Before your goods are transferred, flown, shipped or driven out of the country, a proforma invoice will set the stage, serving as a negotiating tool between you and your international customer and a blueprint for the entire process.
As one of the first documents prepared in an export transaction, a proforma invoice acts like a quote and looks like a commercial invoice. This document, when correctly completed, contains several key pieces of information that will be used on many of the export forms you'll need to create later on.