Proforma Invoice Generator
Draft the pre-shipment proforma your buyer needs for LCs, licenses and approvals — structured like the final invoice.
Sources & references
- ICC — UCP 600 documentary credit practice
- Export procedure guides (proforma usage)
Documents are generated entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Templates follow common international practice; verify country-specific and contract-specific requirements (and any LC text) with your broker, bank or counsel before use.
Disclaimer: This tool is for general informational and estimation purposes only and is not professional financial, tax, accounting or legal advice. All figures are estimates — verify with a qualified professional before making decisions. Read the full disclaimer.
Before any international shipment moves, somebody needs a document that looks like the invoice that doesn't exist yet: the buyer's bank to open the letter of credit, their licensing authority to issue an import permit, their finance team to approve the purchase. That document is the proforma invoice — a formal quotation structured exactly like the future commercial invoice, with prices, terms, HS codes and bank details, but issued before goods exist or move.
About Proforma Invoice Generator
Structure it like the real thing deliberately: whatever the proforma says is what the LC will be opened against, and the final commercial invoice must then conform to the LC. A sloppy proforma ('about 4000 pieces, roughly CIF') becomes an LC with vague terms that the documents can't cleanly satisfy — the discrepancy fees you pay at presentation were usually written into the proforma months earlier. Validity dates matter too: open-ended proformas become price commitments in markets that moved. The bank-details block is the part first-time exporters omit: the buyer's bank needs your advising bank and SWIFT details to route the LC. Including them on the proforma — along with precise Incoterm, shipment window and payment terms — is what lets the buyer's side execute everything in one pass instead of three email round-trips.
How to use Proforma Invoice Generator
- 1Fill in the fields on the left — the document preview updates live as you type.
- 2Review the rendered text until every line reads exactly as you want it.
- 3Click “Download PDF” for a print-ready copy, or “Copy text” to paste it elsewhere.
- 4Keep the file with your shipment records — generation happens locally in your browser.
Why use Proforma Invoice Generator?
- ✓Live preview that updates with every keystroke
- ✓One-click print-ready PDF export, generated entirely client-side
- ✓Structured fields so nothing required gets forgotten
- ✓Free, private and reusable — your entries never leave the browser
Frequently asked questions
Is a proforma invoice legally binding?+
It's an offer, not a contract or a demand for payment — no goods have moved and no receivable exists. But it carries real commitment weight: buyers open LCs and obtain licenses against it, and walking back its prices after the buyer incurred those costs damages more than the deal. Treat the validity date as your protection: firm within it, renegotiable after.
Why does the bank need a proforma to open an LC?+
The LC's terms — amount, goods description, shipment window, documents required, Incoterm — are drafted from it. The proforma is effectively the LC's specification sheet. This is why precision pays: the goods description you write here is the one you'll have to reproduce verbatim on the final invoice for the bank to pay, so write it once, correctly, in words you can live with.
Can customs clear goods against a proforma invoice?+
Generally only in exceptional flows (samples, no-charge shipments, some advance clearance regimes) and usually with conditions — the commercial invoice is the valuation document. A few destinations accept proformas provisionally with an undertaking to produce the final invoice. Plan on the commercial invoice for clearance; use the proforma for the pre-shipment formalities it was designed for.
What should change between my proforma and final commercial invoice?+
As little as possible: actual quantities shipped, final amounts, invoice number/date, and shipment references get added — descriptions, prices, terms and parties should carry over exactly. Under an LC, 'as little as possible' becomes 'nothing the LC quotes': banks compare the presented invoice to the credit's text, not to fairness. Material changes mid-deal need an LC amendment, which costs less than a refused presentation.
Embed Proforma Invoice Generator on your website
Want Proforma Invoice Generatoron your own site? Paste this snippet into any HTML page — it's free, with no API key or sign-up. The tool loads in an iframe and keeps working exactly as it does here.
<iframe src="https://tooljolt.com/tools/proforma-invoice-generator" width="100%" height="640" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px;max-width:680px" title="Proforma Invoice Generator — ToolJolt" loading="lazy"></iframe>Related Logistics tools
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