Commercial Invoice for Export India: Format, Sample & Free Template (2026)

You've got a shipment ready to leave, and one document decides whether it clears customs and whether your money comes back on time. That's the commercial invoice.

A commercial invoice is the exporter's formal bill for a shipment of goods. It's the document customs officers, banks and the buyer all read to confirm what's being shipped and what it's worth.

As the central document in an export consignment, it's required by both the origin and destination customs.

Get a commercial invoice for export wrong and the goods stall at the port, or the payment gets stuck against your bank's realisation clock. Get it right and both move cleanly.

This guide gives you the exact format, an annotated sample you can copy, a free template, and the GST, IEC, HS-code and FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) rules that keep customs and your bank from sending it back.

Here's a full, realistic invoice for an Indian goods exporter, laid out with every field customs and your bank expect. The data is illustrative, so swap in your own names, codes and figures, then keep the layout as your standard template.

To use it, copy the whole block above into Word, Google Docs or your invoicing tool, then swap the sample names, codes and figures for your own and keep the layout as your standard template.

Notice the invoice doubles as the GST tax invoice. In India you don't need a separate document, provided it carries your GSTIN, the correct HS codes and the export endorsement. More on that below.

What to put in each field, and why it matters

In short, a compliant commercial invoice for export from India must carry:

• Exporter details - your legal name and address, with IEC, GSTIN and AD Code.
• Buyer or consignee - the buyer or ship-to party, in full.
• Itemised goods - a plain description with 8-digit HS codes, quantity and unit price per line.
• Value and currency - the total invoice value (in figures and words) and the currency, stated clearly.
• Trade terms - the Incoterm (2020) and named place, and the country of origin.
• Bank details - where the payment lands: account name and number, IFSC and SWIFT/BIC.
• Rule 46 export endorsement - the exact GST wording, with your LUT ARN or a note that IGST was paid.

The five blocks below group these fields in the order customs and your bank read the invoice. Fields marked with a dot are required by Indian law; everything else is standard trade and banking practice that customs and banks still expect to see.

1. Document and parties

2. Shipping and trade terms

3. Itemised goods and pricing

4. Financials and bank details

5. Mandatory declarations and signatures

The full template is laid out above, ready to copy into your own invoicing document. A downloadable version is on the way.

This is the commercial invoice, the actual bill that ships with the goods and sets their customs value, not the proforma invoice you send earlier to quote the deal.

If you export services rather than goods, you'll file a softex form instead, and our export invoice explainer shows where each document fits.

Working from the template above, build the invoice in this order:

Step 1: Start from your template

Copy the block above into Word, Google Docs or your invoicing tool, and add your letterhead and logo at the top.

Step 2: Add the parties and references

Your legal name and address with IEC, GSTIN and AD Code; the buyer or consignee in full; and the invoice number, date and buyer's order reference.

Step 3: State the trade terms

Incoterm (2020) and named place, country of origin, country of final destination, ports of loading and discharge, mode of shipment and currency.

Step 4: Itemise the goods

One line per product with a plain description, the 8-digit ITC-HS code, quantity, unit and unit price, then the line amount.

Step 5: Total it up

Add the total invoice value, the amount in words, and net and gross weights; break out freight and insurance if you are on CIF or CIP.

Step 6: Add payment and bank details

Payment terms and your beneficiary bank details (account name and number, IFSC, SWIFT/BIC).

Step 7: Add the GST endorsement and LUT or IGST note

The exact Rule 46 wording for your route (see below), plus your LUT ARN or a note that IGST was paid.

Step 8: Declare and sign

The accuracy declaration, the authorised signatory with name and designation, and the company stamp.

Most rejections come down to three things being right on the invoice itself: the classification, the GST treatment, and your export licence.

HS classification: the right 8-digit code

Classify every line under the 8-digit ITC(HS) 2022 schedule.

The 8-digit system is long-standing, not a recent change, but DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) re-harmonises the schedule each year with the Finance Act, so check the live code on DGFT's ITC-HS portal rather than an old list.

Here is how those eight digits break down, using the bed-linen line from the sample above:

The first six digits are the same worldwide; the last two are India's own tariff line. Get the six-digit root wrong and you misclassify the goods; get the last two wrong and you can still draw the wrong duty.

Our guide to an HSN code explains how the digits work.

GST: zero-rated, with the exact endorsement

Exports are zero-rated under Section 16 of the IGST Act, so you don't charge GST to your buyer. Most exporters ship under a Letter of Undertaking (Form GST RFD-11) without paying IGST; the alternative is to pay IGST and claim it back.

Either way, CGST Rule 46 requires the exact endorsement on the invoice, not a generic "zero-rated" label. Copy the wording that matches your route:

Route 1 - under LUT, no IGST paid (most exporters):

"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"

Route 2 - on payment of IGST, claimed back as a refund:

"SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT/SUPPLY TO SEZ UNIT OR SEZ DEVELOPER FOR AUTHORISED OPERATIONS ON PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX"

IEC: your PAN-based export licence

You can't export without an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT, which since 2017 is issued as your firm's PAN, the same 10 characters embedded in your GSTIN. It has to appear on the invoice, the shipping bill and the bill of lading.

