How to Track Outstanding Invoices When Some Clients Pay in Rupees and Some in Dollars

Most freelancers track outstanding invoices with a list of names and amounts. That list breaks the first time a client pays ₹1,08,000 against a ₹1,18,000 invoice, or a US client's $3,000 lands as a rupee amount nobody predicted. Is that invoice paid, or not?

To track outstanding invoices properly, you need three things the list doesn't have: the invoice date, the amount received in rupees, and a reason for every gap. This post sets that up, with a worked example from an Ahmedabad freelancer's books on 28 October 2026.

Not legal or tax advice. This is a working system for knowing who owes you what. The GST and FEMA dates below were checked against the CGST Act, the CGST Rules and the RBI's 2026 export regulations on 28 October 2026. Confirm how they apply to you with your CA.

Why "outstanding" needs more than one status

"Outstanding" covers at least four different situations. Each one needs a different action.

If all four sit under one word, you chase clients who already paid, and miss the ones who didn't.

Track outstanding invoices from the invoice date

Your due date is a commercial promise between you and the client. The law mostly ignores it. The deadlines that cost money run from the date on the invoice:

So the first column in your tracker is the invoice date. Ageing (how many days an invoice has been unpaid) is counted from it too.

The 180-day point for GST-registered clients

The second proviso to Section 16(2) of the CGST Act applies to your client, not to you. If a recipient fails to pay the supplier "the amount towards the value of supply along with tax payable thereon within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of issue of invoice by the supplier", it has to pay back the input tax credit it took, with interest. It can take the credit again once it pays you.

You don't enforce this. But a finance team that knows its credit is about to reverse tends to find the payment. Note the 180-day date for each unpaid domestic invoice to a registered client. It's a reasonable thing to mention, politely, in a reminder.

The FEMA and GST clocks for exports

For an export invoice raised on or after 1 October 2026, Regulation 5 of the RBI's 2026 export regulations gives 9 months from the invoice date to realise the money. Rule 96A of the CGST Rules then gives one year, or the FEMA period including any RBI-permitted extension, whichever is later. If the money still hasn't come, the IGST you didn't charge falls due with interest within fifteen days. We cover that in detail in two clocks on an unpaid export invoice.

For tracking purposes, the point is simple. An unpaid export invoice is not just a cash-flow gap. It has a hard date attached, and the date comes from the invoice.

Short payments: classify the gap, don't write it off

TDS

An Indian client that pays your professional fees may deduct TDS and pay you the rest. That money isn't lost. It's credited against your income tax, if the client files its return and the deduction shows up in your annual tax statement. From tax year 2026-27 that statement is Form 168 (it was Form 26AS up to 2025-26).

So the gap is not "outstanding" in the chase-the-client sense. But it isn't settled either. Mark it TDS claimed. Each quarter, check that the amount shows in Form 168. If it doesn't, ask the client for the TDS certificate. That is now a real follow-up. Our TDS guide for freelancers covers the rates and how to get the money back.

Foreign payments: currency first, rupees second

For a foreign invoice, ask one question first: did the full foreign-currency amount arrive?

• Yes, and the rupee amount differs from what you expected. The invoice is paid. The difference is exchange gain or loss, not an outstanding balance. Record the rupees actually received and leave the gap to your CA. Our post on your first foreign payment explains the different exchange rates involved.
• No, it arrived a little short. An intermediary bank may have taken a fee before the money reached you. Mark it Short on receipt and ask your bank how it records the shortfall against that invoice. Don't quietly treat it as paid. FEMA asks for the full export value to be realised, and your bank is the one reporting it.
• No, the client paid part. That's Part-paid, and the balance is a real foreign-currency debt. Its FEMA clock is still running.

This is why foreign invoices should be tracked in the invoice currency first, and in rupees second.

Worked example: Neha's tracker on 28 October 2026

Neha is a freelance developer in Ahmedabad, registered under GST. She bills on 30-day terms. Here is her tracker on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.

Now each row gets its own next step.

INV-0043. It was due on 10 July, so it's 110 days overdue and 140 days old. The client's 180-day point falls around 7 December 2026. Neha sends a firm reminder this week. She names the invoice, the amount and the original due date, and mentions that the 180-day point is close.

INV-0044. The ₹10,000 gap is what the client says it deducted as TDS. Nothing to chase today. When the quarter's data reaches her Form 168, Neha checks that ₹10,000 against this client. If it isn't there, she asks for the certificate.

INV-0047. ₹15,400 is a real balance. The client isn't GST-registered, so the 180-day lever doesn't apply. Neha asks for a date for the balance in writing. Her late-fee terms only help if the client agreed to them before the work started.

INV-0049. Not due until 4 November. But it's an October export, so it goes on October's EDF, due by 30 November 2026 (see the monthly EDF calendar). Its FEMA date is 5 July 2027. Rule 96A's later deadline is 5 October 2027, with payment due by 20 October 2027 if nothing has arrived. Neha writes 5 July 2027 next to it. If it's still unpaid at the six-month mark in April, she starts escalating.

Neha's true outstanding balance is ₹59,000 + ₹15,400 + $3,000 not yet due. A plain list of unpaid amounts would have shown ₹84,400 + $3,000, and she'd have sent the Pune client a reminder it didn't deserve.

A ten-minute weekly routine

You don't need a dashboard. You need a fixed habit.

1. 1.Every Monday: open the bank statement. Match every credit to an invoice number. Update the received amount and status.
2. 2.Every Monday: sort unpaid invoices by invoice date, oldest first. Send reminders for anything past its due date.
3. 3.On the 1st of each month: list last month's export invoices for the EDF, and note each one's 9-month date.
4. 4.Once a quarter: check every "TDS claimed" row against Form 168.
5. 5.When an export hits six months unpaid: stop treating it as slow and start escalating.

Keep the reminder short: invoice number, amount, original due date, a link or account details, and one sentence asking for a payment date. No apology needed.

What to keep for your CA

At year end your CA will want the same data you've been keeping: invoice number, invoice date, client, amount in invoice currency, rupee value, amount received, date received, and any TDS. If you track outstanding invoices with those columns all year, the year-end handover is an export, not an archaeology project.

Where Mavoin fits

Mavoin records the invoice date on every GST and export invoice you raise, and tracks what's paid and what's outstanding in INR across rupee and foreign-currency clients. When your CA asks, you export your invoices as a CSV. It's ₹199/month, with a 30-day trial and no card to start.

If you only need one invoice today, the free GST invoice generator and export invoice generator put the invoice date and due date on the document. The tracking starts there.

Mavoin is not a Chartered Accountant service. Verify GST, FEMA and TDS specifics with your CA.