Proforma invoice - what it is, when to use it, and how to convert it to a fiscal invoice

Confusion can lead to costly errors: either issuing a fiscal invoice for a client who never pays, or issuing a proforma and forgetting to generate the real invoice after collection.

• Proforma: commercial document, no VAT due, no accounting entry, no e-invoicing transmission.
• Fiscal invoice: document with tax effects, recorded in accounts and reported to tax authorities.
• Upon receipt of payment, an advance invoice is issued; upon delivery, the final invoice regularises the advance.

An accepted quote generates a proforma, which is sent to the client with payment instructions. Once the payment is automatically identified via bank reconciliation, the system triggers the fiscal invoice, transmits it to the tax authority, and releases the order for delivery.

• Zero data re-entry between quote, proforma, and invoice.
• Payments recognized automatically through bank statement synchronization.
• Unpaid proformas visible in a single report with aging analysis.

While there is no mandatory fiscal format, a professional proforma contains the same data as an invoice - parties, items, quantities, prices, informative VAT, totals - plus the price validity period and payment details. The mention 'PROFORMA - not a fiscal document' must be clearly visible.