Getting paid by Australian clients: how to receive AUD in India

A design studio in Melbourne wants you for a three-month brand project. The contract is signed, the first invoice is AUD 6,000, and then their accounts team asks for your BSB and account number. You do not have a BSB. Your Indian account has an IFSC and, for international payments, a SWIFT code, and their supplier form has no field for either.

This is where many first Australian payments stall. Australian businesses pay local suppliers by domestic bank transfer using a BSB and account number, and paying overseas is a separate, slower and usually costlier process on their side. This guide covers the ways an Australian client can pay you in India, what each one costs you in practice, the paperwork you need on the Indian side, and how to ask for the payment so it arrives in full.

Why your Australian client asks for a BSB

A BSB (bank-state-branch number) is a six-digit code that identifies an Australian bank and branch. With an account number, it is all an Australian business needs to pay a local supplier. Those domestic transfers run on Australia's own payment systems, cost the sender little or nothing, and usually arrive the same day or the next business day.

India has no BSB, so a payment to an Indian bank account is an international transfer instead. Your client's bank sends it over SWIFT, which means a different form, an outgoing fee on their side, an exchange-rate margin if they convert the money, and possibly correspondent-bank fees taken out along the way. None of that is unusual, but it explains why some Australian finance teams push back, or pay late, when a supplier only offers SWIFT details.

Option 1: a SWIFT transfer to your Indian bank account

Every Australian bank can send an international transfer to India. You give your client your account name, account number, your bank's SWIFT/BIC code and branch address, and they pay from their online banking. If you bank with SBI, our SBI SWIFT code guide lists the codes your client will need and how to give them.

It works, but watch three things. Currency: if your client converts to rupees at their bank, their bank sets the rate and you cannot easily check it; if they send AUD, your Indian bank converts it on arrival at its own rate. Deductions: correspondent banks can take a fee out of the payment in transit, so AUD 6,000 sent can arrive as a little less. Our guide to receiving less than the invoice amount explains why and how to stop it. Speed: a SWIFT payment commonly takes a few business days, and longer if the routing is unusual.

SWIFT suits occasional or one-off payments, and clients who already pay overseas suppliers this way.

Option 2: a local AUD account in your name

The alternative is to give your client Australian bank details: a BSB and account number for a collection account held for you. To your client it looks like paying any other local supplier. The money is received in Australia in AUD, then converted and paid out to your Indian bank account in rupees.

This route removes most of the friction on your client's side. There is no international-transfer form, no outgoing international fee for them, and no correspondent bank in the middle of the payment taking a cut. What you pay is the provider's own fee and its exchange rate, so compare those two numbers with what your bank gives you on a SWIFT receipt of the same amount.

Before you sign up with any provider, check three things: that it is permitted to operate in India and settles through RBI-regulated banks, that it gives you a FIRA (Foreign Inward Remittance Advice) for your payments, and that it shows you the exchange rate and fee before conversion, not after.

Option 3: PayPal, cards and marketplaces

A small Australian business or an individual client may prefer to pay by card or PayPal. That is quick for them, but once the platform's fee and its currency conversion are added together it is usually the most expensive route for you, and getting the paperwork your export records need can take extra steps. If the work came through a freelance marketplace, you are paid on the marketplace's terms and the payout route is set by the platform, not by your client.

For recurring work from a business client, a bank-based route, SWIFT or a local AUD account, is usually cheaper and gives you cleaner records.

What you need on the Indian side for every AUD payment

However the money arrives, an export of services leaves a paper trail that your bank, your CA and the tax department may all want to see. For each payment, keep the invoice, the contract or statement of work it relates to, your client's remittance advice, and the FIRA or bank advice showing the amount credited in India.

Purpose code. Every inward payment is tagged with an RBI purpose code that describes what it is for. The code follows the service, not the country: software consultancy and implementation, for example, typically uses P0802. Our P0802 guide explains how to choose between close codes and what to do if the wrong one is used.

FIRA. The FIRA is your evidence that foreign currency came into India for an export. Depending on the bank or provider, it is issued automatically or on request. Our guide to FIRC and FIRA covers what it should show and who needs it.

Realisation deadline. For services invoiced on or after 1 October 2026, the full export value has to be realised in India within nine months of the invoice date, or twelve months if the export is invoiced or settled in rupees. Your AD bank can extend that if you ask and give reasons. If an Australian client wants long payment terms, read our explainer on the nine-month realisation period before you agree to them.

How to invoice an Australian client so the payment arrives in full

Quote and invoice in AUD where you can. Most Australian businesses would rather pay in their own currency, and it keeps the exchange-rate decision on your side rather than theirs.

Put the payment details on the invoice itself, not in a separate email. If you have local AUD details, list the BSB, account number and account name exactly as your provider gives them. If you use SWIFT, list the SWIFT code, account number, bank name and branch address, and ask your client to choose the option where they pay all charges, so correspondent-bank fees are not taken out of your amount.

Ask for your invoice number in the payment reference. It lets you match each credit to its invoice when the FIRA arrives, which matters most when a client pays several invoices in one transfer. Our guide to invoicing international clients has a checklist for the rest of the invoice.

Confirm your details with the client on a call before the first payment, and tell them you will never change bank details by email alone. Payment-diversion scams target exactly this moment, when a supplier is new and the details are unfamiliar to the client's finance team.

Which route should you choose?

If an Australian client pays you once or twice a year, a SWIFT transfer to your existing bank account is fine. Ask them to send AUD and pay all charges, and compare the rupees you receive with the mid-market rate for that day.

If Australian clients are a regular part of your income, a local AUD account usually works better for both sides: your client pays you like a local supplier, and you see the fee and the rate before your money is converted.

Winvesta's Global Collections Account gives you local account details in AUD, as well as USD, GBP, EUR and CAD, so an Australian client can pay you by domestic bank transfer instead of an international wire. Payments are converted and sent to your Indian bank account through RBI-regulated partner banks, with FIRA support for your records. It does not change your export obligations: you still choose the right purpose code, keep your invoices, and realise payments on time. See how the Global Collections Account works.