Proforma Invoice Format in Excel for GST-Registered Businesses

A proforma is not a tax invoice, and section 31 of the CGST Act does not mention one. It creates no liability and gives your buyer no credit. What it can trigger is a document most businesses never raise. Updated September 2026.

Quotes the tax the eventual invoice will carry, so converting it is not a retype
Receipt voucher included, because section 31(3)(d) requires one the moment an advance arrives, even where no tax is due on it
Export and SEZ endorsement wording fills in from the supply type you pick

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Proforma Invoice Format

For Indian Exporters & B2B Sellers

Sheets · Excel template

Section 31, CGST

What's Inside

Six sheets covering the document and what follows it

Printable Proforma Invoice

Marked NOT A TAX INVOICE at the top, because that is the whole point. Pick the supply type and the tax preview, the endorsement and the tax treatment all follow from it.

Receipt Voucher

The section 31(3)(d) document, for the day an advance lands, carrying the particulars Rule 50 asks for. It also answers the question most guidance skips: whether tax is actually due on that advance, which for goods it is not.

Proforma Register

Every proforma, its status, and one column that says what is outstanding. It flags any proforma that has taken money with no receipt voucher behind it.

Export and SEZ Endorsements

Six supply types, from intra-State through export under LUT. The Rule 46 endorsement wording appears for the four that need it, so the buyer's bank sees the right basis from the start.

Worked Example

A filled export proforma under LUT for a polymer exporter in Ahmedabad, showing why no tax is charged and what the endorsement reads. Below it sits the receipt voucher that same advance triggered, so the whole sequence is on one sheet.

Rule Reference

Section 31, section 16, Rules 35, 46, 50, 51 and 96A and Notification 66/2017 quoted with their sub-clauses, so you can check anything here against the source rather than taking our word for it.

Do all of this automatically with Petpooja Invoice

Petpooja Invoice generates GST-compliant invoices with the tax calculated automatically, so the document that follows your proforma carries the right figures without a second entry.

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Why This Matters

The document that creates nothing, until money arrives

A buyer asks for something on letterhead so they can raise a purchase order or release an advance. You send a proforma. Nothing has been supplied, nothing has been billed, and as far as GST is concerned nothing has happened at all.

That much is right, and it is worth being precise about why. Section 31 of the CGST Act lists every document a registered person must issue: the tax invoice, the bill of supply, the receipt voucher, the refund voucher, the payment voucher, the revised invoice, the credit note and the debit note. A proforma invoice is not among them. It is a commercial courtesy, not a statutory document.

So issuing one creates no output tax. A tax invoice is due before or at the time of removal for goods under section 31(1), and within the prescribed period for services under section 31(2). A proforma is neither, and it never enters GSTR-1.

It gives the buyer nothing either. Section 16(2)(a) allows input tax credit only against a tax invoice, a debit note, or other prescribed tax-paying documents. Section 16(2)(aa) adds that even a genuine invoice yields no credit until the supplier has reported it and it has reached the buyer. A buyer who books credit off a proforma is claiming against a document that does not exist in law.

Here is the part that catches people. The moment the buyer pays against that proforma, an obligation starts. Section 31(3)(d) says that on receipt of advance payment a registered person shall issue a receipt voucher. The proforma did not create that duty. The money did. A business that takes thirty per cent up front and issues nothing has already missed a document it was required to raise, and it will not show up until someone reconciles the bank statement against the sales register.

If the order then falls away, section 31(3)(e) allows a refund voucher against that payment, where a receipt voucher was issued but no supply followed and no tax invoice was raised. That is the clean way out, and it only works if the receipt voucher existed in the first place.

The template carries all three documents and a register that tells you which proformas have taken money without a voucher behind them. For exports it also fills in the endorsement the eventual invoice needs under the proviso to Rule 46, so the buyer's bank sees the correct basis from the start. When the proforma does convert, the document that replaces it is a tax invoice, and above the turnover threshold it has to be reported to the IRP before it is valid, which our guide to e-invoice applicability works through. If you also need the document that travels with the goods, our delivery challan template covers Rule 55 end to end.

Sample Preview

What the template shows for an export under LUT

Here's a preview of what you'll get inside:

Supply type: Export under LUT / bond without IGST, picked from a dropdown of six

Line items: HDPE granules 8,000 kg and masterbatch 400 kg, with HSN codes against each

Quoted total: ₹9,99,200 with CGST, SGST and IGST all at zero, because the supply is under a letter of undertaking

Export endorsement: "SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT/SUPPLY TO SEZ UNIT OR SEZ DEVELOPER FOR AUTHORISED OPERATIONS UNDER BOND OR LETTER OF UNDERTAKING WITHOUT PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX"

If the buyer pays against this: "Section 31(3)(d): on receipt of an advance you SHALL issue a receipt voucher."

... plus the receipt voucher itself, which decides whether tax is due on the advance at all, and a register that flags advances with no voucher behind them, across 6 sheets.

Key Numbers

Three provisions that decide what you owe

31(3)(d)

On receipt of advance payment a registered person shall issue a receipt voucher. The obligation attaches to the money, not to the proforma, and it is the one most businesses miss entirely.

Source: Section 31(3)(d), CGST Act 2017

16(2)(a)

Input tax credit runs only against a tax invoice, a debit note, or other prescribed tax-paying documents. A proforma is none of them, so a buyer who claims off one is claiming against nothing.

Source: Section 16(2)(a) and 16(2)(aa), CGST Act 2017

Zero

Mentions of a proforma invoice anywhere in section 31, which lists every document a registered person must issue. It is a commercial courtesy, not a statutory document.

