Sort any cross-border deal into one of six categories, plus a domestic baseline. The specific countries do not decide the type — the relationship between where you bill, build, and deliver does, plus how the money moves.
A billing × procurement × delivery cube has a country on every axis, which gives you almost endless empty combinations. In practice, only two things decide the tier.
How many distinct countries the three roles touch, and whether any one role fans out to several at once. One country is domestic; two is simple; three or a fan-out pushes toward complex.
One native currency, one currency reached by converting others (FX), or several currencies billed locally. Currency is the master lever: any crossing tips a deal into complex on its own.
Answer as few as one question. The first test that fires decides the type. Prefer a plain form? Open the questionnaire →
Geographic spread across the top, currency handling down the side. Read it and you can see the rule: cross a currency line and you land in complex no matter the spread; stay in one native currency and the spread decides.
| 1 country | 2 countries | 3 distinct | Fans out to many | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single, native currency | DomesticCategory 3 if the seller is foreign | Categories 1 & 2split by where delivery lands | Category 6third-country staging | Category 4many destinations |
| Converted to host (FX) | not applicable | Category 4 | Category 4 | Category 4 |
| Multiple, billed locally | not applicable | Category 5 | Category 5 | Category 5 |
Classify a deal above and the matching cell lights up here.
The same rules as an ordered checklist. Run a deal down it — the first test that fires decides the tier, which is why currency is checked before you count countries.
The space is genuinely three-dimensional: billing, procurement, and delivery each sit on their own axis. The near corner is domestic; the far corner, where all three differ, is the most complex.
The blind spot: Category 3 (a US unit sells work that is billed, built, and delivered entirely in Canada) sits on the domestic corner of this cube — billing, procurement, and delivery are all one country. What makes it international is a fourth axis the cube can't show: who originated the deal. That is why the classifier asks about the selling business unit.
All six categories and the domestic baseline, across every dimension. Example countries are illustrative.
| Type | Deal origin | Billing | Currency | Procurement | Delivery | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | Local unit | USA | USD, native | USA | USA | Domestic |
| Category 1 | Local unit | USA | Single, native | Canada | Canada | Simple |
| Category 2 | Local unit | USA | Single, native | India | USA | Simple |
| Category 3 | USA (foreign) | Canada | Single, native | Canada | Canada | Simple |
| Category 4 | Local unit | USA, one entity | Converted to USD (FX) | Local / multi | Multiple nations | Complex |
| Category 5 | Local unit | Local entities | Multiple, local | Local / multi | Multiple nations | Complex |
| Category 6 | Local unit | USA | USD, native | Australia | Thailand | Complex |
Classify a deal above and its row highlights here.