subject: How do I find a commercial invoice sample for my export business? [print this page] How do I find a commercial invoice sample for my export business?
If you are in the export trade or a new importer of goods, it would be wise to familiarize yourself with a commercial invoice. Templates and samples are available online from numerous websites. You can obviously download free commercial invoice sample templates and customize these with your own company details.
A commercial invoice requires a verification statement appended thereto and also contains an original signature. You could approach a printing company to generate invoice books which already have all the necessary details and in which each invoice is numbered. These books are used with carbon paper for copies retained by you or carbonized sheets (which mean you never need to look for carbon paper and you avoid the inky mess).
Alternatively, you could purchase a business documents' solution software package and create uniform and professional looking company documents, including commercial invoices. This is a safe route as with an accounting package, all documents are linked and you can easily generate your invoice for payment once the goods have been delivered. A commercial invoice is not an account, so you must still send the customer, an invoice which gives payment details for him to act upon.
If you choose the download route, make sure that you save a master copy as a template and file all numbered copies used thereafter.
The important thing to remember when choosing a commercial invoice sample is that it is a legally binding document and any details which are omitted or incorrectly filled out could result in there being delays in your shipment being delivered to the buyer/importer. Details as reflected in most samples on the Internet or through an answer page such as Wikipedia must be carefully reproduced or included in your commercial invoice.
A rule of thumb for business documents always applies: if it requires an answer or query, it has failed.
