What is Commercial Invoice?
A commercial invoice is the main sales document in cross-border trade. In goods exports it travels with the shipment, and customs authorities in both countries use it to check value and assess duty. It typically shows the exporter and importer, a description of the goods, quantities, unit prices, total value, currency, delivery terms and payment terms.
For service exporters the term is used more loosely. Many clients simply mean "your final invoice", as opposed to a proforma or a quotation. Since services do not pass through customs, there is no separate customs document for them.
Why it matters for exporters
If you export services, the invoice that matters for compliance is your export tax invoice under GST. It gives you the invoice number, date, currency and amount that go into Part 2B of the EDF. You do not need a separate "commercial invoice" in addition to it. Issuing two different documents for the same service, with different numbers, only creates confusion when the bank matches your payment in EDPMS.
Goods exporters are different. At EDI ports the shipping bill itself serves as the EDF, and the commercial invoice supports the shipping bill.
Example
Kavya Engineering Services in Chennai sends design drawings to a German client. The client's accounts team asks for a "commercial invoice". Kavya sends its regular export invoice KES/045 for EUR 8,200, which already shows the SAC code, zero IGST under LUT and its bank details. That single document satisfies the client and is the same invoice Kavya reports on its monthly EDF. You can create one with the export invoice tool.
Common confusion
People often ask whether services need both a commercial invoice and a tax invoice. For services, one properly drafted export tax invoice does both jobs. Our article on commercial invoice vs export invoice for services explains the difference in detail.