Building software for clients abroad, from India.

Our FAQ says we work async-first with a daily overlap window, and that is the whole method. A kickoff by video call settles scope, roles, who approves what and which holidays to plan around. After that, anything that changes is written down, so a decision never waits for a call. You see a working build on a real URL every two weeks, which is the rhythm we use for every client, and a weekly call covers whatever is better said aloud.

Scope is locked in writing at the design stage, and a change is priced in writing before anyone builds it. The code sits in your own GitHub organisation and your own cloud account from the first commit, so you can look at it on any day, in your own working hours, without asking us.

The overlap window is agreed with you at kickoff. The sections below show how much shared time each time zone leaves, so you can judge it before you write to us.

Invoice currency#

We invoice in INR, AED or USD, as our FAQ says. Name the currency in the statement of work, and ask for the amount to be written in that currency, so that the exchange rate is not decided on the day you pay.

GST on an export of services#

Software built in India for a client outside India can count as an export of services under GST. An export is a zero-rated supply: under section 16 of the IGST Act a registered supplier may supply under a bond or a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) without charging IGST, or charge IGST and claim a refund. An LUT is filed on the GST portal and tied to a financial year (the portal's guide; rule 96A of the CGST Rules).

Whether a supply is an export depends on the conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act: the supplier is in India, the recipient is outside India, the place of supply is outside India, payment is received in convertible foreign exchange (or in rupees where the Reserve Bank permits), and the two sides are not merely establishments of the same person. In plain terms, the company that signs and pays should be the foreign one. Tell us in your first email which entity will sign and pay, because that decides whether the invoice can be zero-rated.

This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your position with your CA or tax adviser.

Paying us#

Pay by bank wire in the invoice currency to the Indian bank account named on the invoice, or by a transfer service your bank or finance team already uses. We name no provider, because the choice is yours. Put the invoice number in the transfer reference. The Indian bank documents each inward remittance, and the reference is what lets the payment be matched to the invoice.

Our payment terms are milestones tied to delivery, split by package as set out on the pricing page, and nothing starts until the advance clears. The Reserve Bank's export regulations, in force from 1 October 2026, set a time limit, counted from the invoice date, for export proceeds to come in. So a late payment is a compliance matter on the Indian side and not only a cash-flow one, which is why we ask you to treat the payment dates in the statement of work as firm.

The contract#

The binding terms are in the statement of work, signed by both sides. Our terms page describes how we normally operate. Unless the statement of work says otherwise, the contract is governed by the laws of India with courts in Uttar Pradesh. If your legal team wants a different governing law or venue, ask before the statement of work is drafted.

NDAs and data-processing agreements#

We treat everything you share as confidential and will sign your NDA rather than insisting on ours. If you want one in place before you describe the idea, send it to hello@valentir.in before the first call and we will review it. Where an engagement touches personal data we work under a data-processing agreement, and access to your systems is limited to named people, set for the length of the engagement and removed at handover.

Who owns the code#

On final payment, all code, repositories, credentials and infrastructure created for the engagement are yours. We retain no licence over your product and claim no rights in your data. Some builds include components from our own registry, which come to you as editable source under a perpetual, irrevocable licence; we keep the right to use the same components elsewhere. The security page sets this out in one place.

Escrow of the source#

A source-code escrow exists to protect a customer when the vendor holds the code. Here the repository is in your account from the first commit, so there is nothing to put in escrow. If your procurement rules require a formal escrow agreement anyway, raise it before the statement of work is drafted.

Data protection#

Data-protection law follows your users, not our address, so each country below links its own regime, and the pointers are not legal advice. If your product also has users in the EU, the GDPR can apply whichever country you are in: see the European Commission's overview and the regulation itself.

Working hours with the UAE#

The UAE is on UTC+4 all year and does not change its clocks. India is on UTC+5:30, so the UAE is 1.5 hours behind India. 9:00 in Dubai is 10:30 in Noida, and 18:00 in Dubai is 19:30. If both sides work 9:00 to 18:00 on their own clock, the shared window runs from 10:30 to 18:00 Indian time, which is 7.5 hours. Public holidays that follow the lunar calendar move each year, so put them in the project calendar at kickoff.

Currency: AED#

AED is one of the three invoice currencies on our site, with INR and USD. State it in the statement of work.

Data protection in the UAE#

The federal law is Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data, in force since 2 January 2022, and the UAE government publishes it on its data protection laws page. Free zones such as the DIFC have data protection laws of their own, so ask your lawyer which applies to your company and your users.

Working hours with the United States#

The US spans several time zones and changes its clocks: daylight saving time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. India does not change its clocks. India is therefore ahead of the US by:

In practice a US client shares a call window at one end of each day. 9:00 in New York is 18:30 in Noida during daylight saving and 19:30 in standard time, so New York's morning is Noida's evening. 17:00 on the Pacific coast is 05:30 the next morning in India during daylight saving. Which end of the day the calls fall on is agreed at kickoff, and between calls the written updates carry the work.

Currency and paperwork#

USD is one of the three invoice currencies on our site. Some US finance teams ask foreign suppliers for the IRS's Form W-8BEN-E before a first payment. If yours does, tell us before the statement of work is signed, so that it is dealt with then and not at the first invoice. The US tax side of a payment is a matter for your own adviser.

Data protection in the United States#

In the US, personal-data rules come mainly from individual states and from sector laws, and no single page covers them. California's CCPA, as amended, is one example: see the state Attorney General's page. Ask your counsel which laws apply to your users. If your contract needs a different governing law, say so before the statement of work is drafted.

Working hours with Singapore#

Singapore is on UTC+8 all year, 2.5 hours ahead of India. 9:00 in Singapore is 6:30 in Noida, and 18:00 is 15:30. If both sides work 9:00 to 18:00 on their own clock, the shared window runs from 9:00 to 15:30 Indian time, which is 6.5 hours.

Currency: Singapore dollars#

Our site lists INR, AED and USD as the invoice currencies. If you need invoices in Singapore dollars, ask before the statement of work is drafted.

Data protection in Singapore#

The Personal Data Protection Act 2012 is the main law, and the Personal Data Protection Commission publishes an overview alongside the Act itself. The Act distinguishes an organisation from a data intermediary that processes personal data on its behalf, and a software supplier with access to live data can be the second. Ask your lawyer how that applies to your project.