A commercial invoice is the invoice that travels with an international shipment, and it's what the customs office at the other end uses to see what's in the box, where it was made and what it's worth, so it can charge duty and tax. What it has to show is set by the country the goods are going to. For Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency lists the fields: the seller, the date the goods left for Canada, the consignee and the purchaser, the country of origin, the transport, the conditions of sale and payment, the currency, the number and kind of packages with their marks, a description, quantity, unit price and total for each line, and the net and gross weight. The United States lists much the same for goods coming in. Unlike a sales invoice, it's written for a customs officer who has never seen your products, so the descriptions have to say what each thing is. In the example below, a New Jersey maker fills one in for a shop in Toronto.
The short version
- A commercial invoice travels with an international shipment, for the destination's customs.
- The destination country sets what it must show.
- Canada: seller, shipping date, consignee, buyer, origin, transport, terms, currency, packages, lines, weights.
- Describe each item so a stranger knows what it is: "Blueberry jam, 9 oz glass jar", not "BB9".
- Show freight separately from the goods.
- From the US to Canada, no Electronic Export Information filing for most shipments.
- TaroStack keeps the order, the lots picked and the delivery note behind each invoice. More below.
The fields, for a shipment to Canada
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Vendor | The seller's or consignor's full name and address |
| Date of direct shipment | The day the goods began their trip to Canada |
| Consignee and purchaser | Who it's shipped to, and who bought it |
| Country of origin | Where the goods were made |
| Transport | Mode, and where the trip to Canada starts |
| Conditions of sale, currency | The agreed terms, and the currency you bill in |
| Packages | How many, what kind, and their marks and numbers |
| Each line | Description, quantity, unit price, total |
| Weights | Net and gross |
| Exporter | Who ships the goods, if not the vendor |
How a commercial invoice differs from the quote before it is in pro forma invoice template, and the domestic version in wholesale invoice template.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Canada | Commercial shipments need a commercial invoice with the Appendix A information, or one with a Canada Customs Invoice, or a completed Canada Customs Invoice (CBSA Memorandum D1-4-1) |
| Export filing to Canada | Shipments from the United States ending in Canada are exempt from Electronic Export Information filing, except goods stored there for, or moving through to, a third country (15 CFR 30.36) |
| Into the United States | Port of entry, the parties, a detailed description with marks and numbers, quantities, the price in the currency of purchase, itemized charges, country of origin (19 CFR 141.86) |
Food going into another country can also need that country's food import paperwork, on the buyer's side. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: granola and jam to Toronto
Pine Barrens Pantry, the made-up granola, jam and hot sauce maker in Hammonton, New Jersey, I use in these examples, got its first order from a gift shop in Toronto:
| Item | Net contents | Quantity | Unit price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maple granola, 12 oz bag | 340 g | 48 | $5.25 | $252.00 |
| Blueberry jam, 9 oz glass jar | 255 g | 36 | $5.75 | $207.00 |
| Hot pepper sauce, 5 fl oz glass bottle | 148 mL | 24 | $5.00 | $120.00 |
| Freight to Toronto | $85.00 | |||
| Total, US dollars | $664.00 |
Four cartons, marked PBP 1/4 to 4/4, weigh 29.1 kg net and 41.5 kg gross. The invoice names the Pantry as seller and exporter, the shop as consignee and purchaser, the United States as the country of origin, a ground parcel carrier from Hammonton as the transport, and the terms: delivered to the shop, with the buyer paying Canadian duties and taxes, net 30. Because the order ends in Canada, there's no Electronic Export Information to file on the US side. The cartons' packing slip is in packing slip template.
Get the template
Download the commercial invoice template. One sheet: the header fields Canada asks for, the lines with item code, description, unit, net contents, quantity and unit price, line totals, the subtotal, freight and the total. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The invoice is typed from the order. When the shop writes back that a jar arrived broken, or a recall touches a jam lot, the invoice doesn't say which lots went in which carton.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the stock side of every invoice: the order, the lots picked and the delivery note.
From order to delivery note. The Toronto shop is a customer with its own terms. Its sales order shows whether the stock is on the shelf, picking takes lots, and the delivery note prints each line's lot and best-before date.
Every lot, traced. Because shipping records which lots went where, one report shows every customer who got a lot, across the border too.
Margins by customer. What each customer is worth is reported on what things cost.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Is the order in stock? | Checking the shelf | Shown on the sales order |
| Which lots went to Toronto | Not recorded | Lots on the delivery note |
| Who got a recalled lot | Searching invoices | One recall report |
Sales orders, picking and delivery notes are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.