What is a proforma invoice?

A proforma invoice looks like an invoice and does the job of a quote. It exists because some buyers cannot raise a purchase order, arrange a transfer or clear customs from a document that says "quote" at the top — but they also must not record a liability that has not been agreed yet.

What it is for

  • Getting a purchase order raised before work starts
  • Letting a buyer arrange an international transfer against a formal-looking document
  • Declaring the value of goods for customs before a sale is final
  • Confirming a price in writing when a quote would not be accepted by the buyer's process

How it differs from an invoice

Nothing is owed. It creates no receivable for you and no payable for them, carries no invoice number from your live sequence, and has no due date. It is a statement of what an invoice will say if the order proceeds.

What to put on it

  1. The same detail an invoice would carry

    Both parties, the line items, quantities, unit prices, tax treatment and the total. The point is that nothing changes when it becomes a real invoice.

  2. A validity date

    "Valid until" is what stops a price agreed in March being claimed in November.

  3. The terms that will apply

    Payment terms, delivery timing and anything conditional, so the buyer approves the real terms rather than discovering them later.

Then issue the real thing

When the order is confirmed, issue an invoice from your normal sequence, referencing the proforma. The proforma stays on file as evidence of what was agreed; the invoice is the document that gets paid.

Draft a proforma invoice

Common questions

Is a proforma invoice legally binding?
It is not a demand for payment, and it does not by itself create a debt. It can still be evidence of what was offered, which is why the validity date and the terms on it matter.
Can a client pay against a proforma invoice?
Many do, especially for advance payments and international transfers. Issue a real invoice for the same amount once the money arrives so your records show a settled receivable.
Proforma or quote?
Use whichever the buyer's process accepts. The content is the same; a proforma simply survives systems that expect an invoice-shaped document.

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