A proforma invoice is not an official invoice that is used for a sale of goods or services. Instead, it’s a document that predates the sale and establishes the seller’s promise to send goods or services to a customer at a given price. In other words, it’s written agreement between the buyer and seller that records the details of a transaction that will take place in the future. Since the pro forma invoice doesn’t actually record a transaction, it is never used to input information into the accounting system.
Nonetheless, businesses use these documents on a daily basis to establish agreements and acknowledge future commitments. Here’s a downloadable proforma invoice template that you can use in your business. You can either use the PDF as an example or use the Excel version and edit your own.