Free Proforma Invoice Template (UK)

A proforma invoice tells a buyer what they will pay before the sale. It is not a VAT invoice, so the buyer cannot use it to reclaim VAT (HMRC VAT Notice 700, section 17.3). Copy or download the free template below, no email needed. The page also explains how a proforma differs from a full invoice and from a commercial invoice, and when UK businesses use one.

Sources: HMRC's VAT Trader Records manual, VATREC9010 and VATREC9020 (read 21 October 2026), and the export guidance on Business.gov.uk and GOV.UK (read 22 October 2026).

The template

Copy it into a document or email. Square brackets mark the fields to replace. Keep the "not a VAT invoice" marking: it is what stops the buyer treating it as a real invoice and reclaiming VAT.

PROFORMA INVOICE

This is not a VAT invoice. Do not pay VAT or reclaim
input tax on this document.

Proforma number: PRO-0001
Date: [date]
Valid until: [date]

From:
[Your name / trading name]
[Address]
[Email]  [Phone]
[VAT registration number: GB 123 4567 89, if registered]

To:
[Customer / company name]
[Customer address]

--------------------------------------------------------------
Description                     Qty    Unit price    Amount
--------------------------------------------------------------
[Goods or services to be supplied]  [1]  £[0.00]     £[0.00]
--------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Subtotal:     £[0.00]
                                       VAT [20]% (if applicable): £[0.00]
                                       ESTIMATED TOTAL:  £[0.00]

Payment / next step: [e.g. pay to confirm the order; a VAT
invoice will follow on supply / on payment]

Notes: This proforma sets out the goods or services and the
price on offer. It is not a demand for payment and does not
create a VAT point. A full invoice will be issued when the
supply is made or payment is received.

What is a proforma invoice?

A proforma invoice is a document a seller sends before a sale. It sets out the goods or services, the price and the terms, and invites the buyer to pay or confirm the order. It is not a VAT invoice, so the buyer cannot use it to reclaim VAT. Once the sale goes ahead, the seller sends a proper invoice.

What HMRC says

HMRC's VAT manual defines pro-forma invoices as "commercial documents that contain some or all of the information normally contained on an invoice, but which do not fulfil that primary function" (VATREC9010). It says a proforma "details the goods or services which will be supplied if payment is made" and "provides the document against which payment is invited". It should be "clearly described as such" and preferably marked "This is not a VAT invoice".

HMRC's VAT guide says the same thing in plainer words: pro-forma invoices "cannot be used as evidence to reclaim input tax, even if they show all the details required for a VAT invoice", and you should make sure they are "clearly marked 'this is not a VAT invoice'" (VAT Notice 700, section 17.3).

On VAT, HMRC's manual says a buyer cannot use a proforma to reclaim input tax, and that if the issuer "subsequently receives payment and/or makes a supply, a full VAT invoice must be issued within 30 days" (VATREC9020).

Spelling: proforma, pro forma and pro-forma (the spelling HMRC uses) are the same document.

Proforma vs full invoice

The two documents look almost identical, which is exactly why they get confused. The difference is timing and purpose:

• A proforma comes first. You send it before the sale, to set out the price and terms. It invites payment but does not create a VAT point.
• A full invoice comes after supply (or on payment). It is a demand for payment, it creates a VAT tax point if you are registered, and it must carry every field a UK invoice requires.
• You do not keep both. Once the order proceeds, the proforma is superseded by a proper invoice for the same supply, issued within 30 days of payment or supply if you are VAT registered (VATREC9020). Never account for VAT on a proforma.

Proforma invoice vs commercial invoice

If you export goods you will meet both. The UK government's export guidance (Business.gov.uk, understand international trade terms) describes them like this:

• Proforma invoice: it "can act as a quotation and is prepared by the exporter before shipping the goods". It tells the buyer what will be sent and what it is worth. When exporters say they are paid "by proforma", the guidance says they mean payment in advance, with the proforma as the notice of the full amount.
• Commercial invoice: it "provides the information needed to clear your goods through customs in the destination country". It should give a description of the goods, the shipper and seller addresses, and the delivery and payment terms. In most cases it is the document "used to assess customs duties and taxes".

So the proforma comes first, to agree the deal and take payment. The commercial invoice goes with the shipment. GOV.UK's step-by-step export guide also says "you must keep commercial invoices and any customs paperwork" (Export goods from the UK: step by step). Ask your buyer what information the destination country needs from you.

When UK businesses use a proforma invoice

HMRC says pro-forma invoices are "frequently used to offer goods or services to customers who are: not known to the supplier, or of doubtful creditworthiness" (VATREC9010). In practice that covers:

• Asking a new customer to pay before you supply
• Confirming an order and its price before you start work
• Letting a customer raise an internal purchase order or get budget sign-off
• Export sales, where the proforma acts as a quotation before the goods ship

A proforma is not a fundable invoice

If you use invoice finance, a proforma cannot be funded: providers advance against real, raised invoices for goods or services already delivered, not against a pre-sale quote. Turn the proforma into a full invoice once you have supplied, and that invoice becomes the asset a factoring or invoice discounting facility can advance against. See the UK invoice template for the document that does fund.