Billing American customers in dollars from France: a practical guide for startups

A Paris SaaS company lists its US plan at €15,000 a year. A Chicago prospect's procurement team converts it, adds a buffer for currency moves, asks for a dollar quote, and the deal slips a quarter. Pricing in dollars from the start removes that step. It also means the French company now invoices, collects and accounts in a second currency.

Price and invoice in dollars

US buyers compare vendors in dollars and budget in dollars. A dollar price list for American customers is normal and expected.

French rules allow invoices in any currency. Two details matter:

• Where an invoice shows VAT, the VAT amount must also appear in euros.
• Your books are kept in euros, so each dollar invoice and payment is recorded at an exchange rate you document, such as the ECB reference rate or the rate on the day of payment.

VAT on sales to the US

For services sold to US businesses, the place of supply is the customer's country. The invoice carries no French VAT and states that the operation falls outside its scope. Keep evidence that the customer is a business, such as its company details and a signed order form.

Selling electronic services to US consumers is also generally outside EU VAT. US states may have their own sales tax rules for digital products once you pass their thresholds; see our guide to economic nexus and sales tax.

The W-8BEN-E

Before paying, a US customer's accounts payable team usually asks for Form W-8BEN-E. It tells them your SAS is a foreign company. With it, and a claim under the France-US tax treaty, they pay invoices for services performed outside the US without withholding. Without it, some will hold back 30 percent until it arrives.

Getting paid without losing margin

American companies pay suppliers by ACH, their domestic bank transfer. Asked to pay a French IBAN, they must send an international wire instead, which some smaller companies find awkward and slow. The wire may lose an intermediary fee on the way, and a euro account converts it on arrival at the bank's rate.

US account details in the SAS's own name let the customer pay by ACH like any American vendor. The full amount arrives in dollars, and you decide when to convert.

Many French startups pay a large share of costs in dollars: cloud hosting, US software, advertising, US contractors. Paying those from a dollar balance means a good part of US revenue never needs converting. The rest can be converted on a schedule that fits payroll.

Paying into France: the local rail

Source: European Payments Council: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

A Rivet business account gives a French SAS US account details in its own name on every plan, for ACH and wires. From the Growth plan it adds euro details with an IBAN and sterling details, so European and British customers pay locally too. Payments are matched to invoices, dollars can be held or converted at a rate shown before you confirm, and company cards spend from the dollar balance. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds, and accounts open after the company passes verification.