The Three Conventional Ways to Get Paid from the US
As a foreign supplier, you send an invoice from your UK business. The client’s accounts-payable team may flag it because they prefer domestic vendors. You’ll likely need to complete IRS Form W-8BEN, and some clients apply withholding by default. Currency conversion fees eat at the payment when it arrives.
Forming a US LLC removes the foreign-supplier issue, but only partially. You’ll deal with state registration, annual fees, a registered agent, and US tax filings. You still need a US bank account or a service that provides one. For freelancers who aren’t expanding into the US full-time, the cost can outweigh the benefit.
Marketplaces handle compliance and integrate with client procurement, but they take a share of your revenue and often insert their brand between you and the client. Direct client relationships — the kind that lead to repeat work — can get diluted.
Merchant of Record as a Fourth Option
An alternative is to let a US company act as the merchant of record. PANORAMA SYSTEMS FLORIDA LLC invoices the client on your behalf. The invoice comes from a Florida LLC, so it slides through domestic payables with no extra forms or withholding surprises.
Once the client pays, PANORAMA SYSTEMS deducts a service fee and sends the balance to you. You’re not an employee, no one files US payroll paperwork, and you don’t give up your independence. You choose how to receive funds: a same-currency bank transfer in GBP, a Wise payment, a SWIFT wire, or stablecoin settlement in USDT. That flexibility matters when you’re managing a local budget.
Practical Considerations from Bristol
Bristol’s timezone works in your favour. Your morning overlaps with the East Coast’s late afternoon, so you can address client feedback almost in real time. Payouts can settle in GBP directly into a UK account, avoiding forced currency conversion. You decide whether to use Wise, a standard bank transfer, or USDT.
There’s no need to understand US tax filings or entity maintenance. You report income as you normally would to HMRC, whether as a sole trader or limited company. The work stays familiar, and the money moves without friction.
Where This Service Draws the Line
PANORAMA SYSTEMS does not give tax or legal advice. It isn’t your employer and won’t handle UK payroll. If a client pays late, your payout waits — there’s no factoring protection.
The service is deliberately narrow: it moves money from a US client to you under a domestic invoicing wrapper, leaving you in charge of everything else that goes with running your own freelance business.