Free Commercial Invoice Generator

A commercial invoice travels with exported goods and is the document customs values the shipment from. It is not a request for payment, even though it carries prices: the prices are there to establish value for duty, and the same figures usually appear on the buyer’s own invoice.

What each destination requires differs in detail, and the importing country’s customs authority is the only authority on it. The elements below are the ones that appear on commercial invoices generally, and all of them are fields in this generator. If a destination asks for something else — an exporter registration number, a licence, a certificate of origin — that document sits alongside this one rather than replacing it.

• Exporter and consignee, with addresses
• Invoice number and date
• Description of the goods, quantity and unit value
• Total declared value and the currency it is stated in
• A tariff (HS) code and country of origin on every line
• Delivery terms (Incoterms) and the named place
• Reason for export — sale, sample, return, repair and so on
• Country of export, carrier and consignment reference

Duty is not a percentage of the invoice total. It is a rate attached to a tariff classification, applied to the value of the goods in that classification, with adjustments that depend on where they were made. A shipment of chairs and tables can carry two different rates, and the invoice has to let an officer see which is which without guessing.

That is why this generator puts an HS code and a country of origin beside each description instead of collecting them once in a note. A missing code prints as a dash, so the omission is visible on the page rather than hidden in a paragraph.

The three-letter rule on a commercial invoice is not a shipping preference. It fixes where the seller’s obligation ends, where risk passes, and which party pays freight, insurance and import duty. Two invoices for identical goods at the same price can represent very different costs to the buyer depending on the rule stated.

EXW — Ex Works

The seller makes the goods available at its own premises. The buyer bears every cost and risk from there, including export clearance.

FOB — Free On Board

The seller delivers the goods on board the vessel at the named port and bears risk until then. For sea and inland waterway transport only.

CIF — Cost, Insurance and Freight

The seller pays freight and insurance to the destination port, but risk still passes when the goods are on board at origin.

DAP — Delivered at Place

The seller delivers to the named place, ready for unloading. The buyer clears import and pays any duty.

DDP — Delivered Duty Paid

The seller delivers cleared for import and pays the duty. This is the greatest obligation a seller can take on.

These four documents are routinely confused, and sending the wrong one is what holds a shipment at the border or leaves a tax return without its supporting invoice.

Commercial invoice

The customs valuation document for goods that are actually being exported. It states what the shipment contains and what it is worth.

Proforma invoice

A pre-shipment statement of what the buyer will be charged, used to approve the order or release funds. It is not the document customs values the arrived goods from.

Packing list

What is in each package and how much it weighs, with no values. It complements the commercial invoice; it does not replace it.

Tax invoice

The domestic document that supports a VAT or GST claim. A commercial invoice does not take its place where a tax invoice is required.

Furniture exported from Vietnam to Canada, FOB Ho Chi Minh City. Each line is classified and given an origin, and the total is a declared value rather than an amount due.