01
Quotation
Opening move
Before contracts, before invoices, a quotation lays out price and terms so a buyer can decide whether to move forward. It's the first formal document in most export relationships.
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18 document typesAcross 5 categories
01 · 7 docs
Commercial & Financial
02
Proforma Invoice
Before the deal is sealed
A preliminary invoice issued before shipment, outlining goods, price, and terms so a buyer can arrange financing, import permits, or a letter of credit. It's not a demand for payment — more a detailed quote with commitment behind it.
03
Sales Contract
The binding agreement
Once terms are settled, this is what holds both sides to them — price, delivery timelines, payment terms, and what happens if something goes wrong.
04
Purchase Order
The buyer commits
The buyer's formal request to purchase, based on the quotation. Once accepted, it functions as a binding commitment and usually triggers production or shipment planning.
05
Commercial Invoice
What customs actually reads
The single most important document at customs. It records prices, quantities, and terms of sale, and is what customs authorities use to calculate duties and verify the shipment matches what was declared.
06
Tax Invoice
Final and legal
Where the proforma is provisional, the tax invoice is final and legally binding. Issued after the sale is confirmed, it carries GST/tax details and is required for input tax credit claims and statutory compliance.
07
Credit Note
Correcting the record
Issued when something needs correcting after invoicing — a return, a discount, a pricing error. It reduces what the buyer owes and keeps the paper trail clean on both sides.
02 · 5 docs
Shipping & Logistics
08
Shipping Instruction
Briefing the carrier
The exporter's instructions to the freight forwarder or carrier — how the cargo should be booked, labeled, and routed, and which documents need to travel with it.
09
Shipper's Letter of Instruction
Power of attorney, for shipping
Authorizes a freight forwarder to act on the exporter's behalf, handling export filing and documentation.
10
Packing List
What's actually in the box
The itemized inventory of a shipment's contents — weights, dimensions, package counts. Customs officers and freight handlers use it to verify a shipment without opening every crate.
11
VGM Declaration
A weight that matters
Verified Gross Mass — a SOLAS-mandated declaration of a container's total weight, submitted before loading. It exists for one blunt reason: an incorrectly weighed container can capsize a ship.
12
Bill of Lading
Three documents in one
Issued by the carrier, it does three jobs at once — proof the goods were received, the contract for their carriage, and, in its negotiable form, the title deed the buyer needs to claim the cargo at the destination port.
03 · 3 docs
Customs & Origin
13
Certificate of Origin
Where it was actually made
Certifies which country the goods were manufactured in — not shipped from. Customs authorities use it to apply the correct duty rate, and it's what unlocks preferential tariffs under trade agreements.
14
Certificate of Origin (USMCA/CUSMA/T-MEC)
The North American version
Same purpose as a standard Certificate of Origin, purpose-built for shipments moving under the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement, formatted to the rules the agreement requires.
15
Shipping Bill
India's export clearance
India's customs export document, filed electronically with Indian Customs (ICEGATE). It's what actually clears goods for export and is required to claim schemes like duty drawback.
04 · 1 doc
Trade Finance
16
Bill of Exchange
An enforceable promise to pay
A written, unconditional order — one party instructs another to pay a fixed sum, on a set date, to a named payee. In trade finance, it's what turns a documentary collection or letter of credit into an enforceable payment obligation.
05 · 2 docs
Impactex Tools
17
Master Sheet
Everything, one view
Impactex's consolidated view of a shipment: every key detail pulled from across the individual documents onto a single sheet, so nothing has to be hunted down across a dozen files.
18
Custom Document
Your format, your rules
Not every trade relationship fits a standard template. Custom Documents let you build and save your own document structure — fields, layout, and logic — so your one-off formats are just as fast to produce as the standard ones.
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