Export documents — commercial invoice, packing list and customs readiness
Set EORI numbers, HS codes, origin and weights once; agree the Incoterms rule on the sales order; then the delivery order prints a commercial invoice and a packing list from the same data, with a readiness check that names anything customs will still ask for.
Section 01
What customs asks for that a delivery note does not carry
1 minute
A shipment leaving the UK travels with two documents a domestic delivery does not need. The commercial invoice is the customs value record: who is sending, who is receiving, what the goods are worth, and the terms of sale. The packing list says what is in the packages and how heavy they are. Between them they carry four things your VAT invoice never has: the exporter's and importer's EORI numbers, a commodity (HS) code for every line, the country of origin — where the goods were made, not where they ship from — and an Incoterms 2020 rule with a named place. Without a valid EORI the export declaration cannot be processed; if the invoice, packing list and declaration disagree on packages or weights, the shipment is flagged.
Brytebuild builds both documents from the delivery order — the shipment itself — so they are always about the same goods, quantities and packages, and a readiness check tells you what is still missing before the driver arrives. The commercial invoice is a customs document; your VAT invoice is still raised separately from Sales › Invoices.
Section 02
Set up once: EORI, HS codes, origin, weights
3 minutes
| Where | Field | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Settings › Company | EORI number (exporter) | Your GB (or XI) EORI — GB followed by 12 to 15 digits, e.g. GB123456789000. The shape is checked when you save. |
| Sales › Customers › Edit | EORI (importer) | The customer's EORI in their own country's format. Printed under their address on both documents. |
| Products › Items › Edit › Customs | Commodity (HS) code | 6 to 10 digits from the UK Trade Tariff (spaces and dots are fine — 7610 90 90 00 is stored as 7610909000). |
| Country of origin | Two-letter ISO code of where the item is made (GB, DE, CN). If blank, the Digital Product Passport's origin is used as a fallback. | |
| Net weight (kg per unit) | Goods only, no packaging. Line net weights and the shipment's total net weight are calculated from it. |
HS code, origin and weight describe the item, not the order — Odoo and every Intrastat return hold them on the product for the same reason. Enter them once and every future shipment prints them.
Section 03
Incoterms on the sales order
1 minute
The Incoterms rule is agreed with the buyer, so it lives on the sales order. Pick one of the eleven ICC rules and type its named place — a rule without a place is refused, because “DAP” means nothing until it says DAP Lyon. Seven rules work for any mode of transport (EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, DDP); four are for sea and inland waterway only (FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF). The label under the place box tells you which kind of place the rule expects: place of delivery, place of destination, or port. Every delivery order raised from the order inherits the rule and place, and can change them for that shipment.
Section 04
The Export documents panel on the delivery order
2 minutes
The panel's pill says where you stand: Domestic (the ship-to country is your own and no Incoterm is set — nothing to do), Customs ready, or n missing with a list of exactly what is absent and where it is fixed — “Importer EORI number — Customer”, “Steel bracket: commodity (HS) code — Product › Details”, “Gross weight (kg) — This delivery”. It is advisory: nothing here stops a despatch.
Press Shipment details to enter the facts only this shipment knows:
| Field | Printed as |
|---|---|
| Incoterms rule + named place | Inherited from the order; change it here for this shipment only. |
| Packages | Count and type — 2 x Pallet. Both documents carry it; the declaration will ask for the same number. |
| Dimensions | Free text for the packing list, e.g. 120 x 80 x 100 cm x 2. |
| Gross weight | Goods plus packaging, in kg. Always entered — nobody can calculate a pallet's weight from the parts list. |
| Net weight | Leave blank to use the sum of the products' net weights; enter a figure to override. |
| Shipping marks | The marks and numbers on the packages. |
| Freight, Insurance | In the delivery's currency, each printed as its own line under the goods value — customs must not see them bundled into the goods. |
| Reason for export | Why the goods cross the border — Sale of goods (the default), a commercial sample of no commercial value, a return after repair, a warranty replacement or a temporary export. Customs and every carrier ask for it; a sample declared as a sale is taxed as one. |
| Declaration notes | Free text printed under the VAT statement — your origin or preference wording if your agreement needs one. |
Once the delivery is despatched the documents have gone with the driver, so the shipment details become a record and can no longer be edited — the same rule as the delivery address. Both PDFs can still be printed.
Section 05
The two documents
2 minutes
Commercial invoice (CI-DO-…): your particulars with VAT and EORI; Sold to / Importer with theirs; Ship to / Consignee when the delivery address differs from the buyer; date, currency, the sales order and customer PO references and any VAT invoice already issued; Incoterms rule and place; the reason for export; carrier and tracking; packages, weights and marks. Each line shows description and SKU, HS code, origin, quantity, unit, unit price and total; then goods value, freight, insurance and the total for customs; the zero-rating statement (HMRC VAT Notice 703), your declaration notes, and a signed declaration that the information is true and correct.
Packing list (PL-DO-…): shipper and consignee, a reference to the commercial invoice, the same packages / weights / marks, and each line with HS code, quantity, unit and net weight — no prices. Quantities on both are the ordered ones while the delivery is being prepared and the packed ones once a packing has been collected, so what you print always describes what is actually in the boxes.
The delivery line's price if it has one, else the matching sales-order line's price, else the product's list price — in the delivery's currency. Customs wants an accurate, consistent value; check it against the sales order before printing.
Per-package packing (which items are in which box, with per-package weights and dimensions — totals and a free-text dimensions line are captured); statements or certificates of origin and REX numbers; proforma invoices; submitting a declaration to HMRC (CDS); duty and tariff lookups; dangerous-goods declarations; Intrastat; the commercial invoice as an accounting document — the VAT invoice stays separate.