Free Commercial Invoice Template

What Is a Commercial Invoice?

A commercial invoice is the customs document that travels with an international shipment. It tells the customs authority in the destination country who is selling the goods, who is buying them, what the goods are, what they are made of, where they were made, and what they are worth. Customs uses it to decide how much duty and tax to charge and whether the shipment is allowed in at all.

It is not the same as your sales invoice, even though it usually repeats the same numbers. A sales invoice asks your customer for money. A commercial invoice is a declaration to a government. If the declaration is wrong or incomplete, the parcel sits in a customs warehouse until somebody fixes it, and your customer pays storage fees while they wait.

Every international carrier expects one. FedEx, UPS, DHL, and freight forwarders all ask you to attach three copies to the outside of the parcel, usually in a clear documents-enclosed pouch. Shipments of documents with no commercial value are the only common exception.

How to Fill Out a Commercial Invoice

This commercial invoice template for international shipping walks through the required blocks in order. Here is what goes in each one.

1. Exporter (shipper): Your legal business name, full address, and email. Add your tax registration number: an EORI number in the UK and EU, an IRS/EIN number in the US, or the equivalent for your country. Customs uses this to identify you as the exporter of record.
2. Importer (buyer): The legal name and full address of the party who is buying the goods and who will be the importer of record. Add their tax or EORI number too. A missing importer tax ID is one of the most common reasons a commercial shipment is held.
3. Ship to (consignee): Only fill this in if the goods physically go somewhere other than the buyer's billing address. A common case is a buyer with head office in Germany whose warehouse is in Poland. Turn the consignee block on in the Customs tab and it appears next to the buyer on the document.
4. Invoice number and date: Use your own numbering. The carrier and your customs broker will quote this number in every message about the shipment.
5. Reason for export: Sale, sample, gift, repair or return, replacement, personal effects, documents, or an intercompany transfer. This is the "nature of the transaction" and it changes how the goods are treated. A free sample and a commercial sale are not valued the same way.
6. Incoterms 2020 rule and named place: Pick the rule you agreed with your buyer and type the place or port it refers to, for example FOB Shanghai.
7. Line items: One row per product. Give a plain description of what the thing actually is, the HS tariff code, the country of origin, the quantity with its unit, the net weight of one unit, and the unit price.
8. Charges: Freight, insurance, and any other charge such as packing, each entered separately.
9. Packages and weights: The number of cartons, the gross weight, and the net weight. The tool computes net weight for you from the line items.
10. Declaration and signature: The certification statement, your name and job title, and the date. Print it and sign the line by hand.

Write a Description Customs Will Accept

The single most common reason a parcel is held is a vague goods description. "Gift", "sample", "parts", and "clothing" are all too vague. A customs officer needs to know what the item is, what it is made of, and what it is for.

Compare these:

• Bad: Shirts
• Good: Men's knitted crew neck T-shirts, 100% cotton
• Bad: Machine parts
• Good: Stainless steel ball bearings for industrial pumps

Write the description so that somebody who has never seen your product could classify it. If you sell in a language other than English, add an English description as well.

HS Codes Explained

The Harmonized System is a global product classification run by the World Customs Organization. Every traded good has a code, and that code decides the duty rate.

The first six digits are the same in every country that uses the system, which is almost every country in the world. Six digits is the international minimum, and it is what you should treat as the floor for any commercial invoice. Countries then extend the code for their own tariff. The US HTSUS goes to 10 digits, the EU combined nomenclature goes to 8, and the UK goes to 10.

A code reads in groups. 6109.10.0012 breaks down as chapter 61 (knitted apparel), heading 6109 (T-shirts and singlets), subheading 6109.10 (of cotton), and then the national extension 0012. This tool formats whatever digits you type into that grouped shape automatically.

Two things worth knowing. First, this tool does not look codes up for you. It captures the code you already have from your supplier, your customs broker, or your country's tariff search tool, and prints it correctly. Second, getting the code wrong is your liability, not the carrier's. If you are unsure, ask a licensed customs broker. A wrong code can mean back-duty and penalties years later.

Incoterms 2020: The Eleven Rules

Incoterms are published by the International Chamber of Commerce and define who pays for what and where the risk passes from seller to buyer. The current edition is Incoterms 2020 and it contains exactly eleven rules in two families.

Any mode of transport (7 rules). These work for air, road, rail, sea, or any mix of them:

Sea and inland waterway transport only (4 rules). These assume the goods cross a ship's rail, so they should never be used for air freight or courier shipments:

Two traps to avoid. DAT no longer exists: it was renamed DPU in the 2020 edition, so do not copy it from an old template. DDU and EXQ were withdrawn back in Incoterms 2010 and 2000 respectively, and they still turn up in stale spreadsheets found online. This tool only offers the eleven current rules and labels the four sea-only ones so you cannot quietly put FOB on an air shipment.

Always write the rule with a place after it. FOB on its own is incomplete. FOB Shanghai is a term. For EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, and DDP the place is a named place of delivery or destination. For FAS, FOB, CFR, and CIF it is a named port.

What US Customs Requires

If you are shipping into the United States, the required contents of a commercial invoice are set out in 19 CFR 141.86. In plain terms it asks for:

• The names of the seller and the buyer, and the consignee where that is a different party.
• A detailed description of the merchandise, including the grade or quality and the marks on the packages.
• The quantities, given in weights and measures.
• The purchase price of each item, in the currency of the sale.
• The kind of currency, stated explicitly. This is why the document prints the currency code such as USD and not only a \$ symbol.
• All charges on the goods, itemised by name and amount. Freight, insurance, packing, and commission each get their own line. Rolling them into the goods value is not acceptable.
• The country of origin of the goods.
• The name of a responsible employee of the seller or shipper who has knowledge of the transaction.

