I sent an invoice in the client's currency because it felt polite. Invoicing a client in another currency was the easy part. The shortfall arrived two weeks later, with a bank fee I had not mentioned and a rate I had not agreed.
Someone pays for the gap between the day you send the bill and the day the money lands. If the invoice does not say who, it will be you.
Invoicing a client in another currency starts with whose money
You have two real choices. Bill in your currency, or bill in theirs. A third currency you both half know is a choice too, and it is usually worse, because neither of you holds it and both banks take a turn.
Bill in your currency when you want the amount on the invoice to be the amount you are owed. They convert. Their bank shows them a figure in their money on the day they pay. That figure will not match a screenshot you took when you quoted. That is their problem if the invoice says the payable amount is yours. Some clients will not accept this. Their system pays one currency. Believe the system. Then decide if you will bill in theirs.
Bill in their currency when they cannot pay any other way, or when you are glad to make the bill easy for them. You now own the movement. A fee that looked right on Monday can be thinner on the day the transfer arrives. If you take this option, put a buffer in the price before you quote, or accept the swing as the cost of the client. Do not discover the buffer after you have done the work.
Write one amount due. If you show a second currency 'so they can see it,' label it as a guide and say it is not payable. The moment the invoice lists two totals, a careful payer pays the smaller one. I have done that to myself. One line, one currency code, one number.
The invoice date rate and the payment date rate
The rate you look up when you write the invoice is a snapshot. The rate your bank uses is the rate on the day the money is converted, which is the day it arrives, or the day they send it, depending on who converts. Those are different days. On a net 30 invoice they can be a month apart. The longer the term, the more room the rate has to move. A cross border net 30 vs net 14 choice is also a currency choice. A shorter term does not freeze the rate. It shortens the window.
A mid market rate from a website is not the rate a retail bank will give you. They take a spread. Then a correspondent bank may take a fee. Then your bank may take another. If you promised the client they would pay a converted amount based on the pretty rate, you pay the spread yourself. Quote the pretty rate only as a courtesy, and only if the payable figure is the original currency.
If you truly need a locked rate, agree it in writing before the work, name the amount in the currency you will receive, and be ready to honour it if the market moves in their favour too. A lock that only works when it helps you is not a term. It is a surprise. Most freelancers do not need a lock. They need one payable currency and a fee that can stand a small swing.
Who pays the transfer fees, in one sentence
International transfers leak. The sender's bank charges. Sometimes a middle bank charges. Sometimes your bank charges to receive. If nobody claims those fees, they come out of the amount that lands, and you are short. The short payment then looks like they underpaid, and they will say the bank took it. Both can be true.
Put one sentence under the total. 'The payer bears all bank charges so that the full amount due is credited to my account.' That is the plain version of asking for the transfer to be sent with fees paid by them. Shared fees are a common default. Shared means you receive less than the invoice. If you can live with a small leak, say that too, but name a tolerance. 'Up to the cost of one receiving fee' is clearer than silence.
Check the credit, not the notification that a payment was sent. Sent is not received. If the amount is short, reply with the invoice total and the amount that arrived, and ask them to cover the difference. Do it while the transfer is still easy to trace. A month later nobody at their bank will open the file.
What to put on the invoice for a client abroad
Start with the ordinary fields. Who you are, who they are, a unique number, the date, what the work was, and the total. How to write an invoice covers that list. How to number invoices still applies. A foreign client does not get a separate number sequence unless they are a separate company of yours.
- Currency code on every amount, not only on the total. EUR 2,400.00, not 2,400.00 with the currency in a footnote.
- One line that says amount due, in that currency, and nothing else competing with it.
- Bank details that match the currency: the account name, IBAN, BIC, and the bank, if that is how you are paid.
- The fee sentence: payer bears all charges, full amount to be received.
- The due date as a calendar day, not only the words net 30. Cross border approval is slow enough without a vague term.
If your account cannot hold their currency, your bank will convert on arrival. Say that you still need them to send the invoiced currency, and that conversion into your account is your bank's step. Do not give them your local account details and also ask for a currency that account cannot receive. The payment will bounce, or it will convert twice.
Tax is the part I will not invent for you. A client in another country can change whether you charge VAT, and which country's rules apply. Put the tax line your accountant has already told you to use. If you do not have that answer and the invoice is large, ask before you send a zero tax bill out of optimism. The currency decision and the tax decision are both on the PDF. They are not the same decision.
What to do this week
- Pick the payable currency for the next foreign client before you quote, and put a buffer in the fee if it is not yours.
- Add the fee sentence to your invoice template so the full amount has to arrive.
- On the invoice you are about to send, delete any second total that could be read as an alternative price.
Polite is a clear currency. Polite is not a short payment you only notice when you do the books.
Frequently asked questions
Invoice in one currency, say which currency is payable, and put bank details that can receive it. Include your legal name, their legal name, the invoice number, the date, and the amount due in that currency on every money line. Add a sentence on who pays the transfer fees. The rest of the invoice is the same bill you would send at home.
Invoice in your own currency when you can, so the amount you are owed does not move. If you must bill in theirs, price a buffer into the fee or accept that the rate on the day the money arrives will differ from the rate you glanced at when you sent the invoice. Do not promise two amounts and let them pay the cheaper one.
Show one amount due, in the currency they must pay. If you mention another currency, label it as information only and say it is not the amount payable. A rate you type on the invoice date is a snapshot. The bank converts on the day the transfer lands, at its own rate, unless your contract locks a rate and you are willing to honour it.
Yes. Many freelancers should. You know what you will receive, and they carry the conversion. Some companies can only pay their own currency from their system. If they refuse, decide whether you will bill in theirs and accept the movement, or whether you will not take the job. Do not leave the currency blank and hope.
Yes, if you want the invoiced amount to arrive in full. Say so on the invoice: the payer bears all bank charges, and the amount credited must equal the amount due. Shared fees are the default on a lot of transfers, which means you receive less than you billed. If you do not write the sentence, you will discover the default when the money is short.
Use your currency when the priority is knowing what you earn. Use theirs when they cannot pay any other way and you have priced the risk. Use a third currency, such as dollars or euros, only when you both already work in it and your account can hold it. One invoice, one payable currency. A menu of currencies is how the cheaper option wins.
Your details, their details, a unique invoice number, the date, a description, and the amount due with a currency code on each line. Add the bank account that should receive that currency, including the IBAN and BIC if you use them, and the sentence about fees. Payment terms and a due date still belong there. Tax fields follow the rules of your country and the client's, which is a question for your accountant when the amounts are large.
The rate that hits your account is almost always the rate on the day the bank converts the money, not the rate on the day you wrote the invoice. The invoice date rate is only binding if you agreed a locked rate or you billed a fixed amount in the currency you actually receive. Assume the payment date until a contract says otherwise.
Keep reading
- Read how to write an invoice before you add a second currency to it.
- See how to number invoices so a foreign bill still belongs in one sequence.
- Compare net 30 vs net 14, because a cross border transfer that waits is a longer wait.