Proforma invoice for equipment sale to overseas buyer

Does anyone have a proforma invoice for sale of equipment overseas I could peruse (and likely copy the format of)? Have a buyer for a piece of equipment that has requested one and I managed to infect two computers downloading one off the web. TIA

We do a fair amount of business overseas and when they ask for a Pro Forma Invoice we just send them a regular invoice. Works every time.

Athack

Hey guys! I think you should Fetchflow.com for free online invoicing and it is better way of online invoicing.....

fetchflow.com | How do I schedule recurring invoices?

the rules what to put on a invoice so also on a proforma invoice are different for countries
You should be able to find the requirements for the country you are exporting to
I find it on the website of the minestry of foreign affairs But I am in Holland and you in the USA

Peter from holland

I have sold to several companies in South America, China, Taiwan and Turkey and when the ask for a Proforma Invoice I use my regular invoice and Type ..Proforma Invoice.. Proforma Invoice ..Proforma Invoice.... across the top and I have never had an issue.

Now with the computer generated invoice it looks like it was always there. You may want to talk to the company who your using to ship the product to also. I know when I send it via airfreight I have to include my fed ID# so they can assure your a legit company. This all changed after 9/11 so the shipping companies or freight forwarder will help you. Rich

I think you should use the Fetchflow online invoicing platform fetchflow.com | How do I schedule recurring invoices? which is absolutely free. You can make your own excel invoice which you can export in any format and can use it manually for invoicing.

I send out a standard invoice with wire transfer information. When the funds are in my account we ship.

Nothing is free. Not even your spam.

MemphisChild said:

I think you should use the Fetchflow online invoicing platform fetchflow.com | How do I schedule recurring invoices? which is absolutely free. You can make your own excel invoice which you can export in any format and can use it manually for invoicing.

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An invoice and a proforma invoice are the same thing, except that the proforma is there so You dont need to put it in the bokkeeping yet.
Just print normal invoice with proforma text on it.
It will be convenient, clever and legal to have a different numbering series for proforma invoices.
You can cancel proforma invoices easily, as they dont "count" as invoices, in bookkeeping terms.

This is a big deal everywhere else, where there axists a value added tax.
The US is afaik the only major economy that does not yet use value added tax.

The proforma is an invoice for all parties to agree on cost and conditions of shipment, and for declaring values at customs.
It does not (necessarily) generate accounting entries in bookkeeping.

Thus you would have an "in-process" entry, and not a receivable.

Where value added tax is used, generally you need to pay the tax independently of whether you have received the payment.
Generally cross border transaction have zero value added tax between companies (in the EU, unless one part is not registered as an Intra Community Operator for VAT).

For you guys, its simple.
For us in the EU, as well.

Some accountants will want to make it complex, but as far as I see only to generate work and fees for themselves.
There is no legal requirement for anything special.

For clarity and safety, always keep a paperwork trail of all invoices, proforma and not.
And then generate an invoice for the goods, referring the proforma nr.
This is to avoid the appearance of VAT fraud etc. which is a big deal in the EU.

I have lots of experience in the matter over the last 20+ years, and have always found dealing with the tax people in the government painless and easy.
I have always had paperwork, as well - and the two are very closely related.
The form, details and type of paperwork dont really matter, ime, at least in finland, UK, spain, hong kong and the us.

Invoices need to state goods, date, serial nr and sender and receiver.
A tax id is mandatory in some countries - although commonly not used in the us (or hong kong or china).
You can add anything else you want, but dont need to.

If a particular invoice is missing a detail, in case of audit, it is no matter.
Tax authorities know all about different customs in different countries.
What is a biggie is tax fraud - but that would be typical of only one invoice, etc. and that missing details and zero supporting documents.

Where physical goods, machines, tools metal pieces etc are involved its an easy, clear matter.
Goods were made and shipped and received and payment was made. Or not.
As long as the payments, documents and shipments match, you are fine.

If you are missing 100.000 kg of steel, machine, screws or something, or a million dolllars worth of "stuff" you will be likely asked where it is.
If you have a shipping document, packing list, and or customs declaration, you will be fine.

The system is geared for and meant to catch people whose bookkeeping shows a loss, or 10$ profit, and there is a misterious single entry for "shin han wan machine tool company", or say "Honest Abes Machine works" with no offers, orders, payments, letters, credits, guarantees and a 1M$ loss on "goods not received", "lost", "not ok" etc.
And you cannot document what goods, where and what happened to them.
Or any claims. Or where the !M$ came from. Etc.

Its common sense, no more.

I have been audited and asked for audits myself on my companies and done special trades multiple times.
In all cases it was painless, and went as I expected.

In case of doubt I have often gone to the tax office, gotten a meeting, and gone to ask specifically about cases.
They have always been helpful, and almost always useful and knowledgeable.

The tax office(s) help you for free, and their decisions carry weight, unlike accountants and lawyers.
If needed, after a meeting, to conver yourself, you can write them a memo and or an email, refer to what you asked and what you understood.
Ask them to deny or confirm it, if you want.
It will greatly help you if it ever comes up later.

This was important, for example, in shipping 5M$ worth of machine tools without VAT in a cross border sale.
If I did not have documents, and there was an audit, I was resposible for the 22% VAT on the import independently of whether I had sold the goods or not.
Plus penalties.

If I had a tax office approved opinion, I was golden.
In Spain, and mostly in general, a decision in your favour is binding. They cannot change their minds against you later on.
Its also free to ask.

Best Hannu

Hannu

In some countries they want a Eur1 dokument or a Certificate of origin so the buyer can have some tax refund on some specific items
On smaller shipments sometimes a statement of the seller is enough (Switserland for example)
But you have to know until what amount a statement on the invoice is enough
Also the text of the statement can be pretty particular
And to smooth customs you better state a HScode weight and dimensions
Also shipping conditions and terms of payment are needed sometimes or at least help
It does not mean if you don`t do it exactly like it should the goods don`t go through customs but it can stall things for some considerable time
Also they can give you a penalty if its totally wrong

They threatend to give me one when I shipped some items to Russia The invoice was payed for and in name of a compagnie from the virgin islands I had the documents made by a compagnie in Finland The customer arranged shipping from finland to russia Me from holland to finland and there was no real russian adres on the invoice The russian buyer did cooperate so all was solved
That was a real PITA Cost me a couple of dozens of e-mails

Peter from Holland