Billing a client abroad

A client outside India changes four things: the currency, the GST question, how they pay you, and the paperwork when the money lands. All of it is on the dashboard, and all of it is free on every plan.

On WhatsApp too. The in-chat form has a Currency field: pick a client and it switches to theirs, or pick one yourself, and a saved service fills your price in that currency, or its rupee price converted at today's rate for you to edit. On Pro, a typed invoice or quote, or a voice note for an invoice, takes the currency in the message, like "bill Acme $500 for the logo" or "500 euros", or the client's when you leave it out.

Give the client a country

Open the client, or add one, and pick their country. That is what Riffit goes by. A client counts as abroad when their country is set and is not India.

Picking a country suggests its currency: dollars for the US, pounds for the UK, euros for the countries that use them, and so on. If you already picked a currency, it stays. You can change the currency on any invoice or quote, and eight common ones are pinned at the top of the list.

The currency applies to everything on that document. Riffit never adds amounts across currencies, and it does not convert one for you. On the dashboard, rupees and the other currencies sit side by side.

One trap: the country, not the currency, decides whether work is an export. A dollar invoice to the Indian arm of a US company is not an export. Set that client's country to India. If you are unsure about a client, ask your CA.

GST on an invoice to a client abroad

If you are not GST registered, there is no GST on the invoice and nothing to answer.

If you are registered, the invoice asks GST on this invoice and gives you two choices:

• No GST, I have a LUT. A LUT is a Letter of Undertaking, a form you file once a financial year on the GST portal so you can export without paying IGST.
• Charge 18% IGST. You charge the tax and can usually claim it back as a refund. Your CA can confirm.

Both routes treat the work as an export. Which one suits you is a question for your CA. Nothing is picked for you unless you have saved a LUT for that financial year.

Under the LUT option you can tick Remember this for 2026-27, with your LUT number if you want it printed. Riffit saves it in Settings, and the next foreign invoice you build in that year says "Using your LUT for 2026-27" and picks it for you. A new financial year asks again. Saving a draft needs no choice, but sending does.

On WhatsApp, the invoice preview asks the same question with two buttons, No GST (LUT) and Charge 18% IGST, plus What's a LUT? for the short version. A LUT saved for the year is picked for you there too.

When a choice is made, the invoice prints:

• the export line the GST rules ask for, in their wording,
• the place of supply, "Outside India",
• the client's country,
• your LUT number, if you saved one.

The tax line is labelled IGST. A quote does not carry the export line, because a quote is not a tax invoice. It just labels any tax IGST.

Riffit prints these lines. It does not file your LUT or your GST returns, and it cannot tell you whether a particular piece of work counts as an export. Confirm with your CA.

Payment details for clients abroad

UPI only takes rupees, so an invoice in another currency prints your own details where the QR would be. They live in Settings → Payment details, and you pick one per client.

A SWIFT wire to your own bank. On the Bank account card, turn on Take payments from abroad (SWIFT) and add your bank's SWIFT code and address. The account holder, number and bank name come from the card itself, so they stay right if you change banks. Your SWIFT code is not your IFSC. Your bank lists it on its page for receiving money from abroad, and it can differ by branch, so ask your branch if you are unsure.

Anything else. Use Add a way to get paid for a US or UK bank transfer, an IBAN, a payment link or something else. Each type asks only for what a client needs: a routing number for a US transfer, a sort code for a UK one, an IBAN for Europe. Those numbers come with a foreign receiving account. If you don't have one, use the SWIFT wire.

Every foreign invoice asks your client to quote the invoice number as the payment reference, so you can tell which invoice the money is for when it lands. On a SWIFT wire you can also ask your client to cover the transfer fees. Banks on the way can take a fee out of a wire, so without it you get less than you billed. Any entry can carry a purpose code (next section).

Pick a default for each client. A new invoice to that client starts with it, and you can change it for one invoice. If you archive an entry, invoices you already sent keep showing it. Entries are stored encrypted, like your bank details.

The money goes straight from your client to you. Riffit never holds it, moves it, or takes a cut.

Purpose codes, in plain words

When a client's bank sends money to India, it asks what the payment is for and uses an RBI purpose code. That code ends up on your FIRA, and it is what marks the money as payment for services you exported.

You can add one to your payment details and it prints as "Purpose code: P0802" with RBI's description beside it. Riffit offers these, described in plain words:

• P0802, software
• P0803, data processing
• P1006, business and management consulting
• P1007, advertising and market research
• P1009, architecture, engineering and technical services
• P1101, audio-visual
• P1019, other services

Not sure? Leave it blank. It is optional, and your bank or CA can tell you which one fits your work.

When the money lands

Open the invoice and tap Mark As Paid, as you would for any other (Recording a payment). On an invoice in another currency the form has three extra, optional things:

• Rupees that reached your bank. This payment's amount in rupees, as your bank shows it.
• FIRA number.
• Attach the FIRA. A PDF or a photo, up to 4 MB.

If the client pays in parts, the rupees add up across payments.

A FIRA usually arrives a few days after the money, so you can come back to a paid or closed invoice later and add the rupees and the FIRA then. A paid foreign invoice with no FIRA shows FIRA missing. That is a nudge, and nothing is blocked. Your client never sees the rupees or the FIRA, and their receipt does not show them.

A FIRA is a Foreign Inward Remittance Advice: the note your bank or payment service issues when foreign money arrives. It lists the foreign amount, the rupees, who sent it and the purpose code, which a bank statement usually leaves out. Whether you need one depends on your situation, and your CA will tell you. Keeping one per payment is the safe habit.

What the dashboard counts

Collected counts the rupees you record for foreign invoices, this month and across the financial year. A foreign invoice you have not recorded rupees for stays out of that total and shows as its own line in its own currency, for example "+ $2,500". Invoiced, pending and overdue stay in rupees, with the foreign amounts beside them, because there is no rupee figure for money that has not arrived. More in Reading your dashboard.

Forward a FIRA on WhatsApp

Forward the PDF or the photo to Riffit in your chat. If you have invoices in other currencies, Riffit asks "Is this a FIRA? Which invoice is it for?" and shows your recent foreign invoices, plus It's not a FIRA.

Pick the invoice and Riffit files it there. Then it offers to record the FIRA number: reply with it, or tap Skip. It is free on every plan.

What stays in rupees

• Contracts.
• UPI, TDS and the amount in words. A foreign invoice prints your payment details instead of UPI.

For the thinking behind it, such as which rail to use and what the FIRA is for, the guide to invoicing international clients from India goes through it.