What is Commercial Invoice Generator?
A commercial invoice is the customs declaration of what a shipment contains and what it is worth. Unlike a sales invoice, it exists mainly for the border: it states the shipper and consignee, the Incoterms that decide who pays freight and duty, the currency, and each item's description, HS code, quantity and value. Customs uses it to calculate duty and VAT, and the consignee needs it to clear the goods. This generator takes your line items and produces a document with automatic totals, a clean print layout and the details customs officers look for — including the country of origin and the package count that has to agree with your packing list.
Common Uses for Commercial Invoice Generator
- Ship a first export order without hiring a broker to type the invoice
- Attach HS codes and Incoterms to each shipment for faster clearance
- Send a pro-forma style invoice to a customer before payment
- Produce a document that matches the packing list line for line
- Keep a PDF copy of every consignment for accounting
The lines customs reads first
Country of origin, HS code, quantity, unit value and total value. Errors in the first two change the duty rate; errors in the last three change the duty amount, and customs reconciles all five against the packing list and the bill of lading.
Incoterms decide who pays what
Under FOB the buyer pays freight, insurance and import duty, so the invoice value is the goods alone. Under CIF the invoice includes freight and insurance. Under DDP the seller carries everything, including duty — which also means the invoice value has to be high enough to cover those costs in your own margin calculation.
Keep the documents as a set
Commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading travel together and must agree. Generate both documents from the same line items: descriptions, quantities and package counts should be identical, and the totals should reconcile to the cent.