A commercial invoice, bill of sale, or receipt is a document that must be provided when clearing or filing entry documents. Commercial invoices are documents required by customs to determine true value of the imported goods, for assessment of duties and taxes. A commercial invoice (in addition to other information), must identify the buyer and seller, and clearly indicate the date and terms of sale, quantity, weight and/or volume of the shipment, complete description of goods, unit value and total value, and insurance, shipping and other charges (as applicable). The Commercial Invoice is one of the primary articles used by customs and its' authorities. Knowing how to go about procuring one and the proper documentation involved is a critical step to success in any business.

The document provides information about the consignor and the consignee and above all contains a complete description of the contents of the shipment, together with details of their value. The declaration must be signed by the consignor. This free commercial invoice template, bill of sale template, receipt template or invoice form was designed with the above requirements in mind. It is in Excel spreadsheet format (xls file), so that you can easily do further customizations by using various tools provided by Excel. If you prefer, you can also download and install one of the free PDF add-in program, such as PrimoPDF, to create PDF format commercial invoices.

In detail, the commercial invoice form provides not only those fields that can be found on a general sales invoice, but also the fields that are special to commercial invoices, such as the Tax ID field for seller and buyer, terms of sale (incoterm), Harmonized Code, Country of Origin. Line totals, subtotal, taxes, total and balance are calculated automatically using Excel formulas. The printable invoice template is designed by default for A4 paper, but you can easily adjust the print options on the Page Setup dialog box of Excel.