What Is a Proforma Invoice?

A proforma invoice is a preliminary document a seller sends to a buyer before a sale is finalised. The term comes from the Latin pro forma — "for the sake of form" — and that captures its purpose perfectly: it looks like an invoice and lays out all the commercial details, but it is provided as a formality, an indication of what the real transaction will look like.

A proforma invoice typically shows the goods or services on offer, the quantities, the expected price per line, any shipping or handling costs, the currency, and the payment and delivery terms. In short, it gives the buyer everything they need to decide whether to proceed, arrange payment, or prepare import documentation.

The crucial point — and the source of most confusion — is what a proforma invoice is not. It is not a tax invoice. It does not record a completed sale, it does not create a VAT liability or a right to reclaim VAT, and it should never be entered in your sales ledger as revenue. For online and marketplace sellers, the proforma invoice meaning in practice is simple: it is the document you reach for when a customer needs the numbers in writing before the deal is done, but you are not yet in a position to issue a final, accountable invoice.

Proforma Invoice vs Invoice: The Key Differences

The question sellers ask most often is proforma invoice vs invoice — what actually separates the two? The short answer is timing and legal status. A proforma is issued before the sale is confirmed; a commercial (tax) invoice is issued after goods or services are supplied. The practical differences follow from that:

• Legal status: A tax invoice is a legally binding accounting document; a proforma invoice is not.
• VAT: A tax invoice records VAT that the buyer can reclaim (where eligible); a proforma may show indicative VAT but gives no right to reclaim.
• Numbering: A tax invoice must carry a unique sequential invoice number; a proforma should not use your sequential series.
• Bookkeeping: A tax invoice is posted to your accounts as revenue; a proforma is never recorded as a sale.
• Payment: A tax invoice is a formal demand for payment of a delivered order; a proforma is an estimate that may invite advance payment.

That last point is where the proforma invoice vs invoice difference trips people up. A buyer can absolutely pay against a proforma — that is exactly how prepayment works — but the proforma itself does not close the transaction in your books. Once payment is received and goods ship, you still have to issue a proper VAT invoice for the same sale.

If you want a deep refresher on what makes a document a genuine invoice in the first place, our guide to what an invoice is sets out the fundamentals, and the required invoice information checklist covers every mandatory field a final VAT invoice must contain.

When Should You Use a Proforma Invoice?

Proforma invoices solve a small number of very practical problems. The most common scenarios for online and marketplace sellers are:

• Quotations and price confirmation: A B2B buyer wants a firm, itemised price in an invoice-style format before raising a purchase order. A proforma gives them that without committing either side to a completed sale.
• Requesting advance payment: For high-value or made-to-order goods, you may want payment (in full or as a deposit) before you ship or begin production. A proforma is the standard way to request it.
• Customs and international shipping: When goods cross a border before a final invoice exists, customs authorities often accept a proforma invoice to declare the shipment's value for duty and import VAT purposes.
• Internal approval: Your customer's finance team may need a document to approve budget or set up a new supplier before a real invoice can be processed.

What a proforma invoice should never do is stand in for the final tax invoice. Using a proforma as if it were a VAT invoice — for example, letting a customer try to reclaim VAT from it — is a compliance error. The proforma starts the conversation; the tax invoice closes the sale.

It is also worth distinguishing a proforma from a plain quotation. A quotation is an offer of a price; a proforma is a structured, invoice-formatted version of that offer that the buyer can hand to their bank or customs broker. Functionally, a proforma invoice sample looks almost identical to a real invoice — which is precisely why clear labelling matters so much.

What to Include on a Proforma Invoice

Although a proforma invoice is not a legal tax document, it should still be complete and professional — buyers, banks, and customs officers all rely on it. A solid proforma invoice template includes:

• The clear label "Proforma Invoice" at the top, so it cannot be mistaken for a final invoice
• Your business name, address, and contact details (and tax/VAT number for context)
• The buyer's name and address
• A proforma reference and issue date, plus a validity period (for example, "valid for 30 days")
• An itemised list of goods or services with quantities and unit prices
• Subtotal, any shipping or handling charges, and indicative VAT if relevant
• The total expected amount and the currency
• Payment terms and accepted payment methods
• Delivery terms (for international shipments, the Incoterms — e.g. DAP, DDP)

Two details prevent the most common mistakes. First, do not use your sequential tax-invoice numbering for proformas; give them a separate reference (e.g. "PF-2026-001") so your final invoice series stays clean and audit-friendly. Second, if you show VAT, make clear it is indicative only and that a VAT invoice will follow — a proforma confers no right to reclaim.

