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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 payment request, but serves as proof of the value of goods, delivery conditions, transport details and customs information. Typical areas of application are customs clearance, letter of credit, banking transactions or securing advance payments. This makes the proforma invoice a central document in export processing and helps companies to efficiently manage their delivery and customs clearance processes.

For a pro forma invoice to be legally secure and workable, it typically contains information on sender, recipient, description of goods, value of goods, incoterms, weight, measurements and optionally bank and payment information, making it a central document in export processing and helping companies to efficiently manage their delivery and customs clearance processes.

Important

The Pro forma Invoice module is only available if you use Xentral in the Pro plan.

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 details

  • Consignee/customer: Name, address, tax or VAT ID, if applicable

  • Document information: Date of issue, unique number, pro forma invoice marking

  • Description of goods/services: product description, quantity, if applicable product number, HS code (customs tariff number)

  • Goods value: unit and total prices, currency (e.g. EUR, USD)

  • Delivery conditions: Incoterms, delivery date and delivery time period

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

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

  • Customs information (optional): country of origin, customs tariff number, net weight

Tip

Pro forma invoices should always clearly state that they are not regular commercial invoices. A common phrase is: “For customs purposes only – no commercial invoice” / “For customs purposes only – no commercial value”.

Creating a pro forma invoice from a sales order

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

  1. As a standalone receipt in the module Pro forma invoice or

  2. By clicking on the corresponding checkbox in the sales order in case a pro forma invoice is only required in individual cases.

Which variant makes sense depends on how frequently 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

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

Proceed as follows to create a pro forma invoice as a standalone receipt.

  1. Open a sales order in the Sell > Sales orders menu.

  2. Click on Continua as pro forma Invoice in the action menu.

  3. In the new window, select whether you want to continue the pro forma invoice with all products or only with stock items.

  4. Click on Save.

    The pro forma invoice is created as a separate receipt with its own number range and is therefore traceable separately.

proformarechnung_vorschau.png

Note

When should you use this variant?

  • If pro forma invoices are needed regularly.

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

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

Creating a pro forma invoice in the sales order

For rare special cases, you can simply activate the Pro forma Invoice option in the sales order without using the module separately.

To do so, proceed as follows.

  1. Open the desired sales order.

  2. In the General section, activate the option Pro forma invoice.

  3. Click on Save.

    The term "invoice" is replaced by "pro forma invoice" in the receipt.

    Tip

    In the Basic Settings > Tab: System module, you will find the option Alternate designation for sales orders option in the Receipts section. Use this setting to change the default label of the sales order. In the sales order itself, you can find a setting in the General section that allows you to change the subject of the receipt to this very alternative designation.

  4. Download the receipt from the Preview tab or send it directly to the customer.

    Warning

    No separate receipt is created. Sales orders with the Pro forma Invoice option enabled are only stored in the archive if they have been sent.

Note

When should you use this variant?

  • When pro forma invoices are rarely needed.

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

Module pro forma invoice – Managing and creating receipts

The Pro forma Invoice module allows you to create pro forma invoices independently of sales orders or to merge them from existing delivery notes, giving you maximum flexibility – both for individual cases and for bundled shipping operations.

You can also create an advanced form of pro forma invoice here, where you can freely select your own number range, text templates and an individual global designation for the receipt.

Important

The Pro forma Invoice module is only available if you use Xentral in the Pro plan.

You can access the module via the Smart Search and carry out the following procedures for existing receipts:

  • edit (pencil icon),

  • delete (x symbol, final – no cancellation),

  • copy (copy icon),

  • or export to PDF (PDF icon).

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 customer and positions and send the receipt after checking it in the preview.

Note

This variant is not linked to other documents such as delivery notes, so the pro forma invoice is stored in the system as an independent receipt.

Follow these steps to create a new pro forma invoice independent of existing sales orders or delivery notes.

  1. Open the Pro forma invoice module.

  2. Click on +NEW in the upper right corner.

  3. Select the desired customer.

  4. Add the products to be included in the pro forma invoice.

  5. Open the Preview tab to check the receipt.

  6. Send the pro forma invoice via the action menu or click on Save.

Note

When does this approach make sense?

  • For special cases without an underlying sales order.

  • If you want to create a pro forma invoice individually.

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

Creating pro forma invoice from delivery notes

If you have already created delivery notes, you can merge them into a shared pro forma invoice: In the Load delivery notes tab, you select released or sent delivery documents and combine them with collective pro forma in a pro forma invoice.

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

  2. Open the Load delivery notes tab.

  3. In the list, all delivery notes with the status “approved” or “sent” are displayed.

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

    Tip

    By clicking on the arrow icon you can access and check individual delivery notes again.

