Let a customer buy now
Use an ecommerce processor for products, or a merchant of record for eligible software and digital-product models when delegated tax handling is valuable.
Explore Paddle ↗MONEY OPERATIONS / UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2026
Money infrastructure for independent people.
How to accept money, invoice properly, understand fees, work across currencies and keep usable records. This is operational infrastructure—not investment, tax or personalised financial advice.
There are four different jobs.
“How do I get paid?” can mean checkout, invoicing, receiving money across currencies or maintaining books. Treating them as one decision creates expensive overlaps and broken compliance.
Request payment professionally
Service businesses need scopes, invoice numbers, due dates, currency, records and a clean reconciliation path.
Explore FreshBooks ↗Handle international payouts
Multi-currency services can reduce friction, but eligibility, local account details, conversion fees and withdrawal routes vary by country.
Explore Payoneer ↗Know what happened
Separate business transactions, keep source documents, reconcile payouts and preserve an audit trail before tax season forces the work.
Explore invoicing ↗Choose by transaction—not logo.
| YOU ARE SELLING | PRIMARY ROUTE | CHECK CAREFULLY |
|---|---|---|
| Freelance service | Contract + invoice + bank/payment link | Late-payment process, currency and processing fees |
| Physical products | Ecommerce checkout + processor | Country support, refunds, chargebacks and payout delay |
| Software subscription | Processor or merchant of record | Product approval, tax responsibility, billing control and fees |
| Digital download | Creator platform or merchant of record | VAT/sales tax handling, file delivery and refund rules |
| Marketplace work | Marketplace payout + receiving account | Platform fees, FX spread and withdrawal cost |
The true-cost test.
- Monthly subscription and annual commitment.
- Percentage and fixed charge per transaction.
- Foreign-exchange spread and withdrawal fee.
- Refund, dispute and chargeback cost.
- Tax calculation, filing and compliance responsibility.
- Delay between customer payment and usable cash.
IMPORTANT