Commercial invoice template for shipping goods abroad

What a commercial invoice is and who needs one

When goods cross a customs border, customs at the destination wants to know what is coming in before it releases them. The commercial invoice tells it what the shipment contains, what it is worth, where the goods were made, and who is sending and receiving them. Customs uses those details to decide which import duty applies and to work out any import VAT or other tax, so the invoice is as much a customs document as a bill. It is also the real invoice for the sale, which is why it carries an invoice number, a date and the price your buyer agreed to pay.

Anyone who sends physical goods through customs needs one: an online shop posting an order to a customer abroad, a business exporting stock to a distributor, someone sending product samples to a prospect, or a person sending a present by courier. In practice the carrier usually asks for it when you book the shipment, at the same point where you create the shipping label. Services don't need one, because nothing physical crosses the border, so if you design a website for a client abroad, an ordinary invoice template is enough. Goods moving between EU countries normally don't go through customs at all, so they don't need a commercial invoice for customs, but if you aren't sure whether a destination counts, ask your carrier before you book. Getting a commercial invoice wrong mostly costs time: a vague description or a value that looks too low is a common reason for customs to hold a parcel, which means a late delivery, unexpected charges for your customer, and sometimes a parcel sent back to you.

What goes on a commercial invoice, with a worked example

Carriers and customs commonly ask for the details below. Customs in the destination country decides what it actually requires, and a small parcel may not need every one, but an invoice with all of them rarely raises questions. Use the list to check your commercial invoice for export before you hand the parcel over:

• Your name and address as sender (exporter), the buyer's as receiver (importer), and a delivery address if the goods go elsewhere
• Invoice number, date and currency
• A full description of each item, with quantity, unit value and total value
• The HS code, country of origin and net weight of each item
• The total gross weight and the number of packages
• The Incoterms, which say who pays for shipping, duties and import tax
• The reason for export: sale, gift, sample, return or repair
• The exporter's and importer's EORI or tax number, where they have one
• The tracking number
• A signed declaration that the information is true and correct

Take a small studio in the Netherlands that sells art posters, greeting cards and notebooks online and is packing an order for a customer in Canada. The lines on its invoice look like this:

Each description says what the item is and what it is made of, because the duty depends on exactly that, while words like "prints", "stationery", "merchandise" or "gifts" leave customs guessing. The values are what the customer actually paid, €131.00 for the goods, in the currency the studio invoices in. The notebooks are made in Portugal by the studio's supplier, so their origin is Portugal even though they leave from the Netherlands. The net weight on each line is the weight of the goods without any packaging.

Below the lines go the details of the shipment. The net weights add up to 1.05 kg, the whole parcel with box and padding weighs 1.40 kg, and there is one package. The studio gives its EORI number, the customs number that businesses moving goods in or out of the EU or the UK usually have; a business elsewhere gives its tax number instead, such as a US company's EIN, and the private customer here has none, so that field stays empty. The tracking number ties the paper to the parcel, and the owner signs the declaration by hand with name and date.

HS codes, country of origin and Incoterms in plain words

An HS code is a number from the Harmonized System, the international list customs authorities use to classify goods. The first six digits are the same in almost every country, so 4911.91 means printed pictures, designs and photographs, which is where art prints belong, wherever the parcel goes, and each country then adds digits of its own, which is why a full code is often eight or ten digits long. Because the duty rate is attached to the code, a wrong code can mean the wrong duty or a parcel held for checks. The best place to look one up is the destination country's online customs tariff, which you can search by product; if you can't pin down the full local code, the six digits are the part almost every customs office recognises.

Country of origin means where the goods were made, not where they were shipped from. It matters because duty rates and trade agreements depend on it. For things you make yourself the origin is your own country, and for goods you buy in, your supplier can tell you, since it is often on their invoice or the packaging. Some trade agreements need a separate proof of origin for a lower duty rate, which is a different document from the origin column on your invoice.

