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Invoice clients abroad in their currency and compliant with local rules

The problem​

Selling across borders is easy. Invoicing it is not. Every client lives under different rules: their currency, the way VAT applies to them, the tax number you have to validate and the legal mention that must appear on the document. VAT applied wrong to an intra-community client, a currency conversion done by eye, or an invoice missing the right legal reference all end the same way — a rejected document, a payment that stalls, or a tax problem that surfaces months later.

You don't need to master the tax rules of every country to invoice them correctly. That is the system's job.

How Frihet solves it, step by step​

1. Invoice in the client's currency​

You pick the currency when you create the invoice. Frihet covers 139 countries and more than 170 currencies, with live exchange rates (sourced from Frankfurter). The amount is shown in the client's locale format — correct separators, symbol and minor units — while the euro equivalent is stored for your books. You get paid in the client's currency; your accounts still reconcile.

2. The tax is detected by country​

Frihet keeps a tax profile per country and detects the tax that applies based on where the client is and what you sell them. For an intra-community B2B client, the fiscal autopilot suggests reverse charge: the invoice goes out with 0% VAT and the matching legal mention. For a sale outside the EU, it adjusts the treatment as an export operation. The detection is a proposal — you confirm it before issuing.

3. Validate the tax number before you issue​

Frihet validates the client's tax identifier across 90 countries. For intra-community VAT it checks the number against VIES (all 27 EU member states) and auto-fills the client's details from the result. If you plan to collect by transfer, it also validates the IBAN, with support for 89 national formats. A mistyped number is caught before the invoice goes out, not after.

Local law usually requires a specific line on the document — for example, the reference to reverse charge on intra-community operations. Frihet ships the required legal mentions for 28 countries and adds them to the invoice, so you don't copy them by hand.

5. The format the client can process​

  • PDF with a SEPA QR. On euro invoices, the PDF carries a SEPA EPC QR code. The client scans it from their bank and pays the transfer with the details already filled in — available across the 33 SEPA-zone countries.
  • Payment link. For card payment, you generate a Stripe payment link with its QR. The client pays from the invoice's public portal, with no account or login.
  • EN16931 e-invoice. When the recipient requires a structured invoice, Frihet generates XML compliant with the European EN16931 standard (Factur-X, XRechnung, UBL 2.1, CII), available on Premium plans.

6. Do it by hand, by chat or by API​

You can create the invoice from the interface, ask the AI copilot for it in plain language, or issue it programmatically through Frihet's REST API and MCP server (@frihet/mcp-server, with 157 tools). The same tax controls apply across all three.

An example​

Marina is a freelancer in Tenerife who works for clients in several countries.

Client in Germany (agency, B2B), €2,400. As she creates the invoice, Frihet recognises the client is in the EU, validates their VAT number against VIES and auto-fills their details. The fiscal autopilot suggests reverse charge: the invoice goes out with 0% VAT and the matching legal mention already written. The PDF includes the SEPA QR so the agency pays by transfer without typing an IBAN.

Client in the United States, $1,800. Marina issues the invoice directly in dollars. Frihet applies the day's exchange rate, treats it as an export operation with no VAT, and stores the euro equivalent for her return. Since the client prefers card, she generates a Stripe payment link and gets paid without waiting on an international transfer.

In both cases she did the same thing — create the invoice and confirm — and the system put the currency, the tax and the legal mention in the right place.

Keep going​

  • Invoices — create, send and manage your invoices.
  • Taxes — how VAT, IGIC and IRPF are configured and applied.
  • E-invoicing — EN16931 formats (UBL, Factur-X, CII) and when to use them.

Get started​

Create your first international invoice at app.frihet.io. The Free plan is enough to start; structured e-invoicing needs Premium (€29/month or €290/year).