How to start exporting services from India, step by step

What does it take to start exporting services from India?

Less than most people expect, and more than nothing. Selling software, design, engineering, consulting or back-office work to a client abroad is an export of services under India’s GST law and its foreign-exchange law, FEMA. Nothing has to be licensed before your first sale, but four things have to be in place: a business the tax system recognises, a bank account that can receive foreign currency, an invoice that GST and your bank will accept, and the habit of filing and keeping the papers that prove the money came in.

This guide puts those steps in order for a small business doing it for the first time. Each step links to a deeper guide on that one subject.

Which registrations does a service exporter need?

Start with the ones the law requires, then add the ones that open doors. A proprietorship can export under the owner’s PAN; an LLP or a company has its own PAN, and the bank account, GST registration and every invoice must be in that entity’s name. Decide the structure before the first invoice, because changing PAN later means changing every registration below.

On GST: below the threshold (₹20 lakh aggregate turnover for services in most states, ₹10 lakh in special category states, with exports counted in the turnover) you do not have to register just because your clients are abroad. Many exporters register anyway, so that GST paid on their own costs can be refunded. See GST registration for exporters and freelancers and how the LUT works.

On the IEC: paragraph 2.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 says that for export of services, an IEC is needed for availing benefits under the Policy. Ordinary service exports do not need one, but nearly every government support scheme does, and so does an Export Promotion Council’s membership certificate. The detail is in IEC and Udyam for service exporters.

Which bank account should receive the money?

Your export proceeds must come in through regulated channels to an account in your business’s name: a current account with an Authorised Dealer (AD) Category-I bank (your bank can confirm it is one), optionally an EEFC account if you want to hold part of the money in foreign currency, or a receiving account held through an RBI-authorised cross-border payment aggregator. Whichever you choose, the money is converted by a regulated entity, reported to RBI under a purpose code, and matched to your export declaration.

Ask the bank three questions before the first client pays: what it charges per inward remittance, what exchange-rate margin it applies against the mid-market rate, and how quickly it issues the remittance advice. Those three numbers, not the account opening fee, decide what an export earns you. How an AD bank handles an inward remittance walks through the process.

What should the first contract and invoice say?

The contract settles who carries which risk; the invoice is what the bank, GST officer and your client’s accounts team will read. Put the essentials in both:

• Currency and amount, with the ISO code (USD 4,000, not $4,000). Foreign currency or INR are both allowed; the choice is discussed in which currency to invoice in.
• Payment terms and a due date, with who bears bank charges — see payment terms for international clients.
• The rule 46 endorsement if you are GST-registered: under an LUT, “supply meant for export … under bond or letter of undertaking without payment of integrated tax”.
• The purpose code for the work, such as P0807 for off-site software or P1006 for management consulting — the purpose-code guide lists them.
• Your payment details, given once in writing, and a rule that they change only by confirmed letter.

The format, with a worked example, is in how to write an export invoice for services. If the contract is your first with a foreign client, what a services contract should say covers scope, IP and disputes.

Which documents follow each export?

From 1 October 2026, RBI’s Export and Import of Goods and Services Regulations, 2026 require every exporter of services to file an Export Declaration Form (EDF) with their AD bank within 30 days from the end of the month in which they invoiced. One EDF can list all the month’s invoices. The bank then matches each incoming payment to it in RBI’s export tracking system, EDPMS. The step-by-step is in the EDF guide.

When the client pays, the bank issues a Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA) showing the remitter, the foreign amount, the rate and the purpose code. Keep it with the invoice. If you later need an e-BRC for a government scheme, DGFT generates it from the data your bank reports. FIRA, FIRC and e-BRC explains which document does what, and record keeping for export income says how long to keep them.

How long do you have to get paid?

For an invoice in foreign currency, the full value must be realised within 9 months of the invoice date; for an invoice in Indian rupees, 12 months. Your AD bank can extend the period, and for invoices up to ₹10 lakh it can close the EDPMS entry on your own declaration that the money arrived. Separately, GST rule 96A expects payment under an LUT within one year, or the FEMA period if later, before IGST becomes payable with interest. If a client pays short or late, act early — what FEMA allows when payments go wrong.

How do you get paid without losing money on the way?

An international wire can lose money in three places: the sender’s fee, intermediary bank deductions, and the exchange-rate margin on conversion — what wires really cost breaks them down. Clients pay faster and more cheaply when they can pay you the way they pay a local supplier. That is what a receiving account in your business’s name does: Payzoplus gives you local account details in the client’s currency, held through our RBI-authorised payment partner, settles rupees to your own bank T+1, and passes on the bank’s FIRA for each settlement with our remittance advice. Whatever route you choose, the paperwork above stays the same.

A first-export checklist

1. Entity decided, PAN and current account in its name.
2. GST registration (if needed or chosen) and this financial year’s LUT filed.
3. IEC and Udyam, if you plan to use any export support scheme.
4. Contract signed: currency, terms, bank charges, governing law.
5. Invoice with the LUT line, purpose code and payment details.
6. Calendar reminder: EDF 30 days after each month-end you invoiced.
7. One folder per invoice: contract, invoice, EDF acknowledgement, FIRA.
8. A watch list of unpaid invoices against the 9-month limit.