Source: Section 31, CGST Act 2017

Common Mistakes

8 proforma mistakes that cost money

Taking an advance and issuing nothing

Section 31(3)(d) is not optional. The receipt voucher is due on receipt of the money, not at month end and not when the invoice finally goes out. This is the single most common gap.

Letting the buyer claim credit off the proforma

They cannot. Section 16(2)(a) needs a tax invoice or debit note, and 16(2)(aa) needs it to have reached them through your filing. Say so on the document and you save an argument later.

Numbering proformas in the tax invoice series

Rule 46(b) wants a consecutive serial number unique to the financial year for tax invoices. Mixing proformas into that series leaves gaps you will have to explain. Keep a separate series, and treat the conversion to an invoice as the point the real numbering begins.

Reporting a proforma in GSTR-1

Nothing about a proforma belongs in a return. It is not a supply, not an invoice, and creates no output tax. If it has reached your GSTR-1, something has gone wrong upstream.

Using the wrong export endorsement

Under the proviso to Rule 46 there are two, and they are not interchangeable: on payment of integrated tax, or under bond or letter of undertaking without payment. The wrong one on an export invoice is a problem at refund time.

Quoting under LUT without having filed one

Exporting without payment of integrated tax is an option, not a default. Rule 96A(1) allows it only where a bond or letter of undertaking has been furnished in FORM GST RFD-11 before the export. Tick the LUT box with nothing on file and you have under-charged tax on the invoice.

Paying tax on an advance for goods

Notification 66/2017-Central Tax makes a supplier who has not opted for composition pay tax on goods at the time in section 12(2)(a), the invoice date. So an advance against a supply of goods carries no tax at that point. Services are the opposite: section 13(2) fixes their time of supply at the earlier of invoice or payment. Where tax is due, Rule 35 works it out of the money received rather than adding it on top.

Letting a dead proforma keep the advance

If the supply never happens and no tax invoice follows, section 31(3)(e) allows a refund voucher against the payment. That route only exists if a receipt voucher was issued first. Whether the money goes back at all is a matter of your contract with the buyer, not of GST, so agree those terms in writing before you take it.

Comparison

A blank format vs this template

Aspect	A blank proforma format	With this template
What the document is	Looks like an invoice	Marked NOT A TAX INVOICE, with the reason stated
Your GST liability	Left to assumption	Stated: none, and why, on the document itself
Buyer's input tax credit	Not addressed	Stated: none until a tax invoice reaches them
When an advance arrives	Nothing happens	Receipt voucher included, and it tells you whether tax is due on the advance at all
Tax on the eventual invoice	Worked out again later	Previewed now, so converting is not a retype
Export and SEZ	Usually ignored	Six supply types, with the Rule 46 endorsement filled in
Tracking	A folder of PDFs	A register that flags advances with no voucher behind them

Swipe the table sideways to see the full comparison.

Know what you owe the day the money lands

Download the free proforma template, with the receipt voucher section 31(3)(d) requires.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is a proforma invoice valid under GST?

It is a perfectly normal commercial document, but it is not a GST document. Section 31 of the CGST Act lists what a registered person must issue, the tax invoice, bill of supply, receipt voucher, refund voucher, payment voucher, revised invoice, credit note and debit note, and a proforma invoice appears nowhere in that list. So it is valid to send one, and it carries no statutory consequence on its own.

Does issuing a proforma invoice create a GST liability?

No. A tax invoice is due before or at the time of removal of goods under section 31(1), and within the prescribed period for services under section 31(2). A proforma is neither of those, so no output tax arises from it and it is not reported in GSTR-1. The liability attaches to the supply, not to the quotation, and for services also to an advance payment. For goods it does not even do that: Notification 66/2017-Central Tax fixes the time of supply at the invoice date under section 12(2)(a).

Can my buyer claim input tax credit on a proforma invoice?

No. Section 16(2)(a) allows credit only where the buyer holds a tax invoice, a debit note, or another prescribed tax-paying document, and a proforma is none of those. Section 16(2)(aa) goes further: even a real invoice gives no credit until the supplier has reported it in their statement of outward supplies and it has been communicated to the buyer.

What do I have to do when a buyer pays an advance against a proforma?

Issue a receipt voucher, with the particulars Rule 50 lists. Section 31(3)(d) says that on receipt of advance payment a registered person shall issue a receipt voucher or other prescribed document. Whether you also owe tax on that advance is a separate question, and it turns on what you are supplying: for goods you do not, because Notification 66/2017-Central Tax makes the time of supply the invoice date under section 12(2)(a); for services you do, because section 13(2) fixes it at the earlier of invoice or payment. That notification covers a registered person who has not opted for the composition levy, which is most businesses but not all. The duty comes from the money arriving, not from the proforma, and it applies the day the payment lands. If the supply later falls through and no tax invoice is issued, section 31(3)(e) allows a refund voucher against that payment. The template includes the receipt voucher and a register that flags any proforma holding an advance with no voucher recorded. This is general guidance on the GST documentation rules and not tax advice, so confirm your own position with your tax adviser before relying on it.

What endorsement does an export proforma need?

The endorsement belongs on the tax invoice rather than the proforma, but showing it early lets the buyer's bank see the basis of the deal. Under the proviso to Rule 46 there are two, and they are not interchangeable: "SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT/SUPPLY TO SEZ UNIT OR SEZ DEVELOPER FOR AUTHORISED OPERATIONS ON PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX", or the same wording ending "UNDER BOND OR LETTER OF UNDERTAKING WITHOUT PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX". Pick the supply type in the template and the right one appears. This template is general guidance on the GST documentation rules and not tax advice, so confirm your own position with your tax adviser before relying on it.

About Petpooja

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