the customer pays 13.

What is not official yet: an accounting standard or Ministry of Finance instruction on booking the conversion. We found none as of November 2026, so agree the method with your auditor.

Converting a price list means dividing every pound price by 100, keeping the piastres on unit prices and rounding only what the customer pays. A before-and-after your team can pin up:

• Shelf price: 4,750 old pounds becomes 47.50 new pounds
• Price per kilo: 12,300 old becomes 123 new
• Delivery fee: 15,000 old becomes 150 new
• Monthly rent in a 2025 contract: 3,500,000 old becomes 35,000 new
• Customer credit limit: 50,000,000 old becomes 500,000 new
• Any price set in US dollars: no change

Resist "tidying" 47.50 up to 50. The Governor's rule rounds totals, not items, and a quiet price rise during a currency change is the first thing customers and inspectors notice.

For quotations and contracts:

• Write "new Syrian pounds" next to every amount, in words as well as figures on contracts.
• Review contracts signed before 1 January 2026: they stay valid at their old-pound value, so add a one-page annex restating each amount in new pounds instead of reissuing the contract.
• Find documents dated between 1 January and 30 July 2026 that say only "pounds", and have both parties sign a short note naming the currency.
• Reissue open quotations in new pounds, with a new date.

A clause you can copy into new contracts and annexes:

"All amounts in this contract are in new Syrian pounds, where 1 new pound equals 100 old pounds under Decree No. 293 of 2025. Amounts stated in US dollars are not affected."

For an annex to an older contract, add: "Amounts written in old pounds in the original contract are payable in new pounds, divided by 100." Ask your lawyer to check the wording against your own contract.

In the books, removing two zeros changes the unit, not the value, so the conversion creates no gain or loss: every pound balance is divided by 100 and every dollar balance stays as it is. Three checks catch most errors:

• Keep two decimals: 48,756,350 old pounds is 487,563.50 new, not 487,564.
• Convert master data with the balances: price lists, product costs, credit limits, salary scales and asset values in pounds.
• Divide once: a balance your bank already converted must not be divided again.

How you post it depends on your company currency. Books in pounds need a dated conversion entry per customer and supplier, or a new company opened with balances in new pounds. Books in dollars need SYP rates on the new scale, such as the 122.00 new pounds per US dollar in the CBS official bulletin of 29 October 2026, plus a one-time fix for pound items still open. Our 2026 year-end closing guide works through both with a full trial balance.

In Odoo 20, four settings cover the till and the invoice:

• Prices: export products with the Updatable fields only switch on, divide pound prices by 100 in the sheet, then import it back. Keep the ID column intact or Odoo may create duplicates, and click Test first, as Odoo's import guide explains.
• Pricelists computed from dollar prices: a Formula rule whose Round off to field rounds to the nearest multiple you choose.
• Point of sale: enable Cash Rounding in the Point of Sale settings, set Rounding Precision to the smallest note you take (at launch, the smallest new note was 10 pounds), and apply it to cash only. Odoo rounds the receipt total, not item prices, as its POS pricing guide notes.
• Invoices: enable Cash Rounding in Accounting settings, pick it on cash invoices, and add "new Syrian pounds" to invoice and receipt footers.

Payroll converts at the same 100 to 1, since the decree applies the ratio to salaries and wages, and the CBS says it paid the February 2026 salary bill, 45 billion new pounds, entirely in new pounds. Pay by bank transfer where you can, so piastres pass through intact, and round cash pay only on the final amount.

Staff and customers need one message. A notice for counters, menus and invoices:

"Our prices are in new Syrian pounds. 1 new pound = 100 old pounds. Example: 4,750 old = 47.50 new. We round only the total you pay, to the nearest note."

The 15-point checklist, as of November 2026:

• Divide every pound price list, shelf label and menu by 100.
• Keep piastres on unit prices; round only totals.
• Leave US dollar prices untouched.
• Ask the Ministry of Economy and Industry whether old-pound labels are still required.
• Write "new Syrian pounds" on every new quotation and contract.
• Annex contracts signed before 1 January 2026 with new-pound amounts.
• Name the currency on documents dated 1 January to 30 July 2026 that don't.
• Convert opening balances once, with two decimals, and file the worksheet.
• Convert pound costs, credit limits and asset values.
• Enter exchange rates on the new scale from the CBS bulletin.
• Set POS and invoice cash rounding to the smallest note you take.
• Update invoice, receipt and payslip templates.
• Convert salary scales, allowances and staff loans.
• Take old notes out of cash, and ask the CBS about a route for companies.
• Brief cashiers, sales and accounts staff, and post the customer notice.

Next step: run the first three points on today's price list and trial balance. If your Odoo still holds old-pound figures, tell us about your setup: METCH, an official Odoo partner serving Syria, can convert your data on a test copy first.