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Before the sale

Proforma Invoice Template

A proforma is the invoice-shaped document you send before the sale is final \u2014 same line items, same layout, but explicitly not a demand for payment and not a tax document. Buyers use it to approve spend, open letters of credit, arrange import paperwork, or trigger a prepayment. This sheet keeps the proforma honestly labeled, with a validity date so old quotes expire on their own.

Three formats

The quote, in invoice clothes.

Excel — estimate computes

Line items with qty-times-price math, a shipping row, and an estimated total — labeled as such.
Proforma invoice with quote-style line items, a shipping line, and an estimated total box
PDF

Printable PDF

The printable proforma with the declaration note and validity date field.
Download PDF

Word (.docx)

An editable proforma for letterhead — adjust, export to PDF, send.
Worth knowing

Number it like the invoice it will become.

Give proformas their own series — PF-2026-012 — and when the sale lands, reference it on the real invoice: “per proforma PF-2026-012.” The pair gives everyone a clean thread from quotation to obligation, and keeps proformas from polluting your receivables numbering.

Convert deliberately: the moment goods ship or work starts, issue the standard invoice even if nothing changed but the label. Businesses that let the proforma stand in for the invoice end up with customers who treat every bill as negotiable — the document taught them that.

Crossing a border
Commercial Invoice Template
The customs declaration with HS codes and declared value.
Open →
The sale, finalized
Simple Invoice Template
The standard bill the proforma becomes.
Open →
Deposit workflows
Freelance Invoice Template
Bill the prepayment, credit it on the final.
Open →

Frequently asked questions

When do I send a proforma instead of a quote or an invoice?
Send a proforma when the buyer needs an invoice-shaped document before a real invoice can exist: to get purchase approval, to prepay, or to start customs and banking paperwork on international orders. A casual price question deserves a quote; a committed sale deserves an invoice. The proforma is the formal middle — serious enough to act on, explicit that it isn't the bill.
Is a proforma invoice legally binding?
No — it creates no obligation to pay and no receivable in your books. It's a declaration of intended terms. That's precisely its use: everyone can act (approve, prepay, arrange shipping) without either side having booked a transaction. The binding document is the commercial or standard invoice that follows.
What's the difference between this and the commercial invoice?
Sequence and status. The proforma travels before shipment so the buyer and authorities can prepare; the commercial invoice travels with the goods as the actual customs declaration, with HS codes, origin, and declared values that duties are assessed on. Export sales commonly use both — same numbers, different jobs.
Why the validity date?
Because proformas outlive their prices. Materials move, exchange rates move, and an approved proforma from four months ago can come back as a claim on today's costs. “Valid until” makes expiry automatic and re-quoting normal instead of awkward.
Updated through September 2026