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Pro-forma invoice

  • Updated

A pro-forma invoice is a provisional commercial document used primarily in export, international trade, and customs formalities. Unlike a regular invoice, it is not a request for payment, but serves as proof of the value of goods, delivery conditions, transport details, and customs information. Typical use cases include customs clearance, letter of credit applications, banking transactions, or securing prepayments.

For a pro-forma invoice to be legally secure and practical, it typically contains information about the sender, recipient, product description, product value, Incoterms, weight, and dimensions, as well as optional bank and payment information. It is therefore a central document in export processing and helps you efficiently manage delivery and customs clearance processes.

Important

The Pro-forma invoice module is only available if you are using Xentral on the Pro plan.

For more information on the available Xentral plans, please visit our website.

Essential contents of a pro-forma invoice

For a pro-forma invoice to be usable by customs, customers, or banks, it should contain the following information:

  • Sender/Seller: Name, address, company data

  • Recipient/Customer: Name, address, VAT ID if applicable.

  • Document details: Date of issue, unique number, identification as a pro-forma invoice

  • Product or service description: Product designation, quantity, product number if applicable, HS code (customs tariff number)

  • Product value: Unit and total prices, currency (e.g., EUR, USD)

  • Delivery conditions: Incoterms, delivery date/period

  • Transport details: Weight, dimensions, number of packages, means of transport

  • Payment information (optional): Bank details, payment method (e.g., prepayment, letter of credit)

  • Customs details (optional): Country of origin, customs tariff number, net weight

Tip

Pro-forma invoices should always clearly state that they are not a regular commercial invoice. A common phrase is, for example, For customs purposes only – no commercial invoice or For customs purposes only – no commercial value.

In Xentral, there are two ways to create a pro-forma invoice:

  • As a standalone receipt with its own number range in the action menu of a sales order.

  • Via a check box in the sales order if a pro-forma invoice is only required in exceptional cases.

Which variant makes sense depends on how often you use pro-forma invoices and whether you need a clean separation in a separate number range.

Creating a pro-forma invoice as a standalone receipt (Pro-forma invoice module)

If pro-forma invoices are required regularly (e.g., in export or for customs purposes), it is recommended to use the Pro-forma invoice module.

Follow these steps for creating a pro-forma invoice as a standalone receipt.

  1. Open the Sell > Sales orders menu.

  2. Open the desired sales order.

  3. Select the Continue as pro-forma invoice option from the Action drop-down menu.

  4. Decide whether you want to continue the pro-forma invoice with all products or only with stock items.

  5. Click on Save.

  6. The pro-forma invoice is created as a standalone receipt with its own number range and can therefore be tracked separately in the Pro-forma invoice module.

proformarechnung_vorschau.png

Tip

When should you use this method?

  • If pro-forma invoices are required regularly.

  • If the receipts should be managed, archived, or tracked separately.

  • If you need different number ranges for invoices and pro-forma invoices.

Creating a pro-forma invoice via check box in the sales order

For rare special cases, you can simply activate the Pro-forma invoice option in the sales order.

Proceed as follows for this.

  1. Open the Sell > Sales orders menu.

  2. Open the desired sales order.

  3. Activate the Pro-forma invoice option in the General section.

  4. Click on Save.

  5. The term Invoice is replaced by Pro-forma invoice in the receipt.

  6. Download the receipt in the Preview tab or send it directly to the customer.

Important

  • No separate receipt is created.

  • The sales order with the activated Pro-forma invoice option is only placed in the archive if it has been sent by clicking on Send.

Note

When should you use this method?

  • If pro-forma invoices are only rarely required.

  • For individual cases where no separate documentation or number range is required.

Managing and creating receipts in the Pro-forma invoice module

In the Pro-forma invoice module, you can create pro-forma invoices independently of sales orders or merge them from existing delivery notes. This gives you maximum flexibility for both individual cases and bundled shipping processes.

