Agency CRMHow to invoice a foreign client from India
Your first overseas client is exciting until the moment you have to send the invoice. Which currency? Do you add GST? What is a LUT? Here is what to put on the page and why.
1. Choose the currency
Bill in the currency you agreed, usually the client’s own: USD, GBP, EUR, AUD. It is easier for them to approve and pay, and it avoids arguments about exchange rates. Your bank or payment provider converts it to rupees when it arrives.
Write the amount in that currency only. You don’t need a rupee equivalent on the invoice itself, though your accountant will need the rupee value actually received for your books.
2. GST: it depends on whether you’re registered
Not GST-registered? Send a plain invoice. No GST, no LUT, nothing else to do on the tax side of the invoice.
GST-registered? A service for a client outside India, paid for in foreign currency, is an export of services. Exports are zero-rated, and you have two ways to handle that:
| With a LUT | Without a LUT | |
|---|---|---|
| GST on the invoice | None | IGST at the normal rate |
| What you do afterwards | Nothing more | Pay the IGST, then claim a refund |
| Good for | Almost everyone | Rarely worth it |
A Letter of Undertaking (LUT) is a declaration you file online on the GST portal. It is valid for one financial year, so renew it every April. Once it’s filed, you export without charging tax.
3. Put the right words on the invoice
A registered exporter’s invoice should say which route was used:
- With a LUT: “Supply meant for export of services under LUT without payment of integrated tax”, with your LUT reference number.
- Without one: “Supply meant for export of services on payment of integrated tax.”
The place of supply is shown as outside India.
4. What else the invoice needs
- Your name, address, and GSTIN if you have one.
- The client’s legal name and full address, including the country.
- An invoice number in your normal series. Exports don’t get a separate series.
- The date, a clear description of the work, and the amount.
- How to pay you: your bank details including the SWIFT code, or the link from your payment provider.
5. Getting paid
Common routes are a bank wire (SWIFT) to your Indian account, or a provider built for freelancers that gives you a local account in the client’s country. Compare the exchange rate and fees; on small invoices the difference adds up.
Whichever you use, keep the proof that foreign money arrived. Your bank or provider issues an inward remittance certificate or advice (often called a FIRC or FIRA). You need it to show the payment was an export, and your accountant will ask for it.
6. Meetings across time zones
The paperwork is half of it; the other half is being awake at the right time. India doesn’t change its clocks, but the US, UK and Europe do, so a “fixed” weekly call moves by an hour twice a year. Check the date in a time-zone converter and always write the time with both zones.
A quick checklist
- Agree the currency before you start.
- If registered, file your LUT for this financial year.
- Invoice in the agreed currency with the export wording.
- Send bank or payment details with the invoice.
- Save the remittance certificate when the money arrives.
You can make a correct export invoice in a minute with the free invoice generator: tick “The client is outside India”, choose the currency, and add your LUT number.
This is general guidance, not tax advice. Rules on exports, refunds and foreign exchange change, so confirm your own case with a chartered accountant.