Proforma Invoice: What You Need Before Importing from China

Before goods exist, deals do — and the document that captures a deal before production is the proforma invoice. Importers meet it early: suppliers issue one to confirm an order, banks may want one for payment, and some import registrations ask for one before anything ships.

What a proforma invoice is

A proforma is a preliminary invoice issued before the sale is completed. It looks like a commercial invoice — parties, products, quantities, unit prices, trade term, validity — but it is a quotation-turned-commitment, not a demand for payment against delivered goods. Think of it as the written shape of the deal you are about to make.

What it's used for

• Confirming order details with the supplier before deposit payment
• Arranging international payment or letters of credit through your bank
• Applying for import permits or licenses that require order evidence
• Budgeting duty and freight before production starts

What to check before you accept one

Read the trade term first: EXW, FOB, CIF, and DAP each move a different share of the cost and risk onto you, and the same unit price means very different totals under different terms. Then check the product specification is precise enough to hold the supplier to it, the validity date, banking details against the company name, and whether tooling, molds, or packaging are inside or outside the price.

From proforma to commercial invoice

When the goods ship, the commercial invoice takes over — and customs will read that document, not the proforma. Ideally the commercial invoice is the proforma with reality filled in: final quantities, final values, same descriptions. Problems appear when the two diverge silently — quantities changed during production, a discount was applied, a product was substituted — and nobody updated the paperwork. Consistency between the documents you used to pay and the documents you use to clear is part of what our pre-shipment review checks.

A practical habit

Keep the proforma, the commercial invoice, and the packing list in one folder per order, and compare them once before cargo leaves China. Five minutes of comparison prevents most of the document mismatches that cause clearance questions later.