Free Import Purchase Proforma Invoice Template & Generator
On a first import order the deposit wire is priced straight off the proforma, so every dollar on it has to trace back to either the goods or the ocean leg. This template keeps the FOB subtotal, the freight and insurance lines, and the deposit-versus-balance split on separate rows, because the customs value your broker later declares is built from the goods side alone.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imported product units | 800 | $12.80 | $10,240.00 |
| Export packing | 1 | $680.00 | $680.00 |
| Freight estimate | 1 | $1,450.00 | $1,450.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a import purchase proforma invoice
By the time a deposit wire leaves on a first import order, the proforma is usually the only priced document the supplier has actually issued: your PO says what you asked for, the proforma says what they will build and what they will charge for it. Blend goods, export packing, ocean freight, and marine insurance into one number and nobody downstream can pull them apart again. Your broker cannot see the value US customs actually cares about, which is normally built on the goods side with international freight and insurance excluded when they are identified separately on the invoice. Your accountant cannot tell which costs get capitalized into inventory. And a four-figure deposit can go out against an Incoterm and a named port the supplier never confirmed. Treat any duty or landed figure here as an estimate, and have your customs broker confirm classification and valuation and your accountant confirm the inventory treatment before you budget from either.
- seller, buyer, consignee, and proforma number
- goods, quantity, unit price, currency, and origin
- product codes, packing, and quality requirements
- Incoterm, named place, production, and freight
- deposit, balance, validity, and proforma statement
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Imported product units | 800 | $12.8 |
| Export packing | 1 | $680 |
| Freight estimate | 1 | $1,450 |
Complete it cleanly
Make the supplier quote your PO number and revision back on the proforma; if it does not match the PO you approved, the wire waits. List seller, buyer, and consignee as three separate parties, because the consignee on the bill of lading is often your 3PL's warehouse near the port, not your billing address. Put quantity and unit price on one line, export packing on its own, and ocean freight and marine insurance on lines of their own, so the FOB subtotal stays readable underneath the CIF total. Write the Incoterm with its named port and rules year, the currency as a code, and the country of origin; add an HTS code only if your broker gave you one. Repeat the carton count and shipping marks the packing list will carry, so the broker can match entry documents to this order later. Before the deposit leaves, confirm the beneficiary bank details by calling a number you already had, never one printed on the proforma; supplier bank details that change between revisions are the classic import-payment fraud pattern. Close with production lead time in days, a validity date, the deposit percentage and the base it is calculated on, the exact event that releases the balance, and the line "Proforma invoice, not a commercial invoice for customs entry."
Worked example
First order: 800 growlers, FOB Ningbo to CIF Long Beach
Harbor Loop Supply Co. (Sacramento, CA) is opening a first order with Ruiyang Metalware Co., Ltd. (Ningbo) for 800 insulated growlers, quoted in USD against Harbor Loop's PO 2026-0417, with Pacific Crossdock LLC named as consignee. This is the proforma the supplier issues to start production; the commercial invoice follows once the container is loaded and the shipped quantity is known.
- Goods — 800 insulated stainless growlers @ $12.80, country of origin China, priced in USD
- $10,240.00
- Export packing — master cartons, pallets, and shrink wrap, quoted as a flat lot
- $680.00
- FOB Ningbo subtotal — goods plus export packing, before international transport
- $10,920.00
- International transport — ocean freight Ningbo to Long Beach $1,450.00 plus marine cargo insurance $88.00, ICC (C) covering 110% of the CIF value ($13,703.80)
- $1,538.00
- CIF Long Beach, CA (Incoterms 2020) — total payable to Ruiyang in USD
- $12,458.00
- Payment schedule — 30% deposit, quoted on the FOB subtotal, wired before production starts
- $3,276.00
- Payment schedule — balance, CIF total less the deposit received, released on the scanned bill of lading
- $9,182.00
- Memo, not payable to Ruiyang — illustrative 5% duty on the $10,920.00 FOB customs value ($546.00), plus MPF at 0.3464% ($37.83) and HMF at 0.125% ($13.65), owed to CBP through your broker; brokerage, Long Beach drayage, and any MPF floor or ceiling are excluded
- $597.48
The 5% duty rate is a placeholder that makes the arithmetic checkable, not a rate for this product; your broker classifies the goods and confirms whether packing belongs inside the customs value and whether the freight and insurance lines stay outside it. Nothing above proves what shipped — quantity, weight, and value can all move before loading — so release the $9,182.00 balance against the final commercial invoice reconciled to the packing list and bill of lading, never against this proforma.
When this document is the right choice
Use this proforma invoice to show an expected transaction before a final invoice exists. A proforma invoice is a preliminary commercial document, not a final tax invoice or proof that payment is due. Replace it with the final invoice when the transaction is confirmed.
Frequently asked questions
Can my customs broker file the entry from this proforma?
Plan on no. Entry is normally filed against the supplier's final commercial invoice matched to the packing list and bill of lading, because those show what was actually loaded, and whether a proforma is ever accepted as a stopgap is your broker's call and CBP's, not yours. Where this document does earn its keep is earlier: the ISF has to be filed before the cargo is laden in Ningbo, and your broker builds it from seller, buyer, manufacturer, country of origin, and a six-digit HTS, most of which sits on the proforma and your PO. Ask your broker up front what they need off this document and by when.
My PO says $10,920.00 and the proforma says $12,458.00 — which one does the deposit come off?
Both can be right when the PO was cut on FOB goods and the proforma adds the ocean leg, but the deposit needs one stated base. In the example the 30% is taken on the FOB subtotal, so it is $3,276.00 and the balance carries all of the freight and insurance; if the supplier quotes 30% of the CIF total instead, it is $3,737.40 and the balance drops to $8,720.60. Same money overall, different exposure if the order dies after production but before the booking. Amend the PO to whichever total you are actually paying before the wire goes out, so AP and receiving reconcile to one number.
The supplier loaded 760 units instead of 800. How does the balance change?
Only the goods line moves: 760 at $12.80 is $9,728.00, while the flat-quoted export packing ($680.00) and the booked freight and insurance ($1,538.00) do not scale with quantity, so the revised CIF total is $11,946.00. Deduct the deposit you actually wired and the balance is $11,946.00 less $3,276.00, or $8,670.00 — and that is the reading to put in the terms, because your $3,276.00 is now 31.48% of the revised FOB value instead of 30%, and deducting it in full is what returns the $153.60 over-deposit to you. Recomputing the balance as "revised total less 30% of the revised FOB" gives $8,823.60 and quietly keeps that $153.60, so write "balance = final invoice total less deposit received" on the document. If the quantity changes before production, ask for a re-issued proforma under a new number and update the PO so your file matches.
The forwarder re-quotes freight every sailing. What does re-issuing the proforma cost on Invoity?
Building and previewing are free, so each time the ocean rate comes back different you can rebuild the transport lines, let the CIF total and the balance re-derive, and leave the FOB subtotal untouched, without paying for the drafts. You only pay to export: $2.29 per PDF, which is fine for one order re-quoted once or twice before the booking sticks. If you are issuing a fresh proforma for every sailing across several suppliers, Unlimited at $9 per month or $69 per year covers every version you download.
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