Export documents checklist: what every small exporter needs

The first time I watched a small exporter lose a booking, it was over a packing list. Two pallets of stainless steel cookware, Savannah to Rotterdam, and the carton count on the packing list said 96 while the commercial invoice said 94. The forwarder bounced the docs back, the cutoff passed, and the shipment rolled to the next vessel. Ten days late, one unhappy Dutch distributor, and the actual problem was a typo.

If you run a 1-20 person company and exporting is something you do between everything else, this post is the reference I wish that exporter had. Nine documents move an export shipment. You will rarely need all nine at once, but you need to know what each one does, who issues it, and which ones customs will actually read.

What are the 9 core export documents?

Here is the full set at a glance.

Now the detail on each, because the table hides where people actually get hurt.

The mandatory three: invoice, packing list, transport document

Commercial invoice. This is the customs document of record. It needs the seller, the buyer, an itemized description of the goods, quantities, unit prices, total value, currency, the HS code for each line, the incoterm, and the country of origin. Customs officers at the destination assess duty off this document, so the value has to be real and the HS code has to be right. If you are not sure how those six or eight digits work, read what an HS code is and how to find yours before your next shipment, because a wrong code is the single most expensive recurring mistake I see.

A note here: the commercial invoice is not the same as the proforma invoice you sent when quoting the deal. They look similar and serve completely different purposes, and confusing them causes real clearance problems. I wrote a full breakdown in commercial invoice vs proforma invoice.

Packing list. Cartons, pallets, net weight, gross weight, dimensions, and which goods are in which package. The carrier uses it for space and weight planning. Customs uses it to physically verify the shipment if they open it. If the packing list says 96 cartons and the inspector counts 94, you have a problem even if the invoice was right.

Bill of lading or air waybill. The carrier issues this; you do not write it. For ocean freight it is the bill of lading, and an original ocean bill is also a document of title, meaning whoever holds it can claim the cargo. For air freight it is the air waybill, which is a receipt and contract but not a title document. Either way, the names, addresses, and cargo description on it must match your invoice and packing list, because banks and customs compare all three.

The documents you issue when the deal needs them

Proforma invoice. Technically a quote dressed as an invoice. Buyers use it to arrange prepayment, open a letter of credit, or apply for an import permit. It is situational, but in practice most export deals start with one.

Shipper's letter of instruction (SLI). This is the form your freight forwarder works from: who the shipper and consignee are, the cargo details, who files the EEI, and who pays what. It is not a customs document, but it is the source document for everything the forwarder types into the bill of lading and the AES filing. Garbage in, garbage on every document downstream.

EEI / AES filing. US-specific. When any single Schedule B line in your shipment exceeds 2,500 dollars, or the goods require an export license, you must file Electronic Export Information through the Automated Export System (inside the ACE portal). Most small exporters authorize their forwarder to file it for around 25-50 dollars per shipment. Skipping a required filing can mean penalties starting at 1,100 dollars and running much higher, so when in doubt, file or ask.

The documents someone else certifies

Certificate of origin (COO). States where the goods were manufactured, not where they shipped from. Some buyers need it for their bank, some destination countries require it for clearance, and preferential versions (like a USMCA certification) unlock reduced duty rates. Chambers of commerce typically certify a generic COO for 25-75 dollars per document. The fields are fussy and the rejections are predictable, so I wrote a separate field-by-field guide: how to fill out a certificate of origin.

Insurance certificate. Whether you need to provide this depends on your incoterm. Sell CIF and you are contractually required to insure the cargo and prove it. Sell FOB or EXW and insurance is the buyer's problem. Marine cargo insurance on a typical LCL shipment runs roughly 0.3-0.5 percent of insured value, which is cheap relative to a container going over the side.

Inspection certificate. Some countries (and some cautious buyers) require a pre-shipment inspection by a firm like SGS or Bureau Veritas. Common for food products, used machinery, and certain destination markets. Budget 200-400 dollars and 3-5 business days if one is required, and find out before you book, not after. The inspector works from your invoice and packing list, so if those two disagree, the inspection fails before anyone opens a carton.

A pattern worth noticing in this group: you do not control the issuing party, which means lead time. The chamber, the insurer, and the inspector all move on their schedules, not your vessel cutoff. Whenever a deal involves any of these three documents, start them the day the order confirms, not the week the container ships.

What should you check before every booking?

This is the pre-booking checklist I tell every new exporter to run. It takes ten minutes and saves the ten-day delay.

1. Consignee name and address are identical, character for character, on the invoice, packing list, and SLI. Not "ACME B.V." on one and "Acme BV Netherlands" on another.
2. Quantities match across invoice and packing list. Line items, carton counts, and total units.
3. Values are final. The commercial invoice total equals what the buyer is actually paying, not the proforma number from two months ago.
4. Every line has an HS code. Six digits minimum, and the right Schedule B code if you are filing EEI from the US.
5. The incoterm is stated with a named place. "FOB Savannah" or "CIF Rotterdam," not just "FOB." If you are fuzzy on what each term commits you to, see Incoterms 2020 explained.
6. You know who is filing the EEI (for US exports over the threshold) and the SLI says so.
7. Situational documents are confirmed. Ask the buyer directly: does your bank or customs broker need a COO, an insurance certificate, or an inspection certificate? Get it in writing.
8. Weights are real. Gross weight on the packing list should come from a scale, not an estimate. Carriers re-weigh, and misdeclared weight triggers fees and delays.

Where do export document errors actually happen?

After looking at a lot of failed clearances, three patterns cover most of them.

Mismatched values between the invoice and packing list. Quantities edited on one document but not the other, usually because the order changed after the paperwork was first drafted. Customs treats inconsistency as a red flag for undervaluation, and a flagged shipment can sit for days while you pay storage at 150-300 dollars per day per container.

Missing or wrong HS codes. No code means the broker guesses, and a wrong code means wrong duty, which gets discovered eventually and unwound expensively.

Consignee name inconsistencies. Banks processing letters of credit reject documents for discrepancies as small as a missing comma. Roughly half of first-presentation letter of credit documents get rejected for discrepancies, and name mismatches are a leading cause.

The common thread: these are copy-paste errors between documents that all describe the same shipment. That is the exact problem we built ExportDocsHub around. You enter the shipment once, and it generates the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and bill of lading instructions from that single record, so the consignee name and the carton counts cannot drift apart.

Run the checklist, keep the nine documents straight, and most shipments are genuinely boring. Boring is what you want.

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Further reading

• Commercial invoice vs proforma invoice: the difference
• How to fill out a certificate of origin, step by step