A Thai company can invoice overseas clients in US dollars or euros, but its books and tax returns are kept in baht, so each foreign-currency invoice needs a baht value at a defined exchange rate. Use one documented rate source, record exchange differences when payment arrives and keep the evidence for your auditor.
Overseas buyers compare prices in their own currency, procurement systems often require it and a quotation in baht places the exchange risk on the customer, which some will refuse. A Thai exporter or service provider who invoices in dollars or euros removes that friction, though it takes on the risk of the baht moving between the invoice and the payment.
Pricing in a foreign currency is also a business decision about margin. If costs are in baht and revenue in dollars, a strong baht reduces profit in baht terms. Some companies hedge with their bank, others add a clause allowing price review if the rate moves beyond an agreed band.
Decide the policy in the contract: which currency, which rate date for any conversion, who pays bank charges and what happens with late payment. Silence on these points is the origin of many small disputes.
Thai companies keep accounts in baht under the Thai financial reporting standards. A foreign-currency invoice is recorded at the baht equivalent on the transaction date, using a spot rate. Choose a rate source that you can document, such as the published rates of the Bank of Thailand or your bank’s rate on the day, and apply it consistently.
For VAT purposes the base is also expressed in baht, and the Revenue Department expects the rate used to be traceable. Ask your accountant which published rate it accepts for each purpose and write it into the company’s procedure.
Show the foreign-currency amount and the baht equivalent on your own file copy of the invoice or a conversion note kept with it. When an auditor tests the figures, a one-page schedule of rates used per month answers most questions.
When the customer pays, the amount that lands in your account rarely equals the invoice value converted at the invoice-date rate. The rate has moved, the intermediary bank has deducted a fee and the receiving bank has applied its own conversion. The gap goes to exchange gain or loss and bank charges.
Record the receipt at the actual baht credited, clear the receivable at its recorded baht value and post the difference. Doing this invoice by invoice keeps the receivables ledger clean; lumping differences together at month-end hides which customers or banks cost you money.
Open balances in foreign currency at the year-end are revalued at the closing rate, and the unrealised difference is reported in the accounts. The tax treatment of unrealised differences has its own rules, so raise it with your accountant before the return is prepared.
Exporters may hold a foreign currency account at a Thai bank, which avoids converting every receipt immediately and can be useful when you also pay suppliers in dollars. Bank of Thailand rules require export proceeds to be brought into Thailand within a set period, and either converted or deposited in such an account, so confirm the current deadline with your bank.
Large transfers may require a short declaration to the bank, which asks about the purpose of the funds. Prepare the contract and invoice for each receipt, since the bank staff will ask. A flow of unexplained foreign payments to a corporate account invites questions.
If you pay overseas suppliers, remember that the withholding and VAT consequences of those payments are covered on the page about payments to foreign providers in this cluster.
4invoices can produce a PDF invoice and keep it in an archive; you type the currency and amounts and add the baht equivalent in the form your accountant specifies. 4softerp can hold the books in baht for your accountant.
Neither product converts currencies automatically, fixes exchange rates, calculates exchange gains and losses or contacts a bank. The rate source, the conversions and the postings are decided and entered by you with your accountant.
At each month-end list every open invoice in foreign currency, with the original amount, the baht value booked and the closing rate. This list drives the revaluation entry and shows which customers are late. It also tells the sales team how much the company is exposed if the baht strengthens.
Agree with the bank how receipts are described. Ask customers to quote the invoice number in the transfer reference, and ask the bank to show the original amount and rate in the advice. The more information the credit carries, the less time the accounts team spends matching it.
Review pricing every quarter. If the baht has moved enough to hurt margins, decide whether to adjust list prices, request an advance payment or use a forward contract with the bank. Such decisions belong to management, not to the bookkeeper.
Finally, keep the contract terms visible to the accounts team. If the contract says the customer bears bank charges, deduct nothing and chase the shortfall. If it says nothing, the cost is yours and should be considered when you quote.
Where the same customer pays regularly, consider asking for payment in the same currency as your costs, or for part of the price in baht. A modest change in the commercial terms can remove much of the exposure without any financial product, and it keeps the bookkeeping simple for both sides. Whatever you agree should be written into the contract together with the rate date, so that the accounts team never has to guess.
Currencies are converted by hand at inconsistent rates, distorting the P&L.
Enter the foreign-currency amount and the baht equivalent on the invoice yourself, using the rate your accountant specifies. The system does not convert currencies automatically.
The amount received differs from the invoice because of fees and FX movement.
Record exchange differences and bank fees in your books with your accountant. The system does not separate FX results into their own account.
The sales team quotes in dollars but finance books in baht at a different rate each time.
Agree one rate source and one cut-off rule with your accountant and write them into the invoicing procedure. The system does not set or convert rates, so enter the baht equivalent according to that rule.
Yes, Thai companies regularly invoice overseas customers in foreign currency, and exporters may also keep foreign currency bank accounts with a Thai bank. The books and the tax returns must remain in baht, so each invoice needs a baht equivalent at a documented rate, and exchange differences are recorded when the payment is received.
Use a rate source you can document and apply it consistently, such as the Bank of Thailand’s published rates or your own bank’s rate on the transaction date. Ask your accountant which rate the Revenue Department accepts for VAT and for income tax, and write the choice into your written accounting procedure.
The exchange rate moved after the invoice date, and intermediary or receiving banks may have deducted fees or applied their own conversion. The difference is recorded as an exchange gain or loss, plus bank charges. Contract terms can specify who bears the fees, so agree them in advance and tell the accounts team.
Bank of Thailand rules require export proceeds to be repatriated within a set period, and either converted to baht or deposited in a foreign currency account. Check the current period and conditions with your bank, since they are updated by notification, and keep the invoices and contracts ready for the bank’s questions.
An invoice archive. Conversion to baht follows your accountant’s method.
