How to Invoice International Clients and Get Paid with Payoneer or Wise

Agree three things before the first invoice

Most problems with international invoices come from things nobody agreed up front. Settle these in your contract or first email:

• The currency. Write it as a code (USD, EUR, GBP, AED) so there is no confusion between, say, US and Canadian dollars.
• Who pays the transfer fees. International payments can lose money on the way. Agree that the client covers their side and you cover yours, or build the cost into your rate.
• How the client will pay. Bank transfer, card, or a payment link. Ask what their accounts team can actually use, because many companies can only pay by bank transfer to a named account.

Agree the payment terms too, and write them as a due date on every invoice. The guide to invoice payment terms explains Net 15, Net 30 and the rest.

What an international invoice needs

An international invoice has everything a normal one has (see how to write a freelance invoice), plus a few things that matter more across borders:

• Full legal names and addresses for both of you, including the country.
• The currency code next to every total.
• Your tax or business registration number, if you have one, and the client's if their accounts team asks for it.
• The right tax wording. Business-to-business services across borders are often outside your local sales tax, or fall under a reverse charge (common within the EU), which needs a line of wording on the invoice. The rules depend on both countries, so ask an accountant once and reuse the wording.
• Complete payment details, so the client can pay without writing back to ask. More on this below.

Write it in English unless the client asks for another language, and send it as a PDF.

Which currency should you invoice in?

The client's currency is easiest for them to approve and pay, which usually means faster payment. You take the exchange-rate risk: if the rate moves before they pay, you receive a little more or less in your own money.

Your own currency moves that risk to the client, but some accounts teams cannot pay foreign-currency invoices without extra approval, which can slow things down.

USD or EUR is a common middle ground when neither of you uses one of them, because most banks and payment services handle them well.

Whichever you pick, keep it the same for that client so your records stay simple, and never add up totals in two currencies without converting first.

Getting paid with Payoneer

Payoneer is built for receiving business payments from abroad. On its own pages it offers freelancers three main ways to get paid by clients:

• Receiving account details: local bank details in a number of currencies, so a client can pay you with an ordinary local bank transfer, plus account details for international (SWIFT) transfers.
• Payment requests: you send the client a request for a set amount and they pay it online. Payoneer says the client does not need a Payoneer account to pay.
• Payment links you can share by email or message.

Fees depend on how the client pays. Payoneer lists card payments as costing more than bank transfers, so if you use payment requests it is worth telling clients that bank transfer is preferred. Check Payoneer's current pricing for your country before you quote a client anything, because it changes.

Getting paid with Wise

Wise is known for converting money at the mid-market exchange rate, and it can also be used to receive money:

• Account details in several currencies, so clients in those countries can pay you by local transfer, plus details for international (SWIFT) payments.
• Payment links that clients can use to pay you.
• Your Wisetag or email, if the client also uses Wise.

What you can do depends on where you live and which kind of account or plan you have. Some features are only for business accounts, and not every service is offered in every country, so check Wise's own pricing and availability pages before you add it to your invoices.

Payoneer or Wise: how to choose

Neither is right for everyone. Compare them on the things that actually affect what you take home:

• Availability where you live. Check that the service supports receiving money in your country before anything else.
• What your client can pay with. A client who can only send a bank transfer needs account details; one who wants to pay by card needs a payment request or link.
• The full cost of one typical invoice: the fee to receive, the fee to convert to your currency, and the fee to withdraw to your local bank. Add all three for the amount you usually bill.
• How fast you can get the money out to your local bank account.

Many freelancers keep both and give each client the option that suits them. Invoices Tracker is not affiliated with Payoneer or Wise; they are named here because they are payment methods freelancers ask us about.

Put the payment details on the invoice

The invoice should say exactly how to pay, in the order you prefer. For example:

• Bank transfer (USD): account holder name, bank name, account number and routing details from your receiving account
• International transfer (SWIFT): account holder name, IBAN or account number, SWIFT/BIC code, bank address
• Pay online: your payment request or payment link
• Reference: the invoice number

Copy the details from the service exactly. One wrong digit or a missing SWIFT code is the most common reason an international payment bounces.

In Invoices Tracker, add these to Payment Instructions in Settings. Your client sees them on the page for each unpaid invoice, links become clickable, and the client can mark the invoice as paid once they have sent the money. Invoices Tracker does not process payments itself, so the money goes straight to the account you listed.

Records and tax

For each international invoice, record the amount you billed in the invoice currency, the amount that actually arrived in your own currency, the date, and any fees taken along the way. Your tax return usually needs the amount in your own currency, and fees may be a deductible business cost. Rules differ by country, so check with a local accountant. The freelancer tax deductions guide covers the common costs.

A free template to start with

The free invoice generator makes a PDF invoice in any of the currencies we support, with no signup. If you bill the same clients every month, Invoices Tracker adds per-line VAT/GST with EU reverse-charge wording, automatic reminders, and the payment instructions page described above, all free. To keep tabs on what has been paid across currencies, the invoice tracker template works with one tab per currency.