You invoiced $4,000. Three weeks later, $3,712 showed up. Nobody stole anything. It went to a conversion spread, an intermediary bank fee, and a wire charge your client's bank quietly passed to you.
Invoicing international clients is not harder than domestic invoicing, but it has more places for money to leak out, and every one of them is preventable if you decide the terms before the work starts instead of discovering them on the bank statement.
Pick the currency before you pick the price
Someone has to carry the exchange rate risk. Decide who, in writing, in the proposal.
Bill in your currency. Your bookkeeping stays clean, your revenue is predictable, and the client absorbs the conversion. This is the right default for most freelancers, and most established clients accept it without comment.
Bill in the client's currency. Easier for their accounts team, which sometimes speeds up approval, but you now carry the swing between invoice date and payment date. On net 30 terms that swing can be a few percent in either direction.
Bill in a third currency, usually USD or EUR. Common when neither party's currency is widely traded.
Whichever you choose, write the currency code explicitly on the invoice. "$4,000" is ambiguous across the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and several others. "USD 4,000" is not. That one habit prevents more disputes than any other line on an international invoice.
If you are billing in their currency, quote the rate source and date you used. It turns a potential argument into a reference.
Understand who pays the transfer fees
International wires typically involve three parties who each take a cut: the sending bank, one or two intermediary banks, and the receiving bank. Unless you specify otherwise, the intermediary charges usually land on you.
Add a line to your payment terms along the lines of: all bank charges, including intermediary and correspondent bank fees, are the responsibility of the payer. It does not always survive a large company's standard process, but it works often enough to be worth including.
Better still, avoid the wire entirely. Services like Wise give you local receiving details in several currencies, so your client makes what feels like a domestic transfer and you skip the intermediary chain altogether. Card and payment link options work too, though the processing percentage on a five figure invoice will exceed a good transfer service.
Withholding tax is the one that surprises people
Some countries require the payer to withhold a percentage of a cross-border services payment and remit it to their own tax authority. You get the remainder. This is legal, it is not your client being difficult, and it can be 10% to 30% depending on the country pair.
Two things reduce the damage.
Tax treaties. Many countries have agreements that lower or eliminate withholding on services income. Claiming the treaty rate usually requires a form filed with the client before they pay, not after.
The right paperwork. If you are outside the US and billing a US client, they will typically ask for a Form W-8BEN (individuals) or W-8BEN-E (entities). Without it, the default withholding is 30%. With a valid treaty claim on it, that often drops substantially. The form generally stays valid for three calendar years.
If you are a US freelancer billing overseas, ask early whether the client's country withholds, and request the withholding certificate when they pay. That certificate is what lets you claim a foreign tax credit rather than eating the loss twice.
Raise this in the proposal stage. A payment arriving 20% short with no warning is a bad conversation to have after the fact.
What an international invoice needs that a domestic one does not
Beyond the standard invoice elements, add:
- Explicit currency code on every figure
- Your full legal name or entity name and registered address, matching your bank account exactly
- Complete banking details: IBAN or account number, SWIFT or BIC, bank name and address, and the account holder name as the bank has it
- A tax note, for example that the service is an export and no VAT is charged, or that reverse charge applies for an EU business client
- Your tax identification number, and theirs if their jurisdiction requires it on the invoice
- A PO number field, because larger overseas clients frequently will not process an invoice without one
- A fee clause stating who covers bank charges
A mismatch between the name on your invoice and the name on your bank account is the most common cause of a rejected international transfer. Check that they match character for character.
Set terms that account for distance
International payments take longer for reasons that have nothing to do with willingness to pay. Approval chains are longer, payment runs are batched, and the transfer itself can take several days.
Build that in. Net 14 with a domestic client might reasonably become net 21 or net 30 abroad, but only if you also set a clear late fee and actually apply it. Extending terms without consequences is not generosity, it is an interest-free loan. Our guide on charging late fees on freelance invoices covers how to make one stick.
Deposits matter more here too. Cross-border collection is impractical for most freelancers, so a deposit invoice covering 30% to 50% up front is your real protection. If a client will not pay a deposit across a border, you have learned something useful cheaply.
Keep the paper trail
For every international invoice, hold the invoice, the payment confirmation, any withholding tax certificate, and a record of the exchange rate you used and when. These records support your tax filing, and they resolve the "we paid that" conversation in one email instead of five.
Frequently Asked Questions
What currency should I invoice international clients in?
Usually your own, so your revenue is predictable and the client absorbs the conversion. Whatever you choose, agree it in the proposal and write the currency code explicitly on the invoice.
Do I charge VAT or sales tax to an overseas client?
Usually not for exported services, but it depends on both jurisdictions. EU business-to-business sales often use a zero-rated invoice with reverse charge. Confirm with an accountant in your own country, because the obligation sits with you.
What is a W-8BEN and do I need one?
It is the IRS form non-US individuals give to US clients to certify foreign status and claim tax treaty benefits. Without it, US payers generally withhold 30%. It is typically valid for three calendar years.
Why did my client pay less than the invoice total?
Most often intermediary bank fees or withholding tax. Ask for the remittance advice and, if tax was withheld, the withholding certificate so you can claim the credit.
What is the cheapest way to get paid from abroad?
For larger amounts, a multi-currency account with local receiving details usually beats a traditional wire and beats card processing on percentage. For smaller invoices, a payment link is often simpler and the fee difference is minor.
How long should I give international clients to pay?
Net 21 to net 30 is realistic once approval chains and transfer time are accounted for. Pair the longer window with a stated late fee and automated reminders.
Bill across borders. Stop chasing across time zones.
The fixes here are all decisions made before the work starts: currency in writing, fees assigned, withholding raised early, deposit taken. After that, the only remaining job is following up, and that should not be yours.
Try Nvoyce free for 7 days. No credit card required. Send the proposal, and when it is accepted the invoice, the payment link, and the reminders run without you.