diff --git a/docs/operations.md b/docs/operations.md
index b3a7869..2c816db 100644
--- a/docs/operations.md
+++ b/docs/operations.md
@@ -84,10 +84,24 @@ The two sources disagree by a couple of percent on the same date (for
 close versus a cross-exchange average). That is why the ledger records
 `rate_source` beside `rate` instead of presenting a bare figure as canonical.
 
-Where payroll converts, it hands `create_invoice` a **sat** amount, because
-`create_invoice` always prices fiat itself and cannot be told a rate. The
-rate used and its source are recorded on the payout row either way — in
-`current` mode read back off the invoice LNbits priced, not recomputed.
+Payroll does the conversion itself in **every** mode and hands
+`create_invoice` a sat amount. Not because it has to for `current` mode, but
+because knowing the rate *before* the invoice exists is what lets the memo
+name it. It stays a single conversion — `fiat_amount_as_satoshis` is the
+function `create_invoice` would have called — and payroll stamps the same
+`fiat_currency` / `fiat_amount` / `fiat_rate` / `btc_rate` keys onto the
+payment that `calculate_fiat_amounts` would have, so a payroll payment reads
+like any other fiat-priced one.
+
+Both wallets therefore show a memo naming the rate applied:
+
+```
+dev retainer — 2026-08-01 · 10 EUR @ 54,487 EUR/BTC
+dev retainer — 2026-08-29 · 10 EUR @ 67,596.6 EUR/BTC
+```
+
+Which is the point: 18,353 sat and 14,794 sat are both "ten euro", and only
+the rate says why they differ.
 
 **A rate that cannot be established fails the period.** There is deliberately
 no fallback to today's rate: one that moved 30% since the payday would pay
diff --git a/services.py b/services.py
index f1123a0..60e8950 100644
--- a/services.py
+++ b/services.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from lnbits.core.crud import get_wallet
 from lnbits.core.services import create_invoice, pay_invoice
 from lnbits.helpers import urlsafe_short_hash
+from lnbits.utils.exchange_rates import fiat_amount_as_satoshis
 from loguru import logger
 
 from . import crud
@@ -222,9 +223,27 @@ def _today() -> date:
     return datetime.now(timezone.utc).date()
 
 
-def payout_memo(contract: Contract, payday: date) -> str:
+def _fmt(value: float) -> str:
+    """Trim a float for display without lying about precision."""
+    return f"{value:,.2f}".rstrip("0").rstrip(".")
+
+
+def payout_memo(contract: Contract, payday: date, rate: float | None = None) -> str:
+    """What both wallets show for this payout.
+
+    Names the rate applied, because for a back-dated period the sat figure
+    on its own is unexplainable — 18,353 sat and 14,794 sat are both "ten
+    euro", and only the rate says why they differ. The rate is always the
+    one payroll actually converted at, never a lookup made for display.
+    """
     label = contract.memo or contract.label or "Payroll"
-    return f"{label} — {payday.isoformat()}"
+    parts = [f"{label} — {payday.isoformat()}"]
+    if contract.currency.lower() != "sat":
+        money = f"{_fmt(contract.amount)} {contract.currency}"
+        if rate:
+            money += f" @ {_fmt(rate)} {contract.currency}/BTC"
+        parts.append(money)
+    return " · ".join(parts)
 
 
 class PricingError(ValueError):
@@ -271,10 +290,21 @@ async def resolve_price(
     mode = mode or contract.pricing_mode
     manual_rate = manual_rate or contract.manual_rate
 
