There always seem to be knowledgeable people on here, so I thought I’d try my luck with this question:

I’ve done some work for a Swiss company and I’ve sent them an invoice with my IBAN number. They’ve just sent me the money, but it’s £12 short! Speaking to a friend who also deals with them, this is because they are charged this fee for the international transfer, and they just knock this off the price. Is this normal behaviour?

I haven’t done any work for foreign clients before, so not sure how it normally works. Should I state anything on the invoice? Or how do I account for the payment not matching the invoice if I decide I’ll just accept the charge? I have an Ltd company btw.

Thanks!

R

We’ve always received what is on the invoice, sounds wrong to me.

That’s USA, France, Australia, Finland, Slovakia…

Factor it into the amount you invoice.

state on invoice they are liable for any fees and also the currency you wish to do business in or the exchange rate can hurt

@robin that is almost certainly the fee that your bank has charged for receiving the money

When you send payments you normally get the options “pay all fees” “pay sending fees” or “deduct fees from amount”. As a supplier we insist on the full amount- after all we’re not asking people to send us X amount, we’re asking them to give us X amount. In the event, it’s often not worth us chasing it though for the difference.

(bear in mind, the person making the payment will get charged again to send you £12 so it works out ridiculously expensive)

As jambalaya has said, it’s very likely to be the charge applied by your bank for handling the transfer

Find out what the charge was, if it’s not their fee’s chalk it up to experience, if it is then inform them but allow it to pass as Northwind says fees on fees on fees never ends well.

Next invoice state payment in full and them to pay all fees. (and factor it into the charges)

Yeah sounds like you’ve been charged by your bank for processing the money.

I had to pay HSBC £9 to send YT the money for my new bike.

I’m pretty sure we get charged.

when i invoiced overseas i always stipulated payment in GBP and for the client to bear all fees. chalk it up to experience.

As above. £12 for a business lesson 🙂

It’s absolutely normal. Banks charge between £12 and £25 for money transfers. We must lose thousands a year in these fees but we take it into account when doing our costings.

Try doing business by letter of credit, then you’ll see how banks charge, at both ends. That’s why we avoid LC payment if possible.