Should proforma invoices go into my carbon records?

No. A proforma invoice is a quote or a request for advance payment, not proof that goods arrived. Count the purchase from the final tax invoice. If you keep proformas in the same folder, they will double count, because a proforma and its final invoice are different files carrying the same quantity.

What a proforma is under GST

Section 31 of the CGST Act 2017 requires a tax invoice when goods are supplied. A proforma is not one of the documents the Act prescribes: it creates no tax liability, it cannot support input tax credit, and the supplier can change the quantity or price before the real invoice. If you pay an advance, the supplier issues a receipt voucher under Section 31(3)(d). That records money, not goods either.

When the record is created

• Proforma received, advance paid in March, goods and tax invoice in April: the purchase belongs to April's period.
• Proforma for 10,000 litres, final invoice for 9,800: record 9,800, the quantity actually supplied.
• Order cancelled after a proforma: nothing to record.
• Imports quoted on a proforma: count from the bill of entry and the supplier's commercial invoice, once the goods clear.

How to keep them out

1. Store proformas, quotations and receipt vouchers in a separate folder from tax invoices.
2. Check the document title before upload: the words proforma, quotation or estimate mean it waits.
3. At month end, reconcile carbon records with the purchase register, which already excludes proformas.
4. If a proforma was recorded by mistake, take it out once the tax invoice is in, and note the correction.

Worked example: a diesel order recorded twice

• Proforma: 10,000 L diesel; final tax invoice: 9,800 L
• Correct record: 9,800 x 2.68 kg CO2 per litre = 26,264 kg CO2
• Both recorded: (10,000 + 9,800) x 2.68 = 53,064 kg CO2, overstated by 26,800 kg

Quantities are illustrative. 2.68 kg CO2 per litre is the IPCC 2006 default for diesel.

What Senseible does here

Senseible gives every file a SHA-256 fingerprint and counts an identical file once. Upload the final tax invoice as the record for each purchase and keep proformas in their own folder.

• Stop the same invoice being counted twice
• Purchase order or invoice for Scope 3
• GST e-invoice fields for carbon accounting

Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, Chapter 6 (activity data) and Chapter 7 (inventory quality), 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (default CO2 factors for fuels)

Last reviewed 2026-10-18.