IEC holders must also file an annual update (April to June) or the code deactivates, so verify your IEC before a big shipment.

The two documents that travel with it

India keeps mandatory export documents to three, so your invoice ships alongside the shipping bill (or bill of export) and the bill of lading (or airway bill); the commercial invoice and packing list can be combined or separate.

Anything else (certificate of origin, inspection certificate, insurance) sits on top of these.

What a wrong invoice costs you

A wrong invoice is expensive, not just annoying. Four things happen when the details don't hold up:

• Goods stuck at the port. Demurrage and detention charges accrue for every day the consignment waits on a customs query.
• Customs penalties. A misdeclared or under-valued line can draw a penalty or confiscation under the Customs Act, not just a delay.
• Blocked or delayed payment. A value that doesn't match the shipping bill leaves an open EDPMS entry, and a discrepancy against a Letter of Credit can get payment refused outright.
• A lost GST refund or export incentive. Without a valid tax invoice carrying the Rule 46 endorsement, your zero-rated refund and RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) benefit stall.

Each mistake below hits twice, once at customs and once at your bank.

The exporters who almost never get held up have one habit in common. They keep everything consistent.

Keep every document telling the same story

The single most common delay cause is a mismatch between the invoice, the packing list and the shipping bill. Same invoice number, same quantities, the same values and weights across all three.

Customs reads them side by side, and one figure out of step opens a query.

Match the Incoterm and currency to the actual deal

State the Incoterm and the named place, and make sure the invoice value reflects it. On FOB, freight and insurance sit outside your value; on CIF, they're in.

Name the currency in every price. Ambiguity here is a favourite reason for both customs queries and payment disputes.

Keep your IEC and GST status current

Two status checks save the most grief:

• IEC: complete the annual IEC update in the April to June window, or the code deactivates automatically.
• GST e-invoicing: if your aggregate turnover crosses the e-invoicing threshold, report the invoice to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) and print the Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and QR code. The threshold has stepped down over successive notifications, so confirm the current figure with your CA.

Version and archive every invoice

Work from one template, save a copy per shipment, and keep a numbered archive. When your bank or an auditor comes back on an EDPMS entry months later, you want the exact invoice, packing list and realisation proof in one place.

Every customs regime wants the same core data: parties, goods, value, currency, origin. Where they differ is the extra identifiers and how many HS digits they expect. Here's what the two biggest destinations for Indian exporters add.

Country of origin, in both cases, is where the goods were made rather than where they shipped from.

The reason-for-export field

One field trips up small shipments and courier parcels more than any other: the reason for export. State whether the goods are a sale, a gift, a commercial sample, a repair-return or personal effects.

Destination customs uses it to decide duty and whether a low-value waiver applies. A commercial invoice for a gift shipment or a sample still needs a stated value, even if no money changes hands, or it can be held as suspected under-declaration.

The same fields matter to different readers for different reasons. This is why a small slip in one cell holds up the whole shipment or the payment.

A clean invoice starts a chain that runs long after the ship leaves:

Step 1: The shipping bill opens an EDPMS entry

Your invoice value goes onto the shipping bill, which feeds the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) EDPMS and opens an entry against your export.

Step 2: Your bank matches the receipt

When the buyer pays, your AD Category-1 bank matches the receipt to that open entry.

Step 3: The bank issues your proof of realisation

The bank issues your proof of realisation: the Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA) and, for DGFT, the electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (eBRC).

Step 4: You close the entry and claim your refund

You use those to close the EDPMS entry and claim your GST refund or RoDTEP benefit.

One clock runs alongside it. Under FEMA you must bring the proceeds back within a set window, tracked through EDPMS: currently 9 months from the date of export, moving to 15 months from 1 October 2026 under RBI's Export and Import Regulations, 2026.

Miss it and the entry stays open, so a fast, well-documented payment matters as much as a clean invoice.

This is where Xflow fits, on the payment side only. It doesn't write, format or validate your invoice or file your customs documents.

What it handles is the money coming back: you receive at the live mid-market rate rather than a bank's marked-up wire rate (Xflow's February 2026 figures put that edge at roughly 8 to 10 paise a dollar).

Every payment gets an eFIRA within 24 hours, reconciled against your invoices.

Your FIRC, EDPMS and GST-refund process run exactly as before. Xflow holds final RBI Payment Aggregator Cross-Border (PA-CB) authorisation for exports and imports (February 2026), detailed in our guide on xflow compliance, and is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified.

A commercial invoice is the hinge your whole shipment and payment turn on. Get the fields, the HS codes and the Rule 46 endorsement right, keep it consistent with your packing list and shipping bill, and both customs and your bank have nothing to query.

Copy the template, and before each big shipment re-check the pieces that move: the HS code and the current FEMA window. Keep a numbered archive as you go.

The document gets your goods across the border, and getting paid at a fair rate, with the eFIRA that closes your compliance file, is the other half of the job.