The most common support ticket we see about proforma invoices in Zoho Books is not "how do I customise it" — it is "I cannot find where to create one." That is not a training gap. Zoho Books genuinely does not have a Proforma Invoice document type. This post explains the real workaround, exactly how to set it up, where it breaks down, and what to do when it does.
Why Zoho Books Has No Native Proforma Invoice
Zoho Books ships with Invoices, Estimates, Sales Orders, Delivery Challans and Credit Notes as transaction types. There is no separate "Proforma Invoice" in that list, in any plan, in any region. This surprises businesses coming from Tally or from manual invoicing, where a proforma invoice is often a distinct, named document.
The practical reason: a proforma invoice and a Zoho Books Estimate serve the same underlying purpose — a non-binding statement of expected charges, sent before a sale is confirmed, that does not affect your books until it converts into a real transaction. Zoho built one module for this job and expects you to relabel it rather than maintaining two functionally identical document types.
The workaround in one line: use the Estimates module, and change the PDF template's title text from "Estimate" to "Proforma Invoice." The underlying data stays an Estimate; only what your customer sees on the document changes.
Step by Step: Turning an Estimate Into a Proforma Invoice
Step 1 — Create the Estimate
Go to Sales → Estimates → New. Add the customer, line items, tax, and any terms exactly as you would for a real invoice. Nothing here differs from a normal Estimate.
Step 2 — Open the template editor
Before saving, or from an existing Estimate, click the template name shown at the top of the preview pane, or go to Settings → Templates → PDF Templates → Estimates. Select the template you want to edit, or clone one to keep your original Estimate template untouched.
Step 3 — Rename the document title
In the visual template editor, click directly on the "Estimate" title text block. Replace it with "Proforma Invoice." Save the template and set it as default for this document type, or keep it as a named alternate template (see the multi-template section below).
Step 4 — Adjust the number series
Go to Settings → Preferences → Estimates → Auto-numbering. Change the prefix from the default (usually "EST-") to something like "PI-" so your proforma invoice numbers do not read as estimate numbers to your customer.
Step 5 — Add any missing fields as custom fields
If you need fields the default template does not have — validity period, delivery terms, bank details for advance payment — add them under Settings → Customisation → Estimates → Custom Fields, then place them in the template editor.
Step 6 — Generate and send
Save the Estimate. Preview the PDF to confirm it now reads "Proforma Invoice" throughout. Send it directly from Zoho Books, or download and send manually if your workflow requires that.
Example: What a Complete Proforma Invoice Should Contain
Below is the structure of a properly built proforma invoice, the kind we set up for clients doing export or advance-payment sales. Use it as a checklist against your own template — most gaps we find are missing rows, not missing sections.
| PROFORMA INVOICE — Not a demand for payment | |
|---|---|
| PI Number / Date | PI-2026-0142 · 30 Aug 2026 |
| Valid Until | 29 Sep 2026 (30 days) |
| Seller | Example Exports Pvt Ltd, Yavatmal, Maharashtra, India · GSTIN 27ABCDE1234F1Z5 |
| Buyer | Sample Buyer LLC, Dubai, UAE |
| Incoterms | FOB Mumbai |
| Payment Terms | 50% advance, balance before shipment |
| Line Items | |
| Description · HSN Code | Cotton Fabric Rolls · HSN 5208 · Qty 500m · Rate $4.20/m |
| Subtotal / Tax / Total | $2,100.00 · Export — Zero-rated · $2,100.00 |
| Bank Details (Advance Payment) | Account name, IBAN/SWIFT, bank branch — for the 50% advance |
| Authorised Signature | Name, designation, company stamp |
Notice what is missing from a standard Zoho Books Estimate by default: HSN/HS code per line item, incoterms, and a dedicated bank-details block for advance payment. These are exactly the fields you add as custom fields in Step 5, or the fields that push you toward the Excel workaround covered further down if your bank or customs broker requires a very specific layout for them.
Setting this up correctly the first time saves the rework later
We configure Zoho Books invoicing, Estimates and proforma workflows for businesses across India, USA and UAE — including export documentation fields most implementations miss.
Talk to an Expert → Book a Call Today →Where the Estimate Workaround Breaks Down
This approach is reliable for most domestic and simple cross-border use, but it has three real limits worth knowing before you build a process around it:
- Reporting still calls it an Estimate. Zoho Books' sales reports and dashboards group this document under Estimates, not as a separate "Proforma Invoice" category. If you need to report specifically on proforma invoices issued versus other estimates, you filter by your number prefix, not by transaction type.
- Layout is still template-constrained below the Elite plan. The Estimate template editor has the same structural limits as the Invoice template editor we cover in detail in our piece on invoice customisation — you can rearrange existing zones and add custom fields, but you cannot restructure the layout freely unless you are on the Elite plan with HTML/CSS templates.
- Export-specific fields need manual setup. HSN codes, incoterms, currency conversion notes and bank advance-payment blocks are not native Estimate fields. They work fine as custom fields, but every one of them has to be added deliberately — nothing appears by default.
Multi-Template Setup: Different Proforma Formats for Different Buyers
A business selling both domestically and to export customers usually needs two different proforma formats — a simple one for domestic buyers, and a fuller one with incoterms, HSN codes and bank details for export buyers. Zoho Books supports this natively through multiple PDF templates per transaction type:
Step 1 — Create the additional template
Go to Settings → Templates → PDF Templates. Under Estimates, click New Template, or clone your existing Proforma Invoice template as a starting point rather than building from scratch.
Step 2 — Build the export version
Add the export-specific custom fields to this template only — incoterms, HSN column, bank details block. Rename it clearly, for example "Proforma Invoice — Export," so it is unmistakable in the template list.
Step 3 — Select per document
When creating each Estimate, use the template dropdown in the top right of the edit screen to choose which version to apply — domestic or export — before generating the PDF. Zoho remembers your last choice per customer if you set a default template on the customer record.
The Excel Macro Workaround for Compliance-Heavy Proforma Invoices
Some businesses need a proforma invoice format that no amount of custom fields in the Estimate template editor can produce — a specific bank's letter-of-credit format, a customs authority's mandated layout, or a large buyer's own required template. For these cases, the same Excel macro approach we use for invoice customisation applies here too, and we walk through the full build in our invoice customisation post.
The short version: export the Estimate data from Zoho Books, and a macro in a pre-built Excel workbook maps that data into your exact required format — correct fields, correct layout, correct signature block — with one button press. The data still originates in Zoho Books as the source of truth; only the final document layout lives outside it. This is the right call when the format requirement is rigid and external (a bank or customs authority), not just a branding preference.
Converting the Proforma Into a Real Invoice
The one genuine advantage of building proforma invoices on the Estimate module rather than a separate tool: converting it into a real invoice once the customer confirms is a single click. Open the Estimate, click Convert to Invoice, and every line item, tax setting and customer detail carries over — no re-entry, no risk of the final invoice quietly not matching what was quoted.
Need your Zoho Books invoicing and proforma workflow set up properly?
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