First, use the Smart Search to open the Pro-forma invoice module. In the module, you can perform the following for existing receipts:

  • Edit by clicking on the pencil icon

  • Delete by clicking on the X icon (final, no cancellation)

  • Copy by clicking on the copy icon

  • Or export as a PDF file by clicking on the PDF icon.

You can also create advanced pro-forma invoices in the Pro-forma invoice module. An advanced pro-forma invoice has the following features:

  • Number range: Standalone number range

  • Receipt text: Custom text templates can be defined

  • Alternative designation: Freely selectable global designation possible

Creating a new pro-forma invoice independently

If you need a pro-forma invoice that does not arise directly from a sales order or delivery note, you can create it completely independently in the module, select the customer and positions, and send the document after previewing it. This variant is not linked to other receipts such as the delivery note.

Follow these steps for creating a new pro-forma invoice independently.

  1. Use the Smart Search to open the Pro-forma invoice module.

  2. Click on + NEW at the top right.

  3. Select the desired customer.

  4. Add the product positions to be included in the pro-forma invoice.

  5. Switch to the Preview tab to check the document.

  6. Send the pro-forma invoice via the action field or save it.

Tip

When is this approach useful?

  • For special cases without an underlying sales order.

  • If you want to put together a pro-forma invoice individually.

  • If no automatic link to delivery notes or sales orders is required.

Generating pro-forma invoices from delivery notes

If you have already created delivery notes, you can merge them into a common pro-forma invoice: In the Load delivery notes tab of the Pro-forma invoice module, you select released or sent delivery notes and combine them into a pro-forma invoice using the collective pro-forma function.

Proceed as follows for this.

  1. Use the Smart Search to open the Pro-forma invoice module.

  2. Switch to the Load delivery notes tab.

  3. In the list, you can see all delivery notes with the status "released" or "sent".

  4. Use the search field at the top right to filter delivery notes specifically by customer or project.

  5. By clicking on the arrow icon, you can call up and check individual delivery notes again.

  6. Mark all desired delivery notes that should be combined in a pro-forma invoice.

  7. Click on Collective pro-forma to generate a combined pro-forma invoice.

Note

When is this approach useful?

  • If several deliveries for the same customer should be combined.

  • For export processes where customs authorities require an overview of several delivery notes.

  • If you need consolidated documents for shipping.

Generating pro-forma invoices from offers

In addition to sales orders, offers can also be converted directly into a pro-forma invoice. To do this, select the Continue as pro-forma invoice option in the action menu of the desired offer. This allows you to generate a pro-forma invoice during the offer phase and use it for customers or customs purposes.

Alternative designation for pro-forma invoices (Pro-forma invoice module)

If you would like to use a different designation for your pro-forma invoices (e.g., commercial document or export invoice), you can define this in the system settings.

Proceed as follows for this.

  1. Open the Settings > Administration > System settings menu.

  2. In the Receipts section, enter the desired designation in the Alternate designation for pro-forma invoice field.

  3. Click on Save.

The entered designation is then automatically used in pro-forma invoices. It does not matter whether you create an independent pro-forma invoice or merge several delivery notes.

Variables and customs information

Variables can be used to dynamically insert and automatically output additional details such as customs information, delivery conditions, and a separate customs clearance address in pro-forma invoices.

Available variables

Variables are available in Xentral for pro-forma invoices that are automatically filled with the appropriate values. The following table contains a list of the available variables and their meanings.

Variable

Description

{ANZAHLTEILE}

Number of parts

{NETTOGEWICHT}

Net weight in total for all products

{LIEFERBEDINGUNG}

Delivery condition

Customs clearance information in the pro-forma invoice

You can store and output additional customs information such as the tariff number, country of origin, weight, or a separate customs clearance address in pro-forma invoices. This allows you to use the pro-forma invoice as a comprehensive document for customs purposes and provide all relevant information in the receipt.

