Certified Copy of a Commercial Invoice in Australia

A certified copy of a commercial invoice makes sense mainly when you hold an invoice someone else issued, such as a supplier's invoice needed as evidence. If you are the exporter, you issued the invoice, so a recipient asking for a "certified invoice" usually wants a signed original with the signature verified, not a copy of your own document.

Key takeaways

• A certified copy proves only that a copy matches an original the certifier saw. It proves nothing about the goods, the price or the sale.
• If you issued the invoice, a certified copy of it adds little. The recipient usually wants an original signed by an authorised officer, and sometimes that signature notarised.
• If you received the invoice, a certified copy is often the right tool, because you cannot reissue someone else's document.
• For Australian recipients, a plain copy or one certified by the issuer or an accountant is often enough. A JP copy works for some, but never overseas.
• For overseas recipients, a notary certifies the copy and DFAT apostilles or authenticates the notary's certificate.

The question to ask first: who issued it?

A commercial invoice is the seller's document describing goods sold for export: the parties, the goods, quantities, prices, currency and terms of sale. Customs in the importing country uses it to value the goods, and banks and buyers use it to match payment to the shipment.

With most documents, a certified copy exists because the original came from someone else and cannot easily be replaced. A birth certificate comes from a registry; a degree comes from a university. A commercial invoice is often the opposite. If you are the exporter, your own company printed it, and you can print another. A notary certifying that your copy matches your own original tells the reader very little, because the original is only as reliable as the company that issued it.

That is why the first question is not "who can certify this?" but "whose invoice is it?" The answer sends you down one of two quite different routes.

If you issued the invoice

When an importer, bank or embassy asks an exporter for a "certified" or "notarised" commercial invoice, it almost never means a copy. It means an original invoice signed by an authorised person at the exporting company, sometimes with a declaration that its contents are true and correct, and, for some destinations, that signature witnessed by a notary and then authenticated.

That is a different notarial act from certifying a copy. The officer signs in front of the notary, who checks their identity and, where asked, their position in the company. It puts a named, identified person behind the invoice, which is what the recipient actually wants. The notary still does not confirm the prices, the goods or the sale. The notary step for exporters, including per-shipment timing and embassy attestation, is covered in notarising a commercial invoice.

So if you are an exporter and someone asks for a certified copy of your invoice, check what they mean before booking anything. The answer is usually "sign an original", and occasionally "just send it", neither of which needs a certified copy.

If you received the invoice

Here a certified copy is often exactly right. You hold a document someone else issued, you cannot reissue it, and you need to show it to a third party who will not take a plain photocopy on trust. Common situations:

• A dispute or claim abroad. An insurance claim, a warranty dispute or a contract claim in another country, where the foreign lawyer or tribunal wants certified copies of the purchase documents.
• Re-exporting goods. Showing the original purchase price and date of goods you imported and are now sending on.
• A foreign tax or customs inquiry asking for evidence of a past purchase.
• A tender or registration file abroad, where an authority wants certified evidence of trading history.
• One original, several recipients, where you need to keep the original and give evidence to several parties.

Before certifying, ask whether the supplier can simply issue a copy or duplicate on its own letterhead, marked as such and signed. For some recipients a supplier's own confirmation carries more weight than any copy, because it comes from the issuer.

Who can certify the copy

For Australian recipients

Many Australian recipients, such as an insurer, an auditor or a lender, will take a plain copy of an invoice, or one confirmed by the supplier or your accountant. Where a recipient wants an independent certifier, a Justice of the Peace or another person on the recipient's own list can certify that a copy matches the original they sighted. There is no single national rule on who may certify copies for every purpose: each recipient sets its own. Read its instructions, and do not pay for a notary where a free certifier or no certifier will do.

For overseas recipients

A foreign court, tribunal or authority cannot check an Australian JP or accountant. It can rely on an Australian notary public, usually an experienced solicitor appointed under state or territory arrangements, whose signature and seal DFAT holds. The notary sights the original invoice and certifies that the attached copy is true and complete.

DFAT then issues an apostille on the notary's certificate for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, or an authentication certificate followed by embassy legalisation for other countries. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise treats commercial documents prepared by businesses as private documents that must be notarised first. Check the destination on the HCCH status table on the day. Note that the Convention excludes documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations, and countries read that exclusion differently, so some member countries still want embassy legalisation for trade documents. Ask the recipient which certificate it accepts.

Invoices that arrived by email

Most supplier invoices now arrive as PDFs, and often there is no paper original anywhere. That is a real problem for a certified copy. Whoever certifies must sight an original, and a printout of a PDF is not an original in the usual sense.

A notary can certify a printout only by describing exactly what was sighted, for example "a printout of an electronic document received by email on a stated date, which I have not verified with the issuer". Whether a foreign recipient accepts that is its decision, and many will prefer the supplier's own signed confirmation. Ask before booking. Certified copies and online documents explains the general rule.

Reconcile the set before anything is certified

A commercial invoice rarely travels alone. It sits with a packing list, a bill of lading or air waybill, and often a certificate of origin. Anyone reviewing them compares them line by line, and small inconsistencies cause most rejections. A certifier does not check any of this: a certified copy of an inconsistent invoice is a certified inconsistent invoice.

Situations compared

Situation	What usually works	Notary needed?
Exporter asked for a "certified invoice"	Signed original, signature notarised if required	Only for the signature, where asked
Australian insurer or auditor	Plain copy or supplier's confirmation	Usually not
Australian body naming certifiers	Copy certified by a JP or listed person	Usually not
Dispute or claim abroad	Notarised copy of the supplier's invoice	Yes
Invoice received only as a PDF	Supplier's signed confirmation, or a notarised printout if accepted	Ask first

Getting a notarised copy, step by step

1. Confirm what is wanted, in writing: a certified copy, a signed original, or the supplier's confirmation, and whether an apostille or embassy legalisation follows.
2. Reconcile the set so the invoice agrees with the packing list, transport document and any certificate of origin.
3. Bring the original paper invoice, or be ready to explain how an electronic one was received.
4. The notary certifies the copy, and identifies you and, if you act for a company, your authority.
5. DFAT apostilles or authenticates the notarial certificate, and an embassy legalises it where required.

If a translation is needed, prices, currency codes and quantities must be reproduced exactly. See document translation. For the notary step itself, see document notarisation.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Perth company imported mining equipment from Germany and later sold part of it to a buyer in South Africa. When the South African buyer disputes the equipment's age, its lawyer asks for certified copies of the original German supplier's invoices. The Perth company holds paper originals, so a notary certifies copies and DFAT apostilles the notarial certificates. The same month, the company's own export to Indonesia needs a "certified invoice". That is different: the company's export manager signs an original invoice, and a notary witnesses the signature. Two requests for a "certified invoice" called for two different acts.

In short

Ask whose invoice it is. If you issued it, the recipient almost certainly wants a signed original, not a certified copy. If you received it, a certified copy is right: often plain or supplier-confirmed for Australian use, and notarised, then apostilled or authenticated by DFAT, for use overseas. For the overseas steps, see apostille and authentication.

People also search for

• Does a commercial invoice need a notary?
• How do I certify a certificate of origin?
• What does a notary's certified true copy prove?
• Can I get several certified copies at once?
• Can an emailed document be certified?

Not sure whether you need a copy or a signed original? Send us the request you received, and we will explain each step before you book.