  5. Highlight all desired delivery notes to be combined in a pro forma invoice.

  6. Click on Collective pro forma to generate a combined pro forma invoice.

Note

When does this make sense?

  • If multiple deliveries are to be combined for the same customer.

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

  • If you need consolidated documents for shipping.

Generating pro forma invoice from an offer

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

Determining an alternative name for pro forma invoices

If you want to use a different name for your pro forma invoices (e.g. commercial document or export invoice), you can do so in the system setting by following these steps.

  1. Use the Smart Search to open the Basic settings module.

  2. Open the System tab.

  3. Enter the desired designation in the Alternate designation for pro forma invoice field in the Receipts area.

  4. Click on Save.

The entered designation is then automatically used in the pro forma invoices – whether you create an independent pro forma invoice or merge multiple delivery notes.

Variables and customs information

Variables can be used to dynamically insert and automatically display additional information such as customs information, delivery terms and a separate customs clearance address into pro forma invoices.

Available variables

For pro forma invoices, the following variables are available, which are automatically populated with the appropriate values:

Variable

Description

{ANZAHLTEILE}

Number of parts

{NETTOGEWICHT}

Total net weight of all products

{LIEFERBEDINGUNG}

Terms of delivery

Customs clearance - pro forma invoice

Additional customs information such as tariff number, country of origin, weight or a separate customs clearance address can be stored and displayed in pro forma invoices.

Adding customs information

In an opened pro forma invoice, in the Pro forma invoice section, check the option Incl. customs information to display the following information per line:

  • Customs tariff number

  • Country of origin

  • Weight

Note

You can maintain further customs information under Contacts > Address > Details > Tab: Payment conditions/Taxation. Then, the customs information can be included via the variable {VERZOLLUNGSINFORMATION}.

Displaying a customs clearance address

Activate the option extra customs clearance address to enter a specific address for customs purposes.

  1. Open the desired pro forma invoice.

  2. Enable the option extra customs clearance address for the master data.

  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 additional customs information in the Customs information text box.

  6. Click on Save.

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

Variable

Description

{VERZOLLUNGNAME}

(Company) name of the saved customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGSTRASSE}

Street and house number of the customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGPLZ}

ZIP code of the customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGORT}

Location/city of the customs clearance address

{VERZOLLUNGLAND}

Country of the customs clearance address

Tip

IF conditions allow you to control that the fields only appear if a customs clearance address is present.

Example of variables on the pro forma invoice receipt (insert into text templates)

Example: Pro forma invoice text before product table

Note

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

Delivery address: {DELIVERY ADDRESSLANG}

Example: 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 has been created by machine and is valid without signature.

proformarechnung_briefpapier_verzollung_und_gewicht.png

Including only stock items in pro forma invoice

Under Settings > Administration > System settings > Miscellaneous, you can activate the option Auto. Pro forma invoice for export “stock items only”. This allows you to specify that automatically generated pro forma invoices in the shipping transfer (auto shipping) contain only stock items from the sales order.

Instructions for use:

  • If you work with JIT parts lists (= Just-in-time parts lists), these should be adopted into the pro forma invoice – even if the header itself is not a stock item, but contains the sales price.

  • However, if you only ship individual products, it may be useful to exclude non-material products (e.g. services) from the pro forma invoice. This is especially helpful if the pro forma invoice is placed in the package during export for customs or attached to the outside of the package.

Creating and printing the pro forma invoice automatically (project settings)

In the project settings, you can automate the creation of pro forma invoices as part of the logistics process as follows:

  • Open project > Tab: Settings > Tab: Logistics/Shipping > Section: Options: Activate the option Automatically create pro forma invoice when exporting, so that a pro forma invoice is automatically created in Xentral for orders with export taxation.

  • Open Project > Tab: Settings > Tab: Logistics/Shipping > Section: Stage 2 (Pack) at dispatch station: Check the Auto. Pro forma invoice for export checkbox Printer and enter the desired number of copies you want to print. For export taxed orders, the pro forma invoice will then be printed at the packing table in the desired quantity.

Including account details for pro forma invoice

In case of advance payment or as 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 default stationery. Alternatively, you can also store your bank details in the text templates for the receipt type pro forma invoice.

Example: Displaying account data after the free text in the pro forma invoice

Note

Please transfer the amount of thepro forma invoice to the following account:

Kontoinhaber: Muster Ltd. & Sons

Bank: Musterbank AG

IBAN: DE12 3456 7890 1234 5678 90

BIC/SWIFT: MUSTDEFFXXX

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