Proforma Invoice Template | Free Excel Proforma Template

We have created a free Excel proforma invoice template to download. All our templates are free and easy to use. Before we get to the template, we will look at what a proforma invoice is and its VAT implications.

A proforma invoice differs from a standard sales invoice issued to a customer for several reasons.

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What is a Proforma Invoice

A proforma invoice is a document issued to a customer for goods or services before you supply them. There are a few reasons you may decide to issue proforma invoices.

The customer is new, and you require payment in advance
It is a large order, and you require partial payment upfront
The customer is a bad payer, and therefore, credit is no longer granted
To reserve goods to cover an order

A proforma invoice is a payment request, and once the customer makes the payment for the goods or services provided, you should issue a VAT invoice.

Proforma Invoice VAT

One thing to note about a proforma invoice is that it is not a VAT invoice. Mark the document clearly with the wording “This is not a VAT invoice.”

Can you Claim VAT on a Proforma Invoice?

The tax point on an invoice is when a transaction occurs. The date might be when the goods are supplied or collected or the service is complete. The tax point can also be the date that payment is received. Below are a couple of examples:

A proforma invoice is issued on 15^th January, and payment is received on 20^th February. The tax point is 20^th February, and a tax invoice is issued.
A proforma invoice is issued on 15^th January, and goods are supplied on 1^st February. The tax point is 1^st February.

Once a transaction takes place, a VAT invoice should be issued and include the tax date. You should not delay the invoice until payment is received, as it might be a couple of months later.

You must issue VAT invoices within 30 days of the date the transaction took place.

It is also essential to reclaim VAT in the correct period and the date the transaction took place as a customer.

If a business uses the VAT cash accounting scheme, it can only claim the VAT when money is paid or received.

Free Excel Proforma Invoice Template

Our free Excel Proforma invoice template UK is available to download at the end of this article. It allows you to set up a template to include your business information and logo. The template will automatically calculate the VAT.

How to use the Free Proforma Invoice Template

Follow these instructions to get started with our free proforma invoice template:

Download the template at the bottom of this article
Open the template in Excel
Insert your company logo, if you have one, or delete the message
Enter your business name, address and, at the bottom, complete the payments section
Save the template; this will act as a template for future proforma invoices
If you are using autosave on Excel, save another copy with a different file name.
Enter the customer name, address and order reference, if there is one provided
Enter the date of the invoice. The invoice number should not be part of your standard invoice numbers, but you may want to give it a different sequence of numbers for reference if you issue lots of proformas. You can also leave it blank
You can now enter the details of the products or services required.
The template calculates the totals for you
Enter the payment due by date or leave it blank

The proforma invoice is then ready to send to your customer.

Do not forget that once payment is received or goods or services are delivered to issue a VAT invoice.

Proforma Invoice Template Example

Below is an example of our proforma invoice template:

As you can see from the above example, it is for bookkeeping services before the work is carried out. The tax point will be either when the work is carried out, or payment is made.

Alternatives to using a Pro-Forma Invoice Template

When it comes to issuing pro forma invoices, many businesses still rely on Excel pro forma invoice templates. However, there are a number of advantages to using accounting software instead.

Visit QuickBooks

The software can produce a professional proforma invoice and save the details to the accounting package.
It’s much easier to produce a final invoice when all the information is already entered into the system. This can save a considerable amount of time and hassle when billing customers.
Accounting software can provide a more professional appearance for pro forma invoices, which can impress clients and help to win new business.
You can automate other accounting processes saving you time on your bookkeeping.

Accounting software is a cleaner, simpler way to issue pro forma invoices, and it offers a number of benefits over using Excel templates.

Other Bookkeeping Excel Templates

If you are looking for other invoice templates, we also have a sales invoice template available for when the tax point is reached.

If you are looking for other bookkeeping templates for your business, take a look at our complete section.

Free Pro forma Invoice Template Download

By downloading our proforma invoice template, you agree to our licence agreement, allowing you to use the templates for your own personal or business use only. You may not share, distribute, or resell the templates to anyone else in any way.