Invoice generator › Currencies

Invoicing in a different currency

You will need an exchange rate twice, and the two will differ. That difference is a real number in your accounts, and there is a right way to handle it.

The two rates

Invoice a US client USD 5,000 and you touch an exchange rate at two moments:

1. When you issue the invoice. Your accounts are kept in one currency, so the receivable has to be recorded in it.
2. When the money arrives. The rate has moved, so what you actually received is not what you booked.

The gap is an exchange gain or loss. It is normal, it is expected, and in most jurisdictions it goes to a dedicated line in your accounts rather than being buried in revenue.

Which rate to use for the invoice

Most tax authorities accept one of:

• The rate published by your central bank on the invoice date — the most defensible, because it is public and you did not choose it
• The rate your bank or payment provider actually applied — the most accurate reflection of what happened
• A monthly average rate, where the authority permits it — simplest if you invoice in foreign currency constantly

Pick one and never mix them. Inconsistency is what draws questions, not the method itself. Write the choice down somewhere so that in eighteen months you still know what you did.

What to print on the invoice

Keep the invoice in the currency the client pays in. Adding a converted total in your own currency is optional, and sometimes counterproductive: the client may query the figure or, worse, pay it. If you do include it, label it clearly as indicative:

Total due                       USD 5,000.00
(approx. EUR 4,620 at 1.0823 on 19 Aug 2026 —
 for reference only; payment due in USD)

Where local rules require a domestic-currency figure on the invoice — some countries do — your accountant will tell you and the rate to use is prescribed.

Where the money actually leaks

Three places, and the first is the one people never see:

The spread. High street banks typically add 2–4% to the interbank rate, and it is not itemised. On EUR 4,000 that is EUR 80–160 invisible in a single payment. Multi-currency accounts that convert at or near the mid-market rate with an explicit fee are where the saving is — and it is much larger than any transfer fee.

Transfer fees. SWIFT wires cost the sender USD 25–50, and intermediary banks deduct further amounts en route, which is why the received amount sometimes does not match the invoice.

Double conversion. If your client pays USD into an account that only holds EUR, you convert once. If money moves through a third currency, you convert twice and pay a spread each time.

Should you hold the foreign currency?

If you invoice USD regularly and also have USD costs, holding a USD balance and paying those costs from it avoids conversion altogether — the cheapest currency management there is. If you have no costs in that currency, holding it is a bet on the rate, which is not your business. Convert on receipt and get on with your work.

A small habit that saves an afternoon

When each payment lands, record three numbers next to the invoice: the amount received in the foreign currency, the amount credited in your own, and the effective rate. Doing it monthly takes a minute; reconstructing it in March from a year of bank statements takes an afternoon and produces worse numbers.

Frequently asked questions