-    # A payday that is today or ahead needs no history: every mode agrees,
-    # and LNbits' own live pricing is the freshest source available.
+    # A payday that is today or ahead needs no history: every mode agrees on
+    # the live rate. Payroll still does the conversion rather than handing
+    # create_invoice a fiat amount, because knowing the rate *before* the
+    # invoice exists is what lets the memo state it. It is the same single
+    # conversion either way — fiat_amount_as_satoshis is the function
+    # create_invoice would have called — not a second opinion.
     if payday >= today or mode == PricingMode.current:
-        return Price(contract.amount, contract.currency, None, "current")
+        amount_sat = await fiat_amount_as_satoshis(contract.amount, contract.currency)
+        if amount_sat <= 0:
+            raise PricingError(
+                f"{contract.amount} {contract.currency} rounds to zero sats"
+            )
+        # Derived exactly as lnbits.core.services.calculate_fiat_amounts does.
+        rate = (contract.amount / amount_sat) * 100_000_000
+        return Price(amount_sat, "sat", rate, "current")
 
     if mode == PricingMode.manual:
         if not manual_rate:
@@ -283,12 +313,12 @@ async def resolve_price(
             sats_for(contract.amount, manual_rate), "sat", manual_rate, "manual"
         )
 
-    rate = await historical_btc_rate(payday, contract.currency)
-    if rate is None:
+    historical = await historical_btc_rate(payday, contract.currency)
+    if historical is None:
         raise PricingError(
             f"no historical {contract.currency} rate available for {payday}"
         )
-    return Price(sats_for(contract.amount, rate), "sat", rate, "payday")
+    return Price(sats_for(contract.amount, historical), "sat", historical, "payday")
 
 
 async def pay_period(
@@ -310,7 +340,6 @@ async def pay_period(
     never settled — and it is the price of not pre-computing the sat amount
     a second time just to run a balance check.
     """
-    memo = payout_memo(contract, payday)
     extra = {
         "tag": "payroll",
         "contract_id": contract.id,
@@ -325,10 +354,26 @@ async def pay_period(
             index=index,
             payday=payday,
             status=PayoutStatus.failed,
+            # The memo cannot be built without a rate, so name the contract
+            # plainly in the failure instead.
             detail=str(exc),
         )
+
+    memo = payout_memo(contract, payday, price.rate)
     if price.source:
         extra["rate_source"] = price.source
+    if price.rate:
+        # Payroll converted, so create_invoice is handed sats and will not
+        # stamp these itself. Same keys and formulas as calculate_fiat_amounts,
+        # so a payroll payment reads like any other fiat-priced one.
+        extra.update(
+            {
+                "fiat_currency": contract.currency,
+                "fiat_amount": round(contract.amount, 3),
+                "fiat_rate": price.amount / contract.amount,
+                "btc_rate": price.rate,
+            }
+        )
 
     try:
         invoice = await create_invoice(
@@ -351,13 +396,7 @@ async def pay_period(
 
     # invoice.amount is msat and is now the canonical figure for this period.
     amount_msat = invoice.amount
-
-    # For a live conversion LNbits stashes the rate it used on the payment;
-    # read it back rather than recomputing, so the ledger records the number
-    # that was actually applied.
     rate = price.rate
-    if rate is None and price.source == "current":
-        rate = (invoice.extra or {}).get("btc_rate")
 
     source = await get_wallet(contract.source_wallet)
     if not source:
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 99fc158..f4e5b34 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ def make_contract(
     created_at: str = "2026-01-01",
     pricing_mode: PricingMode = PricingMode.payday,
     manual_rate: float | None = None,
+    label: str = "",
 ) -> Contract:
     return Contract(
         id=contract_id,
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ def make_contract(
         backfill=backfill,
         pricing_mode=pricing_mode,
         manual_rate=manual_rate,
+        label=label,
         created_at=datetime.strptime(created_at, "%Y-%m-%d").replace(
             tzinfo=timezone.utc
         ),
diff --git a/tests/test_pricing.py b/tests/test_pricing.py
index 8c5c908..31eab99 100644
--- a/tests/test_pricing.py
+++ b/tests/test_pricing.py
@@ -20,16 +20,23 @@ PAST = date(2026, 5, 15)
 PAST_RATE = 69743.26
 
