How to Notarise a Commercial Invoice in Australia

Exporters are sometimes told that the importing country, the buyer's bank or a letter of credit requires a "notarised" or "legalised" commercial invoice. It is usually a late surprise, with goods already booked on a vessel, and the instinct is to get the invoice stamped by someone as quickly as possible.

That instinct is where things go wrong, because a commercial invoice is unlike most documents a notary sees.

The notary attests the signature, not the invoice

You issue the invoice. It is your company's own statement of what was sold, to whom and for how much. A notary cannot certify that the goods were shipped, that the price is right, that the tariff classification is correct or that the invoice is "true". None of that is within their knowledge.

What a notary can do is one of two things:

• Attest the signature of the person who signed the invoice for your company: confirming who they are and that they have authority to sign for the company, then attaching a notarial certificate to that effect.
• Certify a copy of a signed original, where the receiving party wants a certified copy rather than the original itself.

The first is the usual request. That means the real subject of the appointment is the signatory, and most of the preparation is about them.

Read the requirement word for word first

Before booking anyone, get the exact wording of the requirement from the buyer, the bank or your freight forwarder.

Where payment is under a documentary letter of credit, the bank examines the documents strictly against the terms of the credit. If the credit calls for an invoice "legalised by the consulate of" the importing country, a notarised invoice without that legalisation is discrepant. If it calls for certification by a chamber of commerce, a notarial certificate may not satisfy it at all. A discrepancy can delay payment or give the buyer grounds to refuse the documents.

In many trade lanes the expected first certification of an invoice is by a chamber of commerce rather than a notary. Some destinations accept either; some specify one. The wording of the credit or import permit decides, not general practice.

Who should attend and what to bring

The person who will sign the invoice attends in person. Bring:

• Photo identification for the signatory, preferably a passport.
• Evidence the company exists, usually a current ASIC company extract.
• Evidence of authority to sign. A director listed on the extract may be enough. An export manager or other employee will usually need a board resolution or letter of authority from the company.
• The invoice, unsigned, on letterhead, in the number of originals the credit or importer requires. The notary must see it signed.

Sole traders bring their own identification and ABN details; the authority question largely falls away.

Make it match every other document

A notary will not cross-check your invoice against the rest of the shipment's paperwork, and has no reason to. But the importing authority and the bank will.

Consignee names and addresses, goods descriptions, quantities, weights, values and currency must agree with the bill of lading, packing list and certificate of origin. Once an invoice has been notarised and legalised, correcting a typing error means a fresh invoice and the whole chain again: new signature, new notarial certificate, new DFAT step, new embassy step. Check the set line by line before the appointment.

If the destination wants the invoice in its own language or in bilingual form, prepare that version before notarisation, so the document that is notarised is the one that will be presented.

Authentication

The notarial certificate is an Australian act. For a Hague Apostille Convention country, DFAT issues an apostille. For other countries, DFAT authenticates the notary's signature and seal, and the destination's embassy or consulate in Australia legalises it. No notary can issue an apostille.

Where legalisation is required, the embassy step is usually the slowest and each embassy sets its own fees, forms and requirements. Some want the invoice submitted together with other shipping documents. Ask the embassy before you start, not after DFAT has returned the documents.

If you ship regularly to the same market

The chain repeats for every invoice, because each invoice is a separate document. What need not repeat is proving authority. A standing board resolution naming the people authorised to sign export documents saves producing fresh evidence each time; ask the notary whether they can rely on it for later appointments.

What it costs

Notarial fees are not fixed by statute and vary between practitioners. As a market estimate only:

• attesting a company officer's signature on one invoice: roughly $100–$200, higher than a simple certified copy because authority is being checked
• each further original of the same invoice at the same appointment: roughly $20–$50

What drives it up for invoices: the number of originals the credit demands, producing company authority evidence, bilingual versions or translation, and repeating the chain when an error is found after notarisation. DFAT and embassy fees are charged separately, per document, as are any chamber of commerce fees.

Frequently asked questions

Can the notary confirm the prices or the goods description? No. The notary attests who signed and their authority, not the commercial content.

Can I email a scanned invoice to be notarised? No. The signatory must sign before the notary, or the notary must sight the signed original to certify a copy.

Will a Justice of the Peace do? Not for a foreign importer or bank. DFAT will not authenticate a JP's signature for this purpose.

Do I need a new notarisation for each shipment? Generally yes, since each invoice is a new document.