The foreign customer does not want to sign the certificate of completion. Is there an alternative?

Question

Individual entrepreneur

Input data:

• I am an individual entrepreneur on the simplified tax system 6%,
  
• I plan to conclude a long-term contract for the provision of services (software development) with a foreign company,
  
• The customer will pay the bills (invoices) issued by me on a monthly basis,
  
• The invoice will indicate the work performed and the cost,
  
• I will have in my hands the original contract signed by me and the customer, and invoices signed only by me. No other documents are specified in the contract.
  

Problem:
The client doesn't want to sign the Certificate of Completion on a monthly basis, as there may be hidden defects in the software I develop. De jure, by suspending the act, the customer releases me from any responsibility. This is how he interprets this document. This scares the client. At the same time, the certificate of completion serves as a supporting document for foreign exchange transactions.
Question:
What are the possible solutions? Is there an alternative? Interested in the experience of people who faced similar problems.
I spoke with the specialists of the currency control of my bank, one specialist says that an invoice will be enough, another specialist, at the same time, claims that the bank has the right to request a certificate of completion. I did not hear a single position on this issue.

Answer 1

In the contract, write: The fact of payment of the invoice indicates that the customer has accepted the work (by stage) in full and has no claims. This wording is accepted by the currency control. That. you are exempt from writing any acts and their assurance by the customer.
Further, if you want, write down the following: guarantees for the developed software are 2 weeks. During this period, the developer undertakes to correct the shortcomings presented by the customer at his own expense.

Answer 2

long-term contract for the provision of services (software development) with a foreign company

I work similarly. I issue an invoice, the customer pays, I transfer the invoice to the currency control, it is enough. The invoice states that the payment of the invoice is the acceptance of the work. This item is needed specifically for currency control. We have no acts, this is a Soviet rudiment.
It is strange, but what is the problem in specifying the conditions for defects and the procedure for their elimination in the contract. In addition, the services are long-term, a defect and in a year it may come out that now the work is not paid for a year.
First of all, you need to accept a job so that you do not have problems with the Russian bureaucracy later.

Answer 3

So why reinvent the wheel? There is also the concept of "warranty period", describe the terms of the guarantee and that's it. The warranty can be for both goods and services.

Answer 4

You can also try to ask to specify in the purpose of payment (payment details) all the details. Type:
"$ for software development services from to , X hours at $Y/hour, NET30"
And insist that the notification of the receipt of the currency is the primary document. The payer and his address confirmed by the bank are indicated there. This document is postponed in a pile of bases along the way, the tax authorities see it. You can’t dispute its existence in any court and you won’t prove that this is a loan or something else and not payment for work.
You also need to be careful not to do anything that could bring damages that can be proven in court so as not to be liable with your property (however, this is very unlikely).
The amounts still have to pass market tests. Those. these payments must be commensurate with what the employee receives in the same field.
In my opinion, for amounts less than the non-documentary limit ($ 1000 before March and 200 thousand rubles after) it should go. But haven't had to try yet. :)
In my experience, no one refuses to pay with the wording "for services". And the acceptance certificate is a document that is really unfamiliar to Western accounting departments. As I understand it, Upwork made it for their own employees from Russia, and then it spread by word of mouth.

Answer 5

The act of closing the stage is not mandatory, payment on the invoice is often sufficient.
Perhaps this nuance will have to be reflected in one of the clauses of the contract.