# Receiving Your First Payment From a Client, End to End

> Seven steps from agreeing the invoice to money in the bank, with the two conversations that have to happen first.

- Source: https://thecoinworkbook.com/receiving-your-first-client-payment/
- Published: 2026-10-02
- Author: Gabriel Mas
- Publication: The Coin Workbook — Do it once, with the steps written down
- Topic: acquiring
- Tags: acquiring, invoicing, business

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Getting paid in crypto for the first time is mostly agreement and preparation. The transfer itself takes minutes.

## Step 1: agree the asset and network

In writing, before the invoice. Which asset, which network, and who pays the transfer fee.

The last of those causes more disputes than the first two combined.

## Step 2: agree what fixes the amount

An invoice in your currency, converted at a rate at the moment of payment, is the common arrangement. Say which rate source.

Without this the client sends an amount based on their rate and you receive something different from the invoice.

## Step 3: prepare the receiving side

A verified account at the venue you will convert through, with a deposit address for that asset on that network. Not a personal wallet that then needs forwarding.

[An exchange with a withdrawal flow you can follow without guessing](https://collectnexchange.cy/business-solutions/crypto-acquiring) gives you a stable deposit address you can put on the invoice.

## Step 4: put the details on the invoice

Asset, network, address, the amount in your currency, and the rate source. Then the usual invoice fields.

Address and network travel together. An address without a network on an invoice is an incident waiting to happen.

## Step 5: ask for a test

On a first payment from a new client, a small transfer first is a reasonable request and most clients accept it readily.

It confirms the address, the network and the client's process in one step.

## Step 6: confirm receipt properly

Wait for the venue to credit it, not for the client to say sent. Then confirm the amount against the invoice.

A shortfall is usually the transfer fee being deducted from the payment, which goes back to step one.

## Step 7: convert and record

Sell into your currency, withdraw to the bank, and record date, client, invoice number, amount, rate, fees and net.

Doing this at the time takes two minutes. Reconstructing it at year end takes an afternoon per month.

## The second conversation

Tell your accountant before the first payment, not after. The treatment differs by jurisdiction and it is easier to set up correctly than to correct.

[Collect & Exchange](https://collectnexchange.cy/) issues statements that an accountant will accept, and [a platform where each step tells you what happens next](https://collectnexchange.cy/services/crypto-payment) publishes its confirmation thresholds so you can tell a client when the payment will be considered received.

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This article explains how something works. It is not financial advice.
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