The “preview invoice” that unlocks advance payments and customs paperwork — free, private, on your device.
A proforma invoice is a preliminary bill of sale sent before goods ship or work begins. It looks like an invoice — itemised goods or services, prices, taxes, totals, bank details — but it is not a demand for payment, doesn't create a receivable in your books, and is not a valid tax invoice. Businesses use it to let a buyer raise a purchase order, arrange an advance payment or letter of credit, open an import license, or simply confirm the exact cost before committing. The final, legally meaningful invoice follows once the transaction is real.
Save the proforma to your workspace; when the deal firms up, hit → Invoice and a final invoice is created with its own sequential number and fresh dates, items intact. Proformas keep their own PRO- numbering so your invoice sequence stays clean for tax purposes.
Because the proforma runs on the same engine as the invoice, the final document will match what your buyer approved: same template, same itemisation, same totals — just retitled, renumbered and dated for real. Multi-currency formatting (40+ currencies), taxes including GST, shipping, discounts and amount-in-words are all available.
Like every tool on this site, the proforma invoice maker runs entirely in your browser. Clients, line items and history are stored on your device in IndexedDB — never uploaded, never seen by us, exportable as a single backup file, deletable any time. It also works completely offline once loaded, and the PDF never carries a watermark.
No. It is a preliminary document — no payment obligation, no entry in receivables, and not valid for tax credit. It exists to communicate exact costs before a sale is finalised; the real invoice follows.
Yes, advance payments are commonly made against proformas — that is one of their main uses. Record the payment, then issue the final invoice showing the amount already paid.
A proforma may show GST so the buyer sees the full landed cost, but it is not a tax invoice and cannot be used to claim input credit. Issue a proper GST tax invoice at supply time — one click converts it.
Importers often need it to open a letter of credit, arrange foreign exchange or obtain import permits before shipment. Pair it with a commercial invoice at shipping time.