Proforma invoice template
Proforma invoice template
A proforma invoice tells your customer exactly what they'll pay before you deliver, so they can approve it or pay upfront. It isn't the invoice itself: when the payment arrives or you deliver, the real invoice replaces it.
Free. No sign-up. A one-page PDF you can send today.
What a proforma invoice is for
A proforma is a bill in advance: the same lines, prices, tax and terms the real invoice will have, sent before you supply anything. You send one when:
- You want paying before you deliver. Made-to-order work, a first order from a new customer, goods you won't ship until the money arrives.
- Your customer needs it to approve the spend. Many finance teams raise a purchase order or release a payment only against a document that shows the exact amount.
- The order may not go ahead. Nothing is owed until the customer accepts and pays, so a proforma that's never paid simply lapses.
How it differs from an invoice
An invoice records a sale that happened. A proforma offers one, so it doesn't go in your sales records, and the invoice you send later is the one that counts.
In the UK, HMRC is explicit: proformas “cannot be used as evidence to reclaim input tax, even if they show all the details required for a VAT invoice”, you should make sure they're “clearly marked ‘this is not a VAT invoice’”, and once you supply the goods or services or receive payment, “you must issue a proper VAT invoice”.
Source: HMRC, VAT guide (VAT Notice 700), section 17.3 (Open Government Licence). This page is a guide, not tax advice; the rules elsewhere differ, so check with your tax authority or adviser.
Filling it in
- The title is set to “Proforma invoice”, so nobody takes it for the real thing.
- The number comes from its own series, such as PF-0048, so your invoice numbers stay unbroken.
- The notes say it isn't a VAT or tax invoice and what happens when payment arrives.
- The lines, tax and total are exactly what the real invoice will show, so there are no surprises later.
- A payment link and the online link with its QR code let the customer pay straight from the proforma.
When the payment arrives
Send the real invoice: same lines and amounts, titled “Invoice” (or “Tax invoice” or a VAT invoice where that applies), numbered from your normal series and dated when you were paid or delivered. If you're signed in, Duplicate on your invoice list copies the proforma into a new invoice; change the title, number and date, and remove the note. Without an account, your draft stays in your browser: change the same three things and download it again.
Questions
Is a proforma invoice a real invoice?
No. It's an offer in the form of an invoice: the goods or services, the price and the terms, sent before anything is supplied. It doesn't go in your sales records as a sale, and you issue the actual invoice once you deliver or get paid.
Can my customer reclaim VAT on a proforma?
Not in the UK. HMRC says a proforma can't be used as evidence to reclaim input tax, even if it shows everything a VAT invoice would, and that it should be clearly marked “this is not a VAT invoice”. This template's notes say so.
Proforma or deposit invoice?
A proforma asks for the whole price before you supply anything, and is replaced by the real invoice. A deposit is part of the price on a real invoice of its own, credited on the final one. If you take part upfront and the rest later, use the deposit invoice template.
Does a proforma use up an invoice number?
Give proformas their own series, such as PF-0048, so your invoice numbers stay unbroken. If you're signed in, the number we suggest for your next document follows the last one you issued, so after a proforma, check it before you issue your next invoice.
What do I send once the customer pays?
The real invoice, dated when you're paid or deliver: the same lines, titled “Invoice” (or “Tax invoice” where that applies), with an invoice number from your normal series. Signed in, Duplicate on your invoice list copies the proforma into a new invoice to change.