What is a pro forma invoice?

A customer may sometimes request a pro forma invoice. Such a pro forma invoice should not be confused with an actual invoice and is not an official invoice.

"Pro forma" means "for the form." It is a preliminary invoice intended to allow the buyer to prepare a customs declaration or fulfill other formalities. Some international companies send them automatically, where it also serves as a type of order confirmation.

A pro forma invoice always mentions the term "pro forma" and does not include a payment request. Therefore, it is not considered an official invoice.

Creating a Pro Forma Invoice

To create a pro forma invoice, you can generate a payment request. If you haven't activated the payment request module yet, you can enable it through the “Modules” page.

Before creating the payment request, you need to first create a new layout for pro forma invoices. To create the new layout, go to the “Layouts” page.

Duplicate the current layout or create a new one. Name the layout something like “Pro Forma Invoice.”

In the “Title” block, set the “Format” to use a “Custom Title.” In the “Custom Title” field, enter “Pro Forma Invoice.”

Save the layout and go to the “Options” for the layout.

And set the layout as the default layout for payment requests.

When you now create a payment request, you will notice that the “Pro Forma Invoice” layout is selected at the bottom.

The payment request will now be labeled as “Pro Forma Invoice” when printed and sent to the customer.

If you do not create regular payment requests, you can also have all payment requests printed as pro forma invoices. You do not need to create a separate layout for this; instead, you can specify a custom title for all order forms.

To do this, go to “Settings” > “Advanced” and set “Rename Payment Request to Pro Forma Invoice on Print.”