Guides · Invoicing
The commercial invoice for exports
A commercial invoice is the central billing document of an export shipment — the seller's statement of what is being shipped, to whom, and for how much. It travels with the goods and underpins customs and payment.
What a commercial invoice records
A commercial invoice sets out the exporter and importer, a description of the goods, quantities, values, currency, and the terms of the trade. It is the document customs and the buyer's bank rely on to understand the shipment and its value.
Because exports are zero-rated under GST, the export supply is also documented as a GST invoice, and the details on the two have to be consistent.
Why consistency matters
An export shipment generates a stack of linked documents, and a mismatch between the commercial invoice and the others — value, quantity, description — is where shipments and payments get held up.
Keeping the export invoice's details accurate and aligned with the supply as recorded avoids those hold-ups downstream.
How Lekha records export invoices
Lekha records the export invoice and its details in the two-sided ledger, so a zero-rated export sale is captured alongside domestic sales with its values kept.
Lekha records what your documents say and tracks the money on both sides — what you owe and what you are owed. It records and tracks; it does not replace your accountant.
Questions
- What is a commercial invoice?
- The core billing document of an export shipment — the seller's statement of the goods, parties, values, currency, and trade terms, relied on by customs and the buyer's bank.
- How does it relate to the GST export invoice?
- An export is a zero-rated supply documented as a GST invoice too. The commercial invoice and the GST invoice details need to be consistent.
- Why does consistency across export documents matter?
- A mismatch in value, quantity, or description between the commercial invoice and the other shipping documents is where shipments and payments get held up.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm the current rules and your own circumstances for any specific case.