A proforma invoice is an invoice form, usually provided by a vendor prior to provision of the physical goods or service, to officially declare the value of the trade. The proforma invoices by nature are very similar to the sales quote or confirmed purchase order in the form of an invoice prepared by the seller, which provides detailed information about the items and shipping cost, which will appear on the commercial invoice when transaction is finalized. Proforma is also almost identical to a commercial invoice and is usually considered as binding agreement, depending on the circumstances. In business terminology, pro forma (Latin "as a matter of form" - is a term applied to practices or documents that are done as a pure formality) often used as financial statement which prepared in advance of a planned transaction.
AdvertisementA proforma invoice is a common form used in both domestic and even more commonly in international trade to provide buyers as well as in the event of international trade the appropriate import/export authorities, where additional details may be required for customs, with required information about shipment.
Below we offer a couple of proforma templates, with different design and styling, which you can easily customize and print. We have also put together some useful information about how to use proforma invoices and few references to the source of information where you can read more about regulations of use of this document.
Disclaimer - The proforma invoice and information on this page is intended for educational an illustrative purposes only. Use this information at your own risk. It is strongly advised to consult the appropriate authorities or seek aid of professionals prior to applying this template to you practise.
This template contains three different formats, each on the separate worksheet, typical portrait format, landscape and third, which is also a portrait, but designed specifically for printing on your own letterheads, which practically requires minimum customization.
When it comes to customizing this template, most of the instructions for customizing pro forma invoice that we could possibly provide is to change the values in square brackets [. ] and inserting your companies logo, since it's been designed in line with a typical to pro forma invoice standards, although the standards may be different for other countries, therefore we strongly advise consulting with appropriate professionals prior to applying it to your practise.
Clarification and Contact Details
Pro forma invoice can be identified as the most correct way of providing complete quote to buyers, that contains detailed information of the goods, costs, customs and shipping fees as well as contact details for both seller and buyer and terms of transaction, which is sent in advance of the commercial invoice, that is the final bill that the buyer agrees to pay.
International Trade, Export and Import
Some of the advantages of pro-forma invoice to the importer include to show to the appropriate authorities for foreign currency allocation, for instance if one country is purchasing goods from another country, there may be currency and exchange rate issues, that would be clearly explained through the use of a pro forma invoice. Other advantage of this document is opening letters of credit and most importantly, to have a detailed information on the transaction that can help to plan.
Custom Duty Calculations
In most countries pro-forma invoice is required and used by customs document that helps to calculate the anticipated cost for customs duties when the goods are crossing borders that helps to avoid surprises in trade exchanges and aims at addressing all factors which may be involved in specific trade obligations.
Additional Source of Funding
The pro forma invoice can really become handy, when buyers need to seek for additional funding source for the project in the event where transaction trade involves significant cost, which may be required by financial institution as a base of establishing a letter of credit to the buyer.
Non-Binding Document
The contents of pro forma invoice may look similar to the final commercial invoice, however, for all intents and purposes is not usually binding on the parties involved, what gives the seller an opportunity to revise the cost calculations prior to issuing the final cost, when at the same time, buyers have the option to review the planned purchase, and may decline the purchase altogether.