 
+LIVE_RATE = 67_000.0
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def historical(monkeypatch):
-    """Stub the lookup and record what it was asked for."""
+    """Stub both rate sources and record what the historical one was asked."""
     asked = []
 
     async def fake_rate(day, currency):
         asked.append((day, currency))
         return PAST_RATE if currency == "EUR" else None
 
+    async def fake_live(amount, _currency):
+        return round(amount / LIVE_RATE * 1e8)
+
     monkeypatch.setattr(services, "historical_btc_rate", fake_rate)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(services, "fiat_amount_as_satoshis", fake_live)
     return asked
 
 
@@ -44,16 +51,22 @@ def price(contract, payday=PAST, today=TODAY, **kw):
 # --- when history is irrelevant --------------------------------------------
 
 
-def test_a_payday_today_uses_live_pricing(historical):
-    """No mode needs history for a payday that has not passed — LNbits' own
-    conversion is the freshest source there is."""
+def test_a_payday_today_uses_the_live_rate(historical):
+    """No mode needs history for a payday that has not passed."""
     p = price(eur(), payday=TODAY)
-    assert (p.currency, p.source) == ("EUR", "current")
-    assert p.amount == 800  # handed to create_invoice as fiat, unconverted
+    assert (p.currency, p.source) == ("sat", "current")
+    assert p.amount == round(800 / LIVE_RATE * 1e8)
     assert historical == []
 
 
-def test_a_future_payday_uses_live_pricing(historical):
+def test_the_live_rate_is_known_before_the_invoice(historical):
+    """Payroll converts rather than handing create_invoice a fiat amount, so
+    the rate exists in time to go in the memo."""
+    p = price(eur(), payday=TODAY)
+    assert p.rate == pytest.approx(LIVE_RATE, rel=1e-6)
+
+
+def test_a_future_payday_uses_the_live_rate(historical):
     p = price(eur(), payday=date(2026, 12, 1))
     assert p.source == "current"
     assert historical == []
@@ -80,7 +93,8 @@ def test_payday_mode_converts_at_the_paydays_rate(historical):
 def test_current_mode_ignores_the_past_payday(historical):
     """The employee is owed EUR 800 and gets EUR 800 of bitcoin today."""
     p = price(eur(pricing_mode=PricingMode.current))
-    assert (p.currency, p.source) == ("EUR", "current")
+    assert p.source == "current"
+    assert p.amount == round(800 / LIVE_RATE * 1e8)
     assert historical == []
 
 
@@ -129,3 +143,28 @@ def test_the_refusal_names_the_date_and_currency(historical):
     with pytest.raises(PricingError) as exc:
         price(make_contract(currency="JPY", amount=800))
     assert "JPY" in str(exc.value) and "2026-05-15" in str(exc.value)
+
+
+# --- memo ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_memo_names_the_rate_applied():
+    """18,353 sat and 14,794 sat are both "ten euro" — only the rate says
+    why a back-dated payout differs from today's."""
+    memo = services.payout_memo(eur(label="dev retainer"), PAST, PAST_RATE)
+    assert memo == "dev retainer — 2026-05-15 · 800 EUR @ 69,743.26 EUR/BTC"
+
+
+def test_memo_prefers_the_payment_memo_over_the_label():
+    contract = eur(label="internal label")
+    contract.memo = "Salary"
+    assert services.payout_memo(contract, PAST, PAST_RATE).startswith("Salary — ")
+
+
+def test_memo_of_a_sat_contract_has_no_rate():
+    contract = make_contract(currency="sat", amount=1000, label="chores")
+    assert services.payout_memo(contract, PAST) == "chores — 2026-05-15"
+
+
+def test_memo_without_a_rate_still_states_the_fiat_amount():
+    assert services.payout_memo(eur(label="x"), PAST) == "x — 2026-05-15 · 800 EUR"