Pro Tip: You do not need a separate proforma invoice generator and a separate invoicing tool. Winkel Factuur lets you create a branded proforma, send it for approval or prepayment, and then convert it into a compliant VAT invoice with a single click — no re-typing, no numbering mix-ups. Start your free trial →

Keep the layout identical to your normal invoices so the document is instantly familiar to your customer — the only meaningful difference should be the "Proforma Invoice" heading and the non-sequential reference.

Proforma Invoices, VAT and Customs

Because a proforma invoice does not record an actual supply, it carries no VAT obligation and no VAT-reclaim right. You may display an indicative VAT amount so the buyer can budget for the full cost, but neither party should treat that figure as recoverable input or payable output tax. The VAT only becomes real on the tax invoice you issue once the sale completes.

This is exactly why the timing rules matter. If you receive an advance payment against a proforma, in many jurisdictions the VAT "tax point" can be triggered by that payment — meaning you may need to issue a proper VAT invoice (or a deposit invoice) at the moment you are paid, not when the goods finally ship. Rules vary by country, so confirm the correct tax-point treatment with your accountant or local tax authority.

For international shipments, the proforma plays a different role. Customs authorities frequently accept a proforma invoice to establish the customs value of goods being imported or exported before a commercial invoice exists — for samples, replacements, or goods not yet sold. The proforma should state an honest, market-realistic value; under-declaring to reduce duty is illegal.

If you sell cross-border within the EU, the eventual tax invoice — not the proforma — is where the real VAT logic lives. For B2C sales above the threshold you charge destination VAT via the OSS scheme, while B2B intra-EU supplies are usually invoiced at 0% under the reverse charge mechanism. Your proforma can preview these treatments, but only the final invoice makes them binding.

From Proforma to Final Invoice: The Workflow

A proforma invoice is the first step in a short, predictable workflow. Getting the sequence right keeps your accounts clean and your customer happy:

• Step 1 — Issue the proforma: Send the buyer an itemised proforma with expected price, terms, and a clear "Proforma Invoice" label.
• Step 2 — Buyer acts on it: They approve the order, arrange advance payment, or pass it to their customs broker or finance team.
• Step 3 — Confirm and fulfil: Once the order is confirmed (and any prepayment received), you supply the goods or services.
• Step 4 — Issue the tax invoice: You now raise the real VAT invoice with a sequential number, the correct VAT treatment, and a reference back to the proforma.

The single biggest risk in this chain is treating the proforma as the end of the process. If you never issue the final invoice — because the customer "already paid the proforma" — your books will be missing the sale, your VAT return will be wrong, and your customer cannot reclaim VAT they may be entitled to.

Manual workflows make this easy to forget, especially across multiple sales channels. That is why it pays to use a system that links the proforma to its final invoice and prompts you to issue the tax invoice as soon as the order is fulfilled — turning a fragile manual habit into a reliable automated step.

Create Proforma and VAT Invoices Automatically with Winkel Factuur

Juggling proformas, deposit requests, and final VAT invoices across bol.com, Amazon, Shopify, and your own webshop by hand is slow and error-prone. Winkel Factuur is built for marketplace and webshop sellers who want every document to be correct, branded, and effortless:

• Proforma to invoice in one click: Create a branded proforma for a quote or prepayment, then convert it into a compliant sequential VAT invoice the moment the order is confirmed — no re-typing, no numbering errors.
• Correct VAT and VIES logic: The final invoice automatically applies the right treatment — destination VAT via OSS for B2C, 0% reverse charge for validated B2B EU customers.
• Branded multi-marketplace invoices: Consistent, professional documents for bol.com, Amazon, Shopify, and WooCommerce orders, all in your own branding.
• Profit & VAT dashboard: See revenue, margins, and VAT across every channel so nothing is missed at filing time.
• Review journeys, buy-box & stock alerts: Automated review requests after delivery, plus buy-box loss and low-stock alerts to protect your marketplace sales.
• Accounting integrations: All invoice and VAT data flows straight into Exact Online, AFAS, Twinfield, and Snelstart — no manual re-entry.

Instead of maintaining a separate proforma template and worrying about which document you sent, you let the platform handle the workflow and you keep selling.

Turn Every Quote Into a Paid, Invoiced Order

Winkel Factuur lets you create branded proforma invoices, collect prepayment, and convert them into compliant VAT invoices in one click — with correct VAT, VIES validation, review journeys, and a profit & VAT dashboard across bol.com, Amazon, Shopify, and WooCommerce. 14-day free trial, plans from €9/month.