The Pro Forma Invoice: What a China Order Confirmation Must Actually State

Most first orders from China are confirmed with a single sheet the supplier calls a PI, or pro forma invoice. It looks like an invoice, but it is issued before the goods exist. It is the quotation turned into a binding order: it fixes the specification, the price, the quantity, the payment terms and the shipping terms, and both sides sign it. Your bank uses it to register the import and, if you pay by letter of credit, to build the credit. Bangladesh customs later compares it against the commercial invoice and the packing list. If the pro forma invoice is vague or inconsistent, every downstream step inherits that problem. This guide sits alongside our essential import documents guide and the LCA form explainer.

Pro forma invoice versus commercial invoice

They are not the same document and customs treats them differently. The pro forma invoice comes first, at the order stage, and is a declaration of intent to sell on stated terms. The commercial invoice comes at shipment, lists what was actually produced and loaded, and is the legal demand for payment that travels with the goods. In a clean transaction the two agree on description, unit price, Incoterm and currency, and differ only where reality moved, for example a slightly short or over shipment. When they disagree on price or description, the assessing officer at Chattogram has to reconcile them, and that is where clearance slows down and questions start. Treat the pro forma invoice as the master that everything else must match.

The lines a usable pro forma invoice must carry

A pro forma invoice you can safely pay against and register with your bank should include all of the following. If the supplier draft is missing items, ask for a revised version rather than filling gaps by email:

• Seller details — the full registered company name in the same form as on the business license, address, and contact person.
• Buyer details — your company name exactly as it appears on your IRC and with your bank, address, and BIN.
• Pro forma invoice number and date — a unique reference you will quote on the telegraphic transfer and the LCA.
• Full product description — model or article numbers, material, key dimensions, colours, and any certification the goods must carry. A one-line description like plastic goods is not enough for customs or for a dispute.
• HS code — the code you intend to declare under in Bangladesh, not only the Chinese export code. Confirm it against the Bangladesh tariff.
• Quantity and unit — pieces, cartons, sets, with the packing ratio, for example pieces per carton.
• Unit price and total — in a single stated currency, usually US dollars.
• Incoterm and named place — for example FOB Ningbo or CFR Chattogram, using the Incoterms the two of you agreed, with the year of the rules.
• Payment terms — the deposit percentage, what triggers the balance, and the method.
• Bank details — beneficiary name matching the seller legal name, account number, SWIFT code and bank address.
• Estimated lead time and shipment window — production days after deposit, and the target month of shipment.
• Validity — how long the quoted price holds, since raw material and freight move.
• Port of loading and port of discharge — and whether transhipment is expected.
• Signature and company seal — the red company chop makes it a document the seller stands behind.

Why your bank cares about it

Under Bangladesh rules an import against a letter of credit or a contract has to be registered with your authorised dealer bank, and the bank works from the pro forma invoice or sales contract. The value on the pro forma invoice feeds the LCA registration, which is your permission to remit foreign currency for that import. If you later ship for a higher value than the registered figure, you have a compliance gap to fix before you can pay the balance. So the pro forma invoice value should be realistic and, if anything, set with a small margin for an over shipment you might accept. Our telegraphic transfer guide covers how the payment then references this document.

Why customs cares about it

Bangladesh customs assesses duty on a transaction value that it can defend. Officers cross-check the declared value against the commercial invoice, the pro forma invoice if it is on file, the letter of credit, and their own reference database of values for similar goods. A pro forma invoice with a full description and a credible unit price supports your declared value. A thin description or a price that sits well below the reference band invites a query, a request for the manufacturer price list, or an uplift. The pro forma invoice will not by itself win a valuation dispute, but a strong one keeps you out of many of them.

The mismatches that cause trouble

A handful of inconsistencies between the pro forma invoice and later documents cause most of the friction. Watch for these before you sign:

• Description drift — the pro forma invoice says one thing, the bill of lading and commercial invoice say another. Customs reads the mismatch as a red flag.
• Incoterm confusion — the pro forma invoice says FOB but the price clearly includes freight, or it says CFR but the supplier later bills freight separately. Fix the term so the price and the term agree.
• Currency ambiguity — a total with no currency symbol, or two currencies on one sheet.
• Beneficiary name gap — the bank beneficiary is not the exact seller legal name. This both risks your money and can breach your bank rules.
• HS code left blank — you then discover at clearance that the rate is higher than you budgeted. Settle the code at order stage, and consider an advance ruling for a big or recurring item.
• No packing ratio — the packing list later has to invent one, and carton and piece counts stop reconciling.

Practical points before you sign one

Read the pro forma invoice as if you were the customs officer and the judge in a future dispute. Ask yourself whether a stranger could tell from this sheet exactly what you ordered, at what price, on what terms, and who is legally on the other side. If any of those is unclear, send it back. Keep the signed pro forma invoice with the sales contract, the LCA, the telegraphic transfer advice and, later, the commercial invoice and packing list as one bundle per shipment, because that is the set your bank and an auditor will ask for. The cost of getting the pro forma invoice right is one more email at the start; the cost of getting it wrong is measured in demurrage while a query is resolved.

How we handle it

DE International drafts or reviews the pro forma invoice for every order we place, checks the description and HS code against what will be declared in Bangladesh, confirms the beneficiary name against the supplier license, and lines the document up with the LCA and payment so the bank side is clean. If you have a pro forma invoice on the table now and want it checked before you pay, send it over with your IRC details.

DE International sources, inspects and ships from China to Bangladesh, and handles the customs side at Chattogram and Dhaka. If you want a hand applying any of this to a live order, tell us the product, the quantity and where it needs to land, and we will build a plan and a quote around it. Start at our services page, see how our China sourcing and buying agent service works, browse the shop, or contact us directly.