How to invoice international clients

The short answer

Agree the currency in the quote before any work starts. Put both your details and the client's full legal details on the invoice, including tax numbers where they exist. Work out whether you charge your own VAT or the client accounts for it under the reverse charge, and say which on the invoice. Give bank details that work for international transfers, and state who pays the transfer fees.

Choosing the currency

You have three options: your currency, the client's currency, or a third one that both sides use, usually US dollars or euros.

Billing in the client's currency is often the price of getting the job. Large companies may not be able to pay in anything else without a special approval. If you agree to it, build a small margin into the rate for currency movement and conversion costs, and don't quote in a currency you have no way of receiving cheaply.

Whatever you agree, write it into the quote and the contract: "All prices in EUR". An invoice in a currency nobody agreed to is a reason for the client to send it back.

What the invoice needs to show

The basics are the same as any invoice: see my list of what to put on an invoice. For a client abroad, add or double-check these:

• The client's full legal name and registered address, not the brand name. Their accounts team pays the legal entity.
• The client's VAT or tax number if they have one. In the EU this matters for the reverse charge.
• Your own tax number, if you are registered.
• The currency, written as a code next to the total: EUR 4,200.00 is clearer than a bare symbol, since several countries use $.
• The tax line, or a note explaining why there is no tax.
• Payment details that work across borders: IBAN and BIC/SWIFT, or the details of a multi-currency account in the client's country.
• Your invoice number as the payment reference. A good invoice numbering format keeps it short enough to fit.

Write the invoice in a language both sides read. English is fine for most international work. Some countries expect invoices in their own language for local tax purposes, so if the client asks for a translation, ask their accounts team what exactly they need.

VAT and the reverse charge

This is the part that worries people, and the general rule is simpler than it looks. For most services supplied to a business customer, the place of supply is where the customer is based. So you usually don't add your own VAT; the client deals with it in their country.

• United Kingdom. HMRC's VAT Notice 741A sets out the general rule for business customers: the service is supplied where the customer belongs. If that is outside the UK, the supply is outside the scope of UK VAT, and you invoice without UK VAT.
• European Union. When you supply a business in another EU country and the reverse charge applies, you invoice without VAT and the customer accounts for it. The VAT Directive (Article 226) requires the invoice to carry the words "Reverse charge", and you will need the customer's VAT number. Check it in the EU's VIES service before you invoice.
• Outside the EU and UK. If you are in the US, Canada or Australia and bill a business abroad, your own country's rules decide whether you charge anything. In the US, most freelance services carry no federal tax on the invoice. Check with your tax office or accountant.

The general rule has exceptions. Services related to land and buildings, event admission and some services to private individuals (rather than businesses) follow different rules. If your client is a person and not a company, look up the rules before you invoice, because the reverse charge usually does not apply to consumers.

A typical note at the bottom of an EU cross-border invoice:

Reverse charge: VAT to be accounted for by the recipient.
Customer VAT number: DE123456789

Invoices in a foreign currency with VAT on them

If you do charge VAT on an invoice in a foreign currency, the tax amount usually has to be shown in your national currency too:

• In the UK, HMRC's guidance on VAT invoices (Notice 700/21) allows the invoice in any currency but asks for the total VAT in sterling.
• In the EU, Article 230 of the VAT Directive lets the invoice be in any currency, as long as the VAT is also stated in the national currency of the member state.

You also need an exchange rate for that conversion. HMRC accepts the UK market selling rate at the time of supply or its own published period rates. EU countries generally accept the latest rate from the European Central Bank or a published selling rate. Pick one method, note the rate and its date on the invoice, and use the same method every time.

Exchange rates and your own records

Even without VAT, you need a value in your own currency for your bookkeeping and tax return. The amount that lands in your account after conversion will rarely match the invoice exactly. Your accountant will want to see both: the invoice value at the rate on the invoice date, and what you actually received. The difference is a currency gain or loss, not a mistake.

Getting paid and bank fees

International transfers lose money on the way: the sending bank's fee, intermediary bank fees, the receiving bank's fee and the conversion spread. On a SWIFT transfer the sender picks who pays with a charge code:

• OUR: the sender pays all fees, and you get the full amount.
• SHA: fees are shared. The sender pays their bank, you pay yours and often any intermediary.
• BEN: you pay everything.

Most companies default to SHA, which is how a 3,000 invoice arrives as 2,962. Write the rule on the invoice: "Bank charges are at the sender's cost. Please send with charge option OUR." Not every client will follow it, but it gives you something to point to.

Things that help more than arguing about fees:

• A multi-currency account with local details in the client's country, so the client sends a domestic transfer.
• Inside the SEPA zone, euro transfers between EU banks generally cost the same as domestic ones, so ask EU clients to pay in euros by SEPA transfer.
• Card or online payment links, if you accept the processor's fee as a cost of business.
• Crypto, for the few clients who prefer it. The crypto invoice generator puts the coin, network and wallet address on the PDF.

Tax forms from US clients

US companies often ask for a tax form before the first payment. A US freelancer gives a W-9. A freelancer outside the US is usually asked for a W-8BEN, which confirms you are not a US person. The IRS has instructions for both on irs.gov. Fill it in once and keep a copy; most clients ask again every few years.

US clients file Form 1099-NEC for US contractors they pay $2,000 or more in a year, for payments made from 2026 ($600 before that). That changes their paperwork, not whether your income is taxable.

Payment terms across borders

International payments take longer. A SWIFT transfer can take a few working days, and a client's payment run may only happen once a month. Give terms that allow for both, usually 14 to 30 days, and write the actual due date. My guide on invoice payment terms covers the options. If a payment is late, the payment reminder email works in any currency.

To put the currency, the reverse charge note and your bank details on one page, use the free invoice generator. It handles any currency and any tax rate, including zero with a note.

Questions