How to Invoice International Clients (Currency, Tax and Getting Paid)

A designer in Dublin lands an agency client in Berlin. A developer in Toronto starts work for a startup in Austin. The work is the same as for a local client, but the invoice raises three new questions: which currency, what tax, and how the money actually reaches you.

Settle all three before you start, in writing, and the invoice itself is simple. This guide covers each one, with a sample invoice at the end.

What changes when you invoice a client abroad?#

Most of the invoice stays the same: your details, the client's details, an invoice number, dates, line items, a total and how to pay. The freelancer's guide to invoicing covers the basics, and what to include on an invoice has the full checklist. For a client abroad, add or tighten these:

• Full addresses with the country, for both of you.
• The currency as an ISO code: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD.
• Tax numbers: your VAT or tax number if you are registered, and the client's VAT number where they account for the VAT.
• Tax wording, such as "reverse charge", when it applies.
• Bank details in international format: IBAN and SWIFT/BIC, or whatever your agreed payment method needs.
• Dates written out in full. 04/11/2026 is 4 November in the UK and April 11 in the US, so write "4 November 2026".

Which currency should you invoice in?#

There are three choices, and the main difference is who carries the exchange-rate risk: the chance that the rate moves between the invoice date and the day the money arrives.

A worked example shows why it matters. Say you are in the US and invoice a German client €5,000 when €1 buys $1.10, so the invoice is worth $5,500 to you. If the euro slips to $1.05 by the time they pay 30 days later, you receive $5,250 before any fees. If it rises to $1.15, you receive $5,750. On one large invoice, that swing is real money.

If you agree to bill in the client's currency, you have a few ways to soften the risk:

• Price in a small buffer when you set the rate.
• Use short terms, so there is less time for the rate to move. Net 30 payment terms compares the options.
• Hold the currency in a multi-currency account, such as one from Wise, and convert when it suits you.

Whatever you choose, put the currency in the contract next to the rate: "$600 per day, invoiced and paid in USD."

How should the currency appear on the invoice?#

Make it impossible to misread. The "$" sign alone could mean US, Canadian or Australian dollars, so write the code on every amount, or at least on the total: "USD 4,200" or "4,200 USD". Add a line such as "All amounts in USD" near the payment details.

Keep one currency per invoice. If a client wants a rough figure in their own currency for budgeting, give it in your email, not on the invoice, so there is only one amount to pay.

Number formats differ too: 1,250.00 in the US and UK is often written 1.250,00 in Germany. Pick one style, use it consistently, and let the currency code remove any doubt.

How do you record foreign currency payments?#

Your own tax return is in your home currency, so every foreign invoice needs a home-currency figure in your records. For each one, note:

1. The invoice amount and currency.
2. The date the money arrived.
3. The amount that reached your account in your currency, from your bank statement.
4. Any fees deducted along the way.

In the US, the IRS says you must report amounts in US dollars, using the exchange rate prevailing when you receive, pay or accrue the item. Other countries have their own rules, so check with your tax office or an accountant. Either way, the bank statement showing the converted amount is your best evidence.

How can international clients pay you?#

For euro payments, SEPA is usually the simplest route. It covers the whole EU plus other countries such as the UK and Switzerland, and within the EU, a regulation requires banks to charge the same for a cross-border euro transfer as for a domestic one.

For SWIFT wires, agree who pays the charges. When the client sends the payment, they choose whether they pay all the fees ("OUR"), share them ("SHA"), or pass them to you ("BEN"). If you agreed they cover fees, say so on the invoice.

What bank details should you put on the invoice?

Give everything a bank abroad might ask for, even if one client only needs part of it:

Payment details (all amounts in EUR)
Account name:  Aoife Byrne
IBAN:          IE00 XXXX 0000 0000 0000 00
SWIFT/BIC:     XXXXIE2D
Bank:          Example Bank, 1 Example Road, Dublin
Reference:     Please quote the invoice number
Bank charges are paid by the sender (OUR).

Do you charge VAT or sales tax to a client abroad?#

It depends on where you and the client are, whether the client is a business, and what you supply. These are the general rules for services, and there are exceptions, so check your local rules or ask an accountant before your first invoice.