Adding customs information

Activate the incl. customs information option in the Pro-forma invoice section of an open pro-forma invoice to display the following details for each position:

  • Customs tariff number

  • Country of origin

  • Weight

Note

You can maintain additional customs information under Sell > Addresses > [Open address] > Details > Payment conditions/Taxation tab. You can then include the information on the pro-forma invoice via the {VERZOLLUNGINFORMATION} variable.

Storing a customs clearance address

Activate the extra customs clearance address option in the pro-forma invoice to record a special address for customs purposes.

Proceed as follows for this.

  1. Open the desired pro-forma invoice.

  2. In the master data, activate the extra customs clearance address option.

  3. In the new Customs clearance section, enter the desired address data for customs clearance.

  4. Optional: Select an address from your address master data by clicking on from master data.

  5. Optional: Enter further customs information in the Customs information field.

  6. Click on Save.

These variables are available for output on the stationery (text templates):

Variable

Description

{VERZOLLUNGNAME}

(Company) name of the stored customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGSTRASSE}

Street name and house number of the customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGPLZ}

ZIP code of the customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGORT}

Town/City of the customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGLAND}

Country of the customs clearance address

Tip

You can use IF conditions to control that the fields only appear if a customs clearance address is present.

Example of variables on the pro-forma invoice receipt

Pro-forma invoice text before product table:

Note

{IF}{USTID}{THEN}Your VAT ID: {USTID}{ELSE}{ENDIF}

Delivery address: {LIEFERADRESSELANG}

Pro-forma invoice text at the end (after free text):

Note

Number of parts: {ANZAHLTEILE}

Total net weight in kg: {NETTOGEWICHT}

Delivery condition: {LIEFERBEDINGUNG}

Customs clearance address: {VERZOLLUNGNAME}, {VERZOLLUNGSTRASSE}, {VERZOLLUNGPLZ}, {VERZOLLUNGORT}, {VERZOLLUNGLAND}

This form was created automatically and is valid without a signature.

proformarechnung_briefpapier_verzollung_und_gewicht.png

Transferring only stock items to the pro-forma invoice

In the Settings > Administration > System settings > Other menu, you can activate the Auto. pro-forma invoice for export "stock items only" option. This specifies that automatically generated pro-forma invoices in the shipping handover (auto shipping) only contain stock items from the sales order.

Note

  • If you work with JIT bills of materials, these should definitely be transferred to the pro-forma invoice. This is also necessary if the header product itself is not a stock item, but contains the sales price.

  • If, on the other hand, you only ship individual products, it can be useful to exclude non-material products (e.g., services) from the pro-forma invoice. This is particularly helpful if the pro-forma invoice is placed inside the package or attached to the outside of the package for customs during export.

Automatically creating and printing pro-forma invoices

If you would like to automatically create and print pro-forma invoices, use the following project settings:

  • Logistics/Shipping tab, Options section: Activate the Automatically create pro-forma invoice for export option. A pro-forma invoice is then automatically created in Xentral for sales orders with export taxation.

  • Logistics/Shipping tab, Stage 2 (Pack) at dispatch station section: Activate the Auto. pro-forma invoice for export option, enter the desired number of copies and the desired printer. For sales orders with export taxation, the pro-forma invoice is then automatically printed in the desired quantity at the packing table.

Storing account details for pro-forma invoices

In the case of prepayment or as a basis for an offer, bank details are useful so that the customer can make the payment. Your bank details can be displayed in a pro-forma invoice via your standard stationery. Alternatively, you can also store your bank details in the text templates for the Pro-forma invoice receipt type.

Pro-forma invoice text at the end (after free text):

Note

Please transfer the amount of the pro-forma invoice to the following account:

Account holder: Muster GmbH & Söhne

Bank: Musterbank AG

IBAN: DE12 3456 7890 1234 5678 90

BIC/SWIFT: MUSTDEFFXXX

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