Proforma invoice for an advance

August 2023 a purchase man from a small hotel in C-Scheme, Jaipur, called me.

They wanted twenty Bluetooth speakers for rooms. Not expensive JBL. Mid range. 2,250 each.

Total 45,000. He said we pay 15,000 advance. Rest when you deliver next week.

Then he said send proforma invoice.

I knew the word from wholesale dealers. I still mixed it with GST bill.

I almost filled GST invoice draft and wrote advance on top with pen.

He said no. Proforma. Our accounts pay advance only on proforma.

So I sat in the shop, fan on full, and I opened proforma invoice.

Proforma invoice for an advance, what actually happened

Proforma is like a bill that is not a bill yet.

It show what you will charge. It help them release advance.

Goods still in my box. Money not fully in. GST return not based on this paper as if sale finished. That is how my CA explained in simple words.

I am not CA. I repeat what he said. Final filing on official portal. BillOnDesk is not GSTN.

I filled seller my shop. Buyer hotel name. Twenty speakers. Rate 2250. GST 18 percent I showed so they know final.

Grand look around 53,100 if tax on 45,000. I checked calculator twice.

Advance 15,000. I wrote in remarks, advance against this proforma, balance on delivery.

I put DRAFT / ESTIMATE. I don't want hotel to think this is already a tax invoice from government.

They paid 15,000 NEFT next day. I gave them a payment receipt also, separate.

Two papers. Proforma for the plan. Receipt for the 15,000 that actually came.

If I put only proforma, later someone say did money come. If I put only receipt, they don't have item list for accounts.

I deliver on 3 September. Then I make the actual invoice. I mention advance 15,000 adjusted.

Balance they paid after checking two speakers. One box was empty of cable. I put cable from my stock. Small thing.

July 2025 I did this again for a coaching in Kota. Ten tablets. Advance 20,000. Proforma first.

Same flow. It is not fancy. It stop confusion.

What people get wrong.

They send GST invoice for advance, then they send another GST invoice for full amount, and they forget to adjust. Buyer pay twice in their head even if money is once. Accounts explode.

They write proforma but put Paid in big letters. Then it look like invoice.

They back date. Hotel asked me to put July date in August because their budget month closed.

I said no. Date is today I made the paper.

They found another shop. Then they came back because that shop put random GSTIN.

I don't put random GSTIN. I put theirs, from a clear photo.

If they don't have GSTIN yet, I write hotel name and address, GSTIN later on final invoice.

Don't print hologram on proforma. Don't draw emblem. It is a request paper for money, not a passport.

A man from Bikaner once asked me to write advance 15,000 but show 25,000 so his manager pass extra.

I closed the chat. I don't do that. Not for hotel, not for cousin.

Wrong advance on paper is a fight waiting.

How I fill now.

I write validity. This proforma till 10 September 2023, like that. If they delay two months, rates of speakers change.

Hotel was fast so okay.

I write bank details for NEFT. Shop account, not my personal if I can. Mama in Bikaner mix personal. Headache.

How I make the proforma for advance

I write that this is proforma, not a tax invoice.

I write item exactly. Speaker model number. If I write only speaker, they send a photo of a different one later, say this is what we thought.

Model number save me.

Qty 20. If they change to 18 after advance, I make revised proforma. I don't silently ship 18 and keep 2 money extra.

Hotel reduced to 18. I returned part of advance logic on the final invoice. CA told me how to show. I followed.

I still use the same proforma invoice page because I can edit and download again.

I keep old PDF in a folder named hotel-c-scheme-proforma-1. New one proforma-2.

Don't delete old. If they paid on proforma-1, keep it.

Udaipur a guest house wanted advance in UPI 8,000 for four phones.

Smaller order. Still proforma. UPI name mismatch, wife account. I wrote that in remarks.

Payment receipt plus proforma. Then invoice on delivery.

If you take advance and send goods through tempo, you may also need challan. I did that for Kota tablets. Proforma, then challan with vehicle, then invoice.

Paper heavy. Less fight.

I tell customers in Hindi mix, pehle proforma, paise aaye, baad me bill.

They understand.

I don't make a long speech. I say this paper is for your accounts to click pay.

My shop is small. 45,000 is a big week for me. I don't want to buy 20 speakers from wholesale without 15,000 in hand.

That is why advance exist. Not because I don't trust hotel. Because wholesale want money.

Proforma explain the 15,000 to their boss.

If boss say no, I didn't already raise a full invoice in my head.

August heat, C-Scheme traffic, twenty boxes. It went okay because papers were in order.

In Sikar my cousin sell furniture, not phones, but he copy this habit after I showed him.

A family wanted a sofa set 38,500. They pay 10,000 advance on UPI. They asked bill same day so they can show the in-laws.

He almost made GST invoice for full sofa while sofa was still in Jaipur wholesale.

I said, send proforma. Sofa not even in Sikar. If in-laws say we don't like colour, you will have a invoice hanging.

He used proforma invoice, wrote advance 10,000, colour beige, delivery in 12 days.

In-laws didn't like beige. They cancelled. He returned 10,000. No fake tax invoice sitting in anyone's file.

That is the point of proforma. You can stop.

If advance is non refundable, write that in remarks before they pay. Don't surprise them later. Hotel C-Scheme didn't want that line. Sofa family did, then they still cancelled, cousin still returned money because he is soft. His choice.

Bank details on proforma I check three times. IFSC wrong, 15,000 sit in some other shop name for a day. Happened to me in 2024 with a guest house in Ajmer. I put I for 1. Shame.

I now copy IFSC from a bank SMS, not from memory.

If they pay less than the advance I wrote, I don't deliver the full 20 speakers. I call. Hotel once paid 12,000 instead of 15,000. Typo in NEFT. We waited. Then rest came.

Don't ship on almost.

If your customer say proforma, don't argue that invoice is same.

It is not same. Invoice is after. Proforma is before.

Use the tool, put DRAFT, take advance, give receipt, deliver, then invoice.

File GST later with CA on the official portal, on the real supplies, not on a hope paper.

I still have the hotel man's number. He buy covers sometimes. He still say send proforma even for 2,000 now.

I send. It take five minutes. He is happy. I am happy. Accounts is happy.

That is enough for a Jaipur shop.