International invoice payment: currency, IBAN and SWIFT

What an invoice paid from abroad must show: the currency code, IBAN and BIC (SWIFT), transfer charges, due date, reference and tax wording, with an example.

Written by the QuoteBill team · Last updated · Sources checked

General information, not legal or tax advice.

At a glance

About 6 min read

The short answer: what an invoice paid from abroad needs

An invoice for a customer in another country has to tell their accounts team, and their bank, exactly what to pay, in which currency, into which account, by when and with which reference. One missing or wrong bank detail is enough to hold a payment from abroad up, so agree the currency and the payment route before you deliver the work, then put them on the invoice:

  • The amount with its currency code, such as USD 3,000.00 or EUR 2,000.00, not a bare symbol.
  • The account holder’s name as the bank holds it, the IBAN or account number, and the bank’s BIC (SWIFT code).
  • The due date as a calendar date, and the invoice number as the payment reference.
  • Who pays the transfer charges, when the agreement says so.
  • Any tax wording your tax position needs, such as a reverse-charge note on an EU business sale.

Bank details: IBAN, BIC and SWIFT

An IBAN identifies one payment account; a BIC identifies the bank, and is what many banks call the SWIFT code. The EU’s SEPA regulation, Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, defines both, and for euro credit transfers within the EU it says payment providers shall not require the payer to give the BIC, so there the IBAN is the detail that matters. Payments from outside that system, or in other currencies, usually travel with the BIC as well, so print both.

Copy the IBAN, the BIC and the account holder’s name from your bank’s own statement or online banking, not from an old invoice. Not every country uses IBANs: where your account has none, give the account number and the bank code your bank names for incoming international payments. Confirm that the account accepts the invoice currency, and treat any message that changes bank details as suspect until it is confirmed through a channel you already know.

One currency, written as a code

Use one invoice currency and write it as a code. A dollar sign alone is ambiguous: USD, CAD and AUD all use it. If the parties agree that the customer may pay in another currency, write down the rate source, the date used to pick the rate, who does the calculation and whether fees are separate. Avoid two unlabeled totals that look like amounts the customer can choose between.

Suppose a service is agreed at EUR 2,000, with payment in EUR. A hypothetical planning rate of 1 EUR = 1.08 USD gives a reference value of USD 2,160: 2,000 x 1.08 = 2,160. That example rate is not current market data and does not change the customer's agreed EUR 2,000 obligation.

Transfer charges and short payments

An international transfer can lose part of the amount to the sending bank, an intermediary bank or the receiving bank. Many banks let the payer choose who carries the charges, often under the codes OUR (the payer pays them all), SHA (each side pays its own bank) or BEN (the charges come out of the amount sent). Agree the arrangement in the contract and repeat it on the invoice, for example “All transfer charges are paid by the sender (OUR)”.

Within the EU, the European Commission’s Your Europe service explains that a bank must charge the same for a euro payment to another EU country as for an equivalent payment at home. When money arrives, compare the credited amount with the invoice: if EUR 1,985 arrives against EUR 2,000 and the agreement says the customer pays every charge, EUR 15 is still owed. QuoteBill's document status is not a bank reconciliation.

Treat the tax wording as a separate review

A foreign customer does not by itself decide the tax treatment. The kind of supply, the parties, their registration and the place of supply all matter. The European Commission describes EU-wide VAT invoicing rules beside national ones, and the EU VAT guide on this site explains the reverse charge; a general checklist is not a ruling on your transaction.

For a specific UK example, HMRC says that when UK VAT is due on a foreign-currency invoice, the net value and VAT at each rate must also be shown in sterling. That is a UK requirement, not a rule for every country. Check the current HMRC guidance and your adviser before relying on a conversion for VAT reporting.

Worked example: a logo billed in US dollars

A studio in Lisbon designs a logo for a client in Toronto, agreed at USD 3,000, payable in USD within 14 days, with all transfer charges paid by the client. Invoice INV-2026-0050 is issued on 2026-10-05. The names and figures are illustrative.

Line
Logo design, USD 3,000.00.
Payment
pay USD 3,000.00 by 2026-10-19 to the account holder, IBAN and BIC printed below, reference INV-2026-0050.
Charges
all transfer charges are paid by the sender (OUR).
Tax
the wording the studio’s accountant confirms for a service sold to a business outside the EU.

Doing it in QuoteBill

In the editor, "Country / currency" sets the tax starting point and, unless you choose otherwise, the currency. The "Currency" field beside it lets you write the amounts in another currency, such as a Korean business billing a client in USD, while the country's tax rules stay; a currency you pick is printed as its code, such as "USD 5,120.00". "Document language" is a separate choice for document labels. Changing the country does not convert existing numeric unit prices using an exchange rate, and neither does changing the currency. Changing the country also resets the tax override and region, so review tax again after a country change.

Put the bank details, the charges arrangement and the reference in "Terms" or "Notes"; there is no separate bank-details field. "Convert the total" shows the total in another currency at the European Central Bank reference rate of its date, or at a rate you type, and can add that as one line in the notes, marked as being for information only. QuoteBill does not convert the document’s prices or total, and has no dual-currency tax breakdown: if your transaction needs one, use an accounting or invoicing system that produces it.

  • Agree the invoice currency, settlement currency, and any conversion rule in writing.
  • Copy the IBAN, BIC and account name from your bank, and check the payment reference.
  • Review numeric prices and tax after changing country; changing a code is not a conversion.
  • Confirm the tax wording and any local-currency figures, then open and inspect the final PDF.

Sample contracts, forms and tools

Sources

536 Free Invoice, Quote & Receipt Templates

  • Blank invoice template

    Blank invoice template with one line for your own item or service: add quantity, price and more lines as needed. Fill it in online or download Excel or Word.

  • Consultant invoice template

    Create a consulting invoice for hourly or project work, research and report delivery. Add payment terms, review the total, then save a PDF or download Word.

  • Sales invoice template

    Invoice template for shops and online sellers: products sold, product shipping and gift wrapping. Fill it in online, download Excel or Word, or print to PDF.

  • Commercial invoice template

    Commercial invoice template for export: HS codes, country of origin, Incoterms, ports, weights and packages, with a declaration. Check your customs rules.

  • Sample shipment commercial invoice template

    No commercial value invoice template for samples: swatches, prototypes and catalogs with a realistic customs value, HS codes, origin and the reason for export.