Invoice vs proforma

A commercial invoice is the final demand for payment; it is recorded as accounts receivable. A proforma invoice is a pre-shipment declaration of value; it is not a demand for payment and is not recorded as accounts receivable. Proformas are used for customs declarations, advance payment requests, and pre-shipment customer confirmation.

Tax treatment

A proforma's totals are estimates; the customer is not expected to pay the proforma total. The final commercial invoice is the document that determines the tax liability. On conversion, the proforma's validUntil is dropped; the commercial invoice has its own issue and due dates.

From proforma to invoice

The conversion copies parties, line items, currency, and locale. The proforma number is retired; the invoice gets a new number. The conversion is a true_conversion in the conversion graph.