Working for foreign brands is the best-paid part of the job. It is also the part where the gap between the invoiced amount and the amount received surprises people most.
The rate is applied somewhere
That is the point creators discover at the first transfer.
A payment in a foreign currency is converted at a precise moment, by a precise party: your bank, the payment platform, or an intermediary.
Each applies its own rate, and that rate is almost never the one shown in a search engine. The difference, added to the fixed fees, often represents several points of the amount.
Two practical consequences. Compare what you actually receive, not what you are told. And test the channel on a small sum before committing to an important job.
State the currency, every time
That is the line that avoids half the disputes.
An amount written without a currency is read in the reader's own. A foreign client seeing a figure assumes it is in dollars; you were thinking in pesos, or the reverse.
So systematically write, in the quote and in the invoice, the invoicing currency, the receiving currency when it differs, and who bears the transfer fees.
Those three elements hold in one line and remove every end-of-job discussion.
Invoicing an export of services
That is the administrative part, and it differs from a local service.
A service supplied to a company established abroad does not follow the same tax treatment as a domestic one, and the mentions on the document change.
Three elements to obtain before issuing: the client's country of establishment, their tax identification where it exists, and the exact use of the service.
The applicable rules depend on your regime, on the nature of the service and on the client, and are checked with the administration or with an accountant, never on a colleague's example.
What to settle before starting
Five points, written into the quote.
The amount and the currency.
The payment channel, named precisely.
The deposit, with its date.
The settlement time for the balance, in working days from receipt of the invoice.
And the consequence of a delay, which is never discussed as well as before the job.
Keep a domestic flow anyway
That is the advice nobody gives, and it is about stability.
A portfolio made up only of foreign clients depends on one currency, one payment channel and sometimes one sector.
Two or three local clients, even less lucrative ones, bring three things: fast payments, simple invoicing, and a regularity that absorbs the quiet months.
It is also what allows you to turn down a poorly framed foreign job without endangering the quarter.
What is decided before accepting an order in foreign currency
| Point | To fix in writing | Effect if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| The invoicing currency | One only, written in the quote | An exchange loss |
| The rate used | The reference date | A dispute over the amount |
| Bank fees | Who bears them | A smaller amount received |
What to compare between two collection routes
The total cost, not the advertised rate. A transfer with fixed fees is expensive on a small sum, a percentage platform is expensive on a large one.
What to ask a professional
Which conversion to use, the accounting treatment and the reporting obligations on foreign-currency income, to be confirmed with an accountant.
The tracking that makes it all visible
One table, six columns, kept at every payment.
The invoice date, the amount invoiced, the currency, the rate applied, the amount received and the fees.
After six months, that table answers three questions on its own: which channel costs least, which client really pays on time, and what share of your turnover disappears before reaching the account.
Sources
Checked on 26 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