• EU freelancer, business client in another EU country. Your Europe says you don't usually charge VAT; the customer pays VAT in their own country using the reverse charge procedure. The European Commission's invoicing rules say that when the customer is liable for the VAT, the invoice must include the words "reverse charge" and the customer's VAT identification number.
• EU freelancer, consumer in another EU country. You usually charge VAT at your own country's rate, though telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services are taxed in the customer's country.
• EU freelancer, client outside the EU. You usually do not charge VAT, although if the service is used in another EU country, that country can decide to charge it.
• UK freelancer, business client abroad. HMRC's general rule for business-to-business services is that the supply is made where the customer belongs. If that is outside the UK, no UK VAT is charged, but you should keep commercial evidence that the customer is in business and belongs outside the UK, and consider the tax rules of the customer's country.
• US freelancers. There is no VAT to add. Whether a state sales tax applies to your service depends on your state, so check its rules.

One more form you may meet: if you are outside the US and a US client asks for Form W-8BEN, it is the IRS form that certifies your foreign status, and the IRS says to give it to the payer when they request it.

How do time zones and bank holidays affect due dates?#

An international transfer can take several working days, and bank holidays differ by country, so a payment sent on the due date may arrive after it. Allow for that when you set the due date, and do not chase a payment the day after it was due until you have checked with the client that it was sent.

Write the due date as a date, not "in 14 days". Send invoices early in the client's working day, so they arrive at the top of the inbox rather than overnight. For the email that goes with the invoice, see how to send an invoice.

Sample invoice for a client in another EU country#

An Irish freelancer, VAT registered, billing a German agency in euros. Both are businesses in the EU, so the agency accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge:

INVOICE                               INV-202610-007
Invoice date: 30 October 2026
Due date:     13 November 2026 (net 14)

From: Aoife Byrne Design
      12 Example Street, Dublin D02 XY00, Ireland
      VAT no: IE0000000XX
To:   Beispiel Studio GmbH
      Beispielstrasse 1, 10115 Berlin, Germany
      VAT no: DE000000000

Description                  Days   Rate       Amount
Brand identity design           8   EUR 650    EUR 5,200
  Worked 5-9, 19, 20, 26 Oct
Logo files and guidelines                      EUR 800
                             Subtotal          EUR 6,000
                             VAT               EUR 0
                             TOTAL DUE         EUR 6,000

Reverse charge: VAT to be accounted for by the customer.

All amounts in EUR. Pay by SEPA transfer to
Aoife Byrne, IBAN IE00 XXXX 0000 0000 0000 00,
BIC XXXXIE2D. Reference: INV-202610-007

Invoicing clients abroad with BillBee.work#

BillBee.work, a free invoice maker for freelancers, handles the currency side per client:

• A currency for each client. Each client (an "organisation") has its own currency, chosen from eight: USD, EUR, GBP, INR, CAD, AUD, JPY and CHF, with a default in your settings. Every invoice for that client uses it.
• Payment details on every invoice. A free-text Payment Details field in your profile holds your IBAN and SWIFT/BIC, a PayPal address, or Wise details. If different clients pay different ways, label each method, for example "EUR payments: IBAN..." and "GBP payments: sort code...".
• Tax per client. Each client can have one named tax, such as VAT, with a percentage, switched on per invoice. For a client who accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge, leave it off.
• A link that works anywhere. Clients open the invoice from a share link in their browser, without an account. On Pro, they can download a PDF from it.

Be clear about the limits. There is no currency conversion, no second-currency display, and one currency per invoice, so record the amount you actually received yourself. There is no reverse-charge feature either. As a workaround, you can add reverse-charge wording to Payment Details, but that field prints on every invoice, so word it to apply only where it should, for example "For EU business customers: reverse charge, VAT to be accounted for by the customer", and check with an accountant that it meets your country's rules.

Create invoices that get you paid faster.

Day rates, hourly or fixed prices, a work log your client can check, and five clean templates. Free to start, no credit card.

Create your first invoice