Proforma invoice template: Word, Excel and PDF

The template

Header block

PROFORMA INVOICE — this is not a tax invoice and no payment is due against it
Proforma No.	PI-2026-041
Date of issue	12 March 2026
Valid until	11 April 2026
Your reference	Buyer’s enquiry / RFQ number

Parties

Field	Content
Seller / Exporter	Legal name, full address, country, company registration number, VAT or tax number, EORI or equivalent, contact name, email, telephone
Buyer / Importer	Legal name, full address, country, tax or importer identification number
Consignee (if different)	Who receives the goods physically — used on the transport document
Notify party	Who the carrier notifies on arrival, usually the buyer’s broker

Shipment details

Field	Example
Country of origin of goods	Türkiye
Country of final destination	Morocco
Incoterms 2020 rule and named place	CIF Casablanca, Incoterms 2020
Mode of transport	Sea, FCL
Port / place of loading	Izmir
Port / place of discharge	Casablanca
Estimated lead time	25 days from receipt of deposit
Partial shipment / transhipment	Not allowed / allowed
Packing	20 pallets, shrink-wrapped, ISPM 15 treated wood
Gross weight / net weight / volume	8,450 kg / 7,900 kg / 28.4 cbm
Marks and numbers	As per packing list

Line items

#	Description of goods	HS code	Origin	Qty	Unit	Unit price (USD)	Amount (USD)
1	Stainless steel ball valve, 2″, full bore, flanged PN16, AISI 316	8481.80	TR	400	pcs	28.50	11,400.00
2	Stainless steel ball valve, 3″, full bore, flanged PN16, AISI 316	8481.80	TR	150	pcs	46.00	6,900.00
3	Spare seal kit for 2″ valve, PTFE	8484.90	TR	200	sets	3.20	640.00
Subtotal (FOB Izmir)							18,940.00
Ocean freight to Casablanca							900.00
Marine insurance (110% of CFR value)							160.00
Total CIF Casablanca, Incoterms 2020							USD 20,000.00

Showing freight and insurance on separate lines is deliberate: some destinations value goods on a CIF basis and others allow those elements to be deducted, and your buyer’s broker cannot do either if the figures are buried in the unit price.

Payment and bank details

• Payment terms: 30% advance by telegraphic transfer on order confirmation, 70% against an irrevocable letter of credit at sight, available with any bank by negotiation, confirmed by a first-class bank in the seller’s country.
• Bank charges: all charges outside the seller’s country are for the buyer’s account.
• Beneficiary: exact legal name as registered with the bank.
• Bank name and branch address, account number, IBAN where applicable, SWIFT/BIC, and correspondent bank if your bank requires one.
• Currency: USD. Prices firm until the validity date.

Closing block

• Documents to be provided: commercial invoice, packing list, full set of clean on-board bills of lading, certificate of origin, insurance certificate.
• Warranty and after-sales terms, if any.
• Governing law and dispute resolution, for larger contracts.
• Statement: “This proforma invoice is an offer to sell. It becomes binding upon written acceptance by the buyer or upon receipt of the advance payment.”
• Name, position, signature and company stamp — several import regimes reject unsigned documents.

Word, Excel, or a dedicated tool?

	Word template	Excel template	Online generator
Setup effort	Low	Low	Low — no file to maintain
Calculations	Manual, error-prone	Formulas handle totals well	Automatic; freight and insurance as extra lines
Layout stability	Breaks when lines are added	Print areas need constant adjustment	Fixed, print-ready PDF
Numbering	Manual; duplicates happen	Manual	Sequential, separate from commercial invoices
Saved buyers and products	Copy and paste from old files	A second sheet, maintained by hand	Stored and reusable
Convert to commercial invoice	Retype, and hope nothing changed	Retype	One click: the accepted proforma becomes the invoice
Multi-currency	Manual	Manual rates	Built in
Works offline	Yes	Yes	No
Cost	Office licence	Office licence	3 free documents, then USD 7 for a year, unlimited

For one shipment a year, a spreadsheet is perfectly adequate. The moment you are issuing several documents a week, or the same buyers reorder, the retyping is where errors enter — and an error on a proforma that has already been lodged with a bank is expensive to unwind.

Filling it in without creating problems

1. Write descriptions your buyer’s bank can copy. Material, grade, dimension, model. Not “valves”.
2. Add the HS code to every line, and say which country’s tariff you used. See the HS code guide.
3. Never abbreviate the Incoterms rule. Rule, named place, year — see the Incoterms 2020 guide.
4. Set a validity you can honour, and remember that licence-controlled markets may need 60 days.
5. Use a separate numbering series with a PI prefix.
6. State the payment terms in full. “L/C” alone will produce a credit you cannot work with.
7. Export to PDF, not an editable file, and keep the file small enough for bank portals.

Adapting the template to the shipment

One layout does not serve every movement. Four variants cover almost everything a small exporter sends.

Samples and free-of-charge goods

Keep every field, but replace the payment block with a statement: “Goods supplied free of charge. Value stated for customs purposes only. Not for resale.” Give a realistic value based on your production cost — never zero, which invites customs to assign a value of their own. Add the reason for the movement, because a courier’s brokerage team will ask for it anyway.

Goods for repair, or returned after repair

Quote the original export declaration or import entry reference, describe the goods exactly as they were first declared, and show the repair cost and the value of the goods on separate lines. Several customs regimes assess duty only on the repair value when the paperwork supports it, and cannot do so when the document shows a single lump sum.

Exhibition and demonstration equipment

State “Temporary importation — goods to be re-exported on or before [date]” and list serial numbers for every item, so the same units can be identified on the way out. Where an ATA Carnet is available for the destination it is usually the cleaner route; the proforma then supports the carnet application rather than replacing it.

Shipments backed by a letter of credit

Expand the payment block into full instructions: the type of credit, whether confirmation is required, the documents you undertake to present, the shipment period counted from the date the credit is advised, the permitted tolerance on quantity and amount, the position on partial shipment and transhipment, and who bears which bank charges. The buyer’s bank drafts the credit from this text, so anything you leave out becomes an amendment later.

Related guides

Read what a proforma invoice is for the background, the comparison with the commercial invoice for what happens next, and the export documents checklist for the rest of the shipping file.