Pro Forma Invoice
A pro forma invoice is a preview of an invoice sent before the work is done or the real invoice is issued — it shows what a client will owe, but it isn’t a bill yet. Use it to confirm a price before you start, not to record money as owed.
What it means
It looks almost identical to a real invoice — same line items, same total — but it’s a heads-up, not a demand for payment. Clients sometimes ask for one before approving a purchase internally, or before wiring a deposit on a bigger job, so their own accounts team has a number to sign off on first.
The distinction that matters: a pro forma invoice creates no obligation and isn’t tracked as money owed. Don’t number it in the same sequence as your real invoices, and don’t record it as revenue — it becomes a real invoice, with its own number, only once the client’s actually confirmed and the work is underway or done.
A commercial client asks for a pro forma invoice for a $2,400 fit-out before their office manager will sign off. You send one marked “Pro Forma — Not a Tax Invoice.” Once it’s approved, you send the real invoice with a fresh invoice number.
Sending a pro forma invoice using the same numbering as your real invoices — which makes your invoice sequence look broken later, since a number that was never actually billed appears to be missing.
See also
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