How to make a proforma invoice, step by step

Before you start: what to collect

• The buyer’s legal name, full address and tax number, exactly as their bank or customs will expect them.
• For each item: description, grade or model, quantity, unit and unit price. For goods crossing a border, the HS code and country of origin.
• The currency agreed with the buyer.
• Delivery terms: date or lead time, and for international sales an Incoterms® 2020 rule with a named place.
• Payment terms: deposit, balance, method, and your bank details.
• How long you can hold the price.

The eight steps

1. Title it and number it. Write “Proforma invoice” at the top, with a number from a series of its own (for example PI-2026-001) and the date.
2. Add your details. Company name, address, phone, email and the tax identifiers your country uses: VAT number, GSTIN, KRA PIN, TIN, registration number.
3. Add the buyer. Name, address, country and tax number if they are a business.
4. List the lines. One line per item, with a description a third party can check, the quantity, the unit and the unit price. Add freight, packing or installation as separate lines.
5. Set the currency and the totals. One currency for the whole document. Subtotal, tax, total; check the rounding, especially for currencies with 0 or 3 decimals.
6. State the tax. The rate and amount the buyer will pay, or the reason none applies (“export, zero-rated”, “exempt”). Add “This is not a tax invoice.”
7. Write the terms. Delivery terms, payment terms, bank details, and for exports the country of origin.
8. Close it. Validity date, your stamp and signature, then send it as a PDF, not as an editable file.

In Word or Excel

Our free templates have every field above. The Word version is for typing into the boxes; the Excel version calculates line amounts, tax and total for you. Two habits avoid most errors: save each proforma under its number, and export to PDF before sending so the layout cannot move.

Online, with InvoiceProforma

In InvoiceProforma, steps 1, 2 and 5 are done for you: the number follows your proforma series, your details, tax identifiers, bank details and footer are filled in from your company profile, and totals are calculated in the currency you pick, with its own decimals. You choose the buyer from your customer list, the items from your product list, set the tax rate, and download a PDF with your logo, stamp and signature, or send it by email or WhatsApp.

The app has no dedicated fields for HS codes or Incoterms: write them in the line descriptions and in the document note, where they print on the PDF.

Checklist before sending

• Is the buyer’s name spelt exactly as on their bank or import documents?
• Would a bank officer understand every description without asking?
• Is there one currency, written clearly, and do the totals add up?
• Is the tax treatment stated, and does the document say it is not a tax invoice?
• Are the delivery terms complete, with a named place for any Incoterms® rule?
• Are the payment terms and bank details correct?
• Is there a validity date you can honour?