This tool has a field for every one of those. Note that 19 CFR 141.86 does not itself require a handwritten signature - it asks the invoice to identify a responsible person by name. Carriers and the destination country usually do want a signature, so signing the declaration is still good practice, and this tool gives you a signature line for it. CBP and trade.gov publish further guidance if you want the official summary. If you are shipping to another country, check that country's own requirements as well, but the US list is a good superset for most destinations.

Commercial Invoice vs Proforma Invoice

A proforma invoice is a quote in the shape of an invoice. You send it before the sale is agreed so the buyer can arrange payment, apply for an import licence, or open a letter of credit. It is not a demand for payment and it is not a final customs value.

A commercial invoice is issued once the sale is done. It states the actual agreed price, it is the document customs assesses duty against, and it carries a signed declaration.

The practical difference: if the goods have been sold, use a commercial invoice. If you are still negotiating or the goods have no sale price, such as a free sample or a warranty replacement, a proforma invoice is usually correct. In that case customs still needs a value, so state a realistic fair market value and mark it clearly as being for customs purposes only.

Net Weight, Gross Weight, and Packages

Customs cares about weights as much as money, because weight is how they sanity check your declaration and how the carrier bills you.

• Net weight is the weight of the goods alone, with no packaging. This tool computes it as the net weight of one unit multiplied by the quantity, summed across every line.
• Gross weight is the whole shipment on the scale, including cartons, pallets, and wrap. It must be larger than the net weight. If you type a gross weight below the computed net, the tool shows a warning so you can catch the typo before it reaches the carrier.
• Packages is the number of cartons or pieces the carrier will physically handle.

FedEx and UPS Commercial Invoices

Searching for a fedex commercial invoice template or a ups commercial invoice template usually lands you on a static PDF form you have to print and fill in by hand, or open in a PDF reader that mangles the layout.

The information the carriers want is the same in every case, because it is the destination country's customs authority asking, not the carrier. Any commercial invoice that carries the exporter, importer, description, HS code, origin, quantity, value, currency, charges, Incoterm, and a signature will be accepted by FedEx, UPS, DHL, and freight forwarders alike. The PDF this tool produces carries all of that.

Print three copies. One goes to the destination customs authority, one travels with the goods, and one stays with you. Sign each copy by hand in ink. Some destinations still reject a printed signature.

Tips That Save You Delays

• Match the invoice to the parcel exactly. If the box has 100 shirts, the invoice says 100 shirts. A mismatch between the declared quantity and the physical count triggers an inspection.
• Never undervalue. Declaring a $500 shipment as $50 to save your customer duty is customs fraud, and the penalties land on the exporter.
• State the currency code. \$ means one thing in the US and something else in Australia, Canada, and Singapore.
• Keep origin per line. Country of origin means where the goods were manufactured, not where you shipped them from. A US seller can absolutely ship goods with a Chinese origin.
• Sign it. An unsigned commercial invoice is not a declaration. This is the most common single omission.
• Keep copies for five years. Most customs authorities can audit an entry years after the fact.

Frequently asked questions

What is a commercial invoice?

A commercial invoice is the customs document that travels with an international shipment. It states who is selling and buying the goods, what the goods are, where they were made, and what they are worth. Customs uses it to calculate duty and tax and to decide whether the shipment can enter the country.

What is the difference between a commercial invoice and a proforma invoice?

A proforma invoice is sent before the sale is final. It is a quote used to arrange payment, an import licence, or a letter of credit. A commercial invoice is issued after the sale is agreed, states the actual price paid, is the document customs assesses duty against, and carries a signed declaration.

What must a commercial invoice include?

Under 19 CFR 141.86, US customs requires the seller and buyer (and the consignee where different), a detailed description of the goods, quantities in weights and measures, the unit price and total in the currency of sale, the kind of currency stated explicitly, all charges itemised by name and amount, the country of origin, and the name of a responsible employee of the seller or shipper who has knowledge of the transaction. The regulation does not itself require a handwritten signature, but carriers and the destination country usually do, so signing the declaration is still good practice.

How many digits should an HS code have?

Six digits is the international minimum set by the World Customs Organization, and the first six digits are identical in every country that uses the Harmonized System. Countries then extend the code for their own tariff: the US HTSUS uses 10 digits and the EU combined nomenclature uses 8. This tool accepts 6 to 10 digits and formats them as 6109.10.0012.

How many Incoterms 2020 rules are there?

There are exactly eleven. Seven work for any mode of transport: EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP. Four are for sea and inland waterway transport only: FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF. DAT was renamed DPU in the 2020 edition, and DDU and EXQ were withdrawn in earlier editions, so none of those three should appear on a current commercial invoice.

What is the difference between net weight and gross weight?

Net weight is the weight of the goods alone with no packaging. Gross weight is the whole shipment on the scale including cartons, pallets and wrap, so it is always the larger of the two. This tool computes net weight as the per-unit net weight multiplied by the quantity, summed across every line item, and warns you if the gross weight you enter is below it.

Can I use this as a FedEx or UPS commercial invoice template?

Yes. Carriers do not have their own required fields; they pass your document to the destination country's customs authority. Any commercial invoice carrying the exporter, importer, goods description, HS code, country of origin, quantity, value, currency, itemised charges, Incoterm and a signature is accepted by FedEx, UPS, DHL and freight forwarders. Print three copies and sign each one by hand.

Is this commercial invoice generator free?

Yes. It is completely free, needs no signup, and creates unlimited commercial invoices. Everything runs in your browser, so your exporter, importer and product data never leaves your computer. The exported PDF carries no watermark and no branding.