Commercial invoice vs packing list: which fields must match
The short answer
Every fact that both documents show should be the same on both: the references, the seller and consignee, the description of the goods, the quantities, the number of packages and their marks, and the gross and net weights. Prices, currency and the terms of sale belong on the commercial invoice, and the packing list can leave them out.
Last checked By Muhammad Saadullah Khan, Founder
Two documents, one shipment
The commercial invoice records the sale. GOV.UK describes it as a document that includes “information about the seller and buyer, detailed descriptions of the goods, their quantities and values, and the terms of sale”.
The packing list records how the same goods are packed: in GOV.UK’s words, “the contents of each package or container within the shipment”. US rules ask for this on the invoice itself. Paragraph (e) of 19 CFR 141.86, headed “Packing list”, says each invoice must state “in adequate detail what merchandise is contained in each individual package”.
So the two documents describe one shipment from two sides. Wherever both state the same fact, they should state it the same way. When they don’t, one of them is wrong, or they belong to different shipments. Either way, it is better found at your desk than at the border.
Field by field
“Must match” means: if both documents show the field, they must agree. “What may differ” is what a correct pair of documents can still do differently. The last column says what customs uses the field for, and where that comes from.
| Field | Must match? | What may differ | Why customs cares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order and invoice references | Yes, where both show them | The packing list may carry only one of them | They tie the documents to one sale. business.gov.uk lists the “number and date of related paperwork”, such as the purchase order, among the invoice’s contents. |
| Seller and consignee | Yes, the names | Address layout | A US invoice must name the person by whom and the person to whom the goods are sold (19 CFR 141.86(a)(2)). |
| Description of the goods | Yes, line by line | The packing list may give less commercial detail | A US invoice needs “a detailed description of the merchandise” (141.86(a)(3)). business.gov.uk: the invoice’s information “dictates what rates of duty are paid”. |
| Quantity per line | Yes | The packing list may split a line across packages | A US invoice states quantities “in the weights and measures” of the country of shipment or of the United States (141.86(a)(4)). |
| Number of packages | Yes, per line and in total | Nothing | Customs examines packages: the port director examines those “he deems necessary for the determination of duties” (19 CFR 151.1). |
| Marks and numbers | Yes: the ranges must cover the same count | Marks per package on the packing list, per line on the invoice | A US invoice gives “the marks and numbers of the packages in which the merchandise is packed” (141.86(a)(3)). |
| Gross and net weight | Yes, in one unit or a conversion with no guess | The breakdown per package | If a weight needed for duty is not disclosed, “the consignee must pay the expense of weighing, gaging, or measuring prior to the release of the merchandise” (141.86(f)). |
| Package type | Yes, where both show it | Nothing | business.gov.uk lists the “number, weight and type of packages” among the invoice’s contents. |
| Country of origin | Yes, where both show it | The packing list may leave it out | A US invoice must state the country of origin (141.86(a)(10)). |
| HS code | Yes, where both show it | The packing list may leave it out | business.gov.uk: “Tax and duties will vary according to classification number”. |
| Prices, currency, Incoterms | No: invoice only | The packing list need not show them | A US invoice gives “the purchase price of each item in the currency of the purchase” (141.86(a)(5)). |
The table draws on two US regulations (19 CFR 141.86, on what a US import invoice must contain, and 19 CFR 151.1, on examination) and one British guide (business.gov.uk, on export invoices). Check the rules of the country you file in; the fields above are the ones these sources name.
What counts as a match
Agreeing is not always the same as looking identical. A few cases need a decision before you compare.
- Names and references. Compare the text, not the layout. Capital letters and extra spaces don’t make a different name; a different word does. “Northstar Retail Ltd” and “Northstar Retail Limited” may well be the same company, but the shipper is the one who can say so.
- Package counts. These must be equal, per line and in total. There is no tolerance for a missing carton.
- Weights. Compare them in one unit. Pounds convert to kilograms exactly: the avoirdupois pound is 0.453 592 37 kilogram in both NIST Handbook 44 and the UK Weights and Measures Act 1985. “Tons” does not convert without a guess, because it can mean three different weights: see the guide to short, metric and long tons.
- Numbers with commas. 5,640 can be five thousand six hundred and forty or, where a comma marks decimals, five point six four. Look at how the rest of the document writes numbers before you compare.
- Totals. Each document’s total must equal the sum of its own lines. Check that first: a total that doesn’t add up on one document looks like a mismatch with the other.
What may differ
Some differences are normal, because the two documents do different jobs.
- Prices, currency and money totals. These belong on the invoice. A packing list doesn’t need them, and leaving them off is not a mismatch.
- Terms of sale. Incoterms such as FOB are part of the sale. business.gov.uk lists them among the invoice’s contents; the packing list can leave them out.
- The breakdown. The invoice lists each item; the packing list may list goods per package or per range of marks. The totals for each line must still agree.
- Fields one document leaves out. Country of origin is an invoice field in both sources, and business.gov.uk lists the HS code there too. If the packing list repeats them, they must agree. If it leaves them out, that is not a mismatch.
A field on one document only is a question of completeness, not of matching: check it against the rules for that document. To go through a real pair of documents in order, follow the six-step check; for what to do when a field doesn’t agree, see when the documents don’t match.
Checking this automatically
FlowDocs runs part of this table. It compares four fields between the commercial invoice and the packing list: order reference and consignee as text, ignoring case and extra spaces, without fuzzy matching; the total number of packages, exactly; and gross weight (kilograms only, within 5 kg). It also confirms that the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading or air waybill are all in the pack.
Every compared field comes back Match, Mismatch or Cannot compare, with the value read from each document and the page it was read from where available. A missing document is reported as missing. It compares header fields between the commercial invoice and the packing list. It does not compare line items, check invoice arithmetic, classify goods or verify HS codes. The rest of the table is still a check by hand. The commercial invoice and packing list checker lists every rule FlowDocs applies.