Proforma Invoice
A proforma invoice is a preliminary bill sent before work begins or goods are delivered, outlining expected costs — it is not a demand for payment and has no legal invoice status under GST.
A proforma invoice looks like a regular invoice but serves a different purpose: it’s sent in advance, often to confirm pricing and scope before a client commits, or to support an advance payment request.
Unlike a tax invoice, a proforma invoice doesn’t need to follow GST invoicing rules exactly, isn’t recorded in your GST returns, and shouldn’t be used as proof of a completed sale for accounting purposes.
Once the client confirms and you begin work (or deliver goods), you issue a proper tax invoice — the proforma is really a quotation-adjacent document, not a substitute for one.
Written by the InvoicePilot Team.