Proforma Invoice Format: GST Sample, Export Fields and Free Downloads

Pro forma means as a matter of form. A proforma invoice is a document that takes the form of an invoice before there is anything to invoice. The buyer has agreed to buy, the seller has not yet supplied, and both sides need a precise statement of what will be delivered and what has to be paid first.

It is not a demand for payment that the law recognises as a sale, it is not reported in any GST return, and it gives the buyer nothing to claim input tax credit on. Those three things belong to the tax invoice, which is raised when the goods move or the service is provided.

• To collect an advance.The most common use. The buyer's accounts team needs a document to pay against, and a quotation is usually not enough for them.
• To let the buyer raise a purchase order. Many companies will not release a PO without a document that fixes quantities, prices and taxes.
• For exports. The overseas buyer uses it to open a letter of credit, apply for an import licence or arrange foreign exchange.
• For finance. Banks and lenders ask for a proforma invoice from the supplier before they fund machinery, vehicles or equipment.
• For made-to-order work. When you will only start production after a commitment, the proforma is the document that records that commitment.

The seller is in Tamil Nadu and the buyer in Karnataka, so the supply is inter-state and the estimated tax is IGST. The 18% rate is for illustration. Use the rate that applies to your goods or services.

Check the arithmetic: 20 racks at ₹8,400 is ₹1,68,000, 40 pallets at ₹1,150 is ₹46,000, and installation is ₹9,000, which makes a taxable value of ₹2,23,000. IGST at 18% is ₹40,140, the total is ₹2,63,140, and half of that is ₹1,31,570.

An export proforma carries everything above, without the GST lines, plus the information a foreign buyer's bank and customs broker will look for. Missing fields here delay the letter of credit, and an amended LC costs the buyer money.

The wording on the final commercial invoice has to match the letter of credit word for word, and the LC is drafted from your proforma. Write the descriptions on the proforma exactly as you intend to write them on the shipping documents.

If you are still at the pricing stage, start with the quotation format. If the cost cannot be fixed yet, an estimate is the honest document. For the final document, the GST invoice generator builds a tax invoice with the CGST, SGST or IGST split.

It is not a tax invoice, so say so on the document

GST law describes the tax invoice and its particulars. It does not describe a proforma invoice, which remains a commercial document. Print a clear line at the top so no one in the buyer's accounts team books it as a purchase.

Advances are treated differently for services and goods

Under the rules in force, an advance received for a supply of services is generally taxable at the time it is received, and a receipt voucher is issued for it. An advance for goods is generally not taxed until the invoice. This affects when you pay tax, not what goes on the proforma. Ask your accountant how it applies to you.

Keep the number series apart

Tax invoices need consecutive serial numbers that are unique for the financial year. A proforma that borrows a number from that series, and is then cancelled, leaves a gap.

The tax invoice follows the supply, at the rate then in force

If a rate changes between the proforma and the dispatch, the tax invoice carries the rate that applies on its own date. Say so in the terms, as the sample above does.

1. Send the proforma and set a follow-up date for the advance. An unpaid proforma is a stalled order.
2. When the advance arrives, acknowledge it in writing and tell whoever has to deliver.
3. At dispatch or completion, raise the tax invoice from the same lines, with your next consecutive invoice number, and show the advance as adjusted.
4. Mark the proforma as converted, so it no longer appears in your list of money asked for.

The reminder messages for step one are written out on our payment reminder message page, and HelloGrowthCRM can send them for you through WhatsApp payment reminders.

Blank working files, free, with no sign-up and no watermark. In the Word and Excel files our name appears only on a note you delete before sending.

• Proforma invoice format in Word (.docx): editable layout with the not-a-tax-invoice banner, ten item rows, terms and bank details.
• Proforma invoice format in Excel (.xlsx): live formulas for discount, CGST, SGST, IGST and round off, and an item list that fills in rates. The formulas are explained on the Excel format page.
• Proforma invoice format in PDF: a blank form for printing and filling by hand.

Leaving out the validity date

A proforma is a price commitment. Without an end date it never expires.

Calling it Invoice

The word Proforma has to be in the title, and the banner should say what it is not.

Not stating the advance

Write the exact amount payable now, not just a percentage in the terms. Accounts teams pay the figure they can see.

Omitting bank details

Every day spent asking for an account number is a day the order has not started.

Letting the tax invoice drift from the proforma

Quantities, descriptions and rates should match, or the buyer's three-way match against their purchase order fails and payment of the balance is held.

A proforma that has been sent and not paid is the single most useful list a small business can keep, because every line on it is an order waiting to start. In HelloGrowthCRM the order sits on a deal. The quotation behind it is built with the quote builder, a follow-up task and a sequence chase the advance until it is received, and the accepted lines convert through invoice generation. Paid plans start at ₹899 per user per month, and there is a free plan. See India pricing.