I'm a US contractor that typically does software development work for companies here in the United States. I was recently contacted by a foreign client who wants some software written. Typically I negotiate a contract and payment via email and then use email to exchange signatures on the contract.
Are there any precautions or extra steps I need to take when working with a foreign client?
Avenues for collection on delinquent accounts across countries are, frankly, either impossible or a nightmare. Foreign clients can easily not pay anything and there's little you can do about it.
How do I know? You guessed it. I had a UK based client that I had difficulty collecting final payment from. And the UK has some better laws regarding B2B payment failure.
With some some countries, there is nothing you can do if they refuse to pay other than to hire some B2B international collection agency and cross your fingers.
I generally refuse all non-US clients, or demand full payment up front if possible, for these reasons.