Incoterms are short trade terms, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, that say who pays for transport, duties and import tax. For parcels the choice is usually between DAP (Delivered at Place), where you pay to get the goods to the buyer's address but the buyer pays the import duty and tax, often to the carrier before delivery, and DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), where you pay those charges as well, so the buyer pays nothing on arrival. EXW (Ex Works) is the other extreme: the buyer collects from your door and arranges everything after that. With sea freight you will also meet FOB (Free on Board), where your part ends once the goods are loaded onto the ship, and CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight), where you also pay the freight and insurance to the destination port. The studio in the example ships DAP, so it tells customers at checkout that import charges may be due on delivery.

Gifts, samples and returns, and proforma vs commercial invoice

A shipment without a sale still needs values on its invoice. Customs works out duty and tax from the value, and a parcel declared at zero looks as if something is being hidden, so declare a realistic value: what the item would cost to buy, or for a sample, what you would normally charge for it. Then make it clear that nobody is being asked to pay, by setting the reason for export to gift, sample, return or repair and stating that there is no charge and the values are for customs purposes only. The description still has to be specific, so write "Sample: cotton T-shirt, screen-printed, size M, not for resale" rather than "sample", and "Hand-knitted wool scarf" rather than "gift". For a return or a repair, add the original invoice number in the notes so customs can see the goods went out earlier.

A proforma invoice comes before the sale. It looks like an invoice but works like a formal quote: it tells the buyer what they will pay, lets them pay in advance, and isn't recorded in your books as a sale. Some shippers also use a proforma for customs when there is no sale at all, such as samples or goods sent on approval. The commercial invoice, by contrast, is the real invoice for the sale, and it travels with the goods.

Many exporters use both: a proforma to get paid up front, then a commercial invoice with the same lines when the goods leave. For a shipment with no sale, ask your carrier whether it wants a proforma or a no-charge commercial invoice, because practice differs between carriers and destinations.

Making a commercial invoice in the maker

In the maker, a commercial invoice is an invoice with the customs details switched on, so it stays your invoice for the sale. It takes the next number in your invoice series, counts in your totals and VAT summary, and is finalised like any invoice once you send it or mark it as sent. The button on this page opens it with customs details on, and on any draft invoice you can choose "Commercial invoice" in the document menu; switching back to "Invoice" hides the customs details but keeps them. The PDF is not an e-invoice, though. If your own country requires sales invoices to be issued as e-invoices or through a government system, has its own VAT or sales tax rules for goods sent abroad, or wants particular wording on export invoices, those rules apply to this sale too. New lines in the maker start with the default rate from your business details, so check which rate applies to an export and change the rate on each line if it differs, then check the rest before you rely on the PDF as your invoice for the sale.

1. Fill in your business details and the client, and add a "Deliver to" address if the parcel goes somewhere other than the client's address.
2. Add each item with a full description, quantity and unit price, then its HS code, country of origin and net weight, which print under the item.
3. Under "Customs details", choose the reason for export and the Incoterms, and enter the number of packages, the gross weight in kg or lb, the tracking number and the EORI or tax numbers; the total net weight is added up from the lines. For a gift, sample, return or repair the PDF has no payment request and says "No charge: the values shown are for customs purposes only."
4. Download and print the PDF, then sign the declaration by hand and add your name and the date.
5. Mark the invoice as sent once the parcel is booked, which finalises it, so check the codes and weights before you do.

Carriers typically want the invoice attached to the parcel, often in a document pouch on the outside, uploaded when you book, or both, so print a few copies and keep one for your records. For a list of the contents inside the box without prices, make a packing slip from the same invoice. The commercial invoice works in all 20 invoice languages (in German it becomes a Handelsrechnung), and in US English the exporter's number is the tax ID, where a US business gives its EIN.

The maker prepares the invoice and nothing beyond it: it doesn't file customs declarations, look up or check HS codes, calculate duties or connect to carriers, and it doesn't make e-invoices, CN22/CN23 forms or certificates of origin. The shipping label itself comes from OpenLabelMaker's label editor, so use the free shipping label maker to print the address label for the same parcel.