Make a proforma invoice in two minutes

Typically a full description of the goods in plain language, quantities, unit and total values, currency, country of origin, delivery terms and both parties' addresses. Vague descriptions are the most common cause of delay. Requirements vary by country and change, so check with your freight agent. Proforma invoices for customs has a before and after of descriptions that clear.

The buyer arranges payment, an import licence or internal approval, and the goods move. You then send a commercial invoice referencing the proforma number, so both sets of books have a real transaction to record. Keep the figures consistent between the two, or expect questions at the border.

No. There is no sign-up, no login and no trial, and nothing is held back behind one. The page works the first time you open it and the hundredth. Since nothing you type is stored anywhere, there would be nothing for an account to hold. The privacy page sets out what that means in practice.

Yes. Click the logo box at the top left of the sheet and choose an image. Resize it to around 600 pixels wide first: a photo straight off a phone can be several megabytes, and that weight goes into your saved file and any PDF you export. The logo is stored inside the sheet, so it comes back with the proforma invoice next time you open it.

Use Save as file to write a small .json file to your own disk, then Open a saved file to bring it back with everything in place, logo included. That file is also the quickest way to build a template: fill in your own details once, save it, and open that copy each time. The proforma invoice template guide covers what to fix and what to leave blank.

Choose Print or save PDF, then pick Save as PDF as the destination in your browser's print dialogue. The file is produced on your own machine and never passes through a server. Two settings decide how it looks: background graphics on, and scale at 100%. Turning an invoice into a PDF explains both, and they behave the same on every sheet here.

Every currency in common use. The picker opens on the one that matches your country, worked out from your browser's own locale rather than by looking anything up over the network. Change it whenever you like and the symbol follows through to every figure on the proforma invoice. If you bill across a border, invoicing a client in another currency covers the decisions worth making first.

No. There is no server behind this page. Client names, prices, notes and your logo stay in the browser tab while it is open and go when you close it, which is why saving to a file matters. The privacy page sets out exactly what does and does not happen, including the one external request the site still makes.

No. It sets out what a sale will cost before it happens. It does not create a debt and should not be entered as a sale, which is the most common mistake with this document. Send a commercial invoice when the goods ship. What is a proforma invoice covers the distinction.

Often yes, and advance payment is one of its main uses in export trade. Follow it with a commercial invoice for the accounts of both sides: the proforma is the reason the money moved, the invoice is the record of the sale. Put your full bank details, including SWIFT, on the document.

Yes, if your prices or freight costs move, which they usually do. Put it in the Details box so the buyer knows how long the figures hold. An open-ended proforma is an offer you may be held to after your costs have changed. The proforma template guide keeps the field in place.