Documents
Shipping documents: what each one is for
Invoice, specification, packing list and transport document — why each one exists.
Проверено
Shipping documents describe one and the same batch from different angles. While they agree with each other nobody notices them; a mismatch surfaces at the border and costs a week standing still.
The base set
- 1Contract with specification — what exactly is being bought, in what configuration and on what terms.
- 2Commercial invoice — how many units, at what price, for what total.
- 3Packing list — how the batch is broken into packages: cartons, weight, dimensions.
- 4Transport document — a waybill or a bill of lading, depending on the route.
Worth knowingThe specification answers “what exactly”; the invoice answers “how many and at what price”. It is the specification you cite when the wrong thing arrives: without a description of materials, dimensions and contents there is nothing to base a claim on.
Beyond that the set depends on the goods and the destination country: conformity certificates, permits, proof of origin. Work out that list before the run starts rather than after it is finished — certification has timelines of its own, and they can be longer than production.
CarefulReconcile quantities and descriptions across the invoice, the packing list and the transport document before dispatch. A difference in a single line is a routine cause of delay, and fixing it after the fact takes longer than issuing the papers again.