How to Notarise a Commercial Invoice in Australia

To notarise a commercial invoice in Australia, the company officer who signs it attends a notary with photo ID and evidence of their authority, and signs the unsigned original in front of the notary. The notary attests the signature, not the goods or prices. DFAT then apostilles or authenticates it, and an embassy legalises it where the destination requires.

Key takeaways

• You issued the invoice, so the notary cannot confirm that it is "true". What the notary attests is who signed it and their authority to sign for the company.
• Read the requirement word for word first. A letter of credit asking for chamber of commerce certification or consular legalisation is not satisfied by a notarial certificate alone.
• Bring the invoice unsigned, the signatory's photo ID, a current company extract and evidence of authority if the signatory is not a director.
• Reconcile the invoice with the bill of lading, packing list and certificate of origin before the appointment. A typing error found later means repeating the whole chain.
• The Apostille Convention excludes documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations, so some destinations want embassy legalisation even if they are Convention members.

The notary attests the signature, not the invoice

A commercial invoice is the exporter's own statement of what was sold, to whom, for how much and on what terms. Customs in the importing country uses it to value the goods; banks use it to match payment to the shipment. When an importer, a buyer's bank or a letter of credit asks for a "notarised" or "legalised" invoice, it is usually a late surprise, with goods already booked.

A notary cannot certify that the goods were shipped, that the price is right or that the tariff classification is correct. None of that is within their knowledge, and a notary never certifies that a document's contents are true. What a notary can do is one of two things:

• Attest the signature of the person who signs the invoice for your company, confirming who they are and that they have authority to sign, and attach a notarial certificate saying so;
• Certify a copy of a signed original, where the recipient wants a certified copy instead of the original. That is less common for exporters and is covered in certified copies of a commercial invoice.

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

Read the requirement word for word

Before booking anyone, get the exact wording of the requirement in writing from the buyer, the bank or your freight forwarder. Three quite different things are commonly described as "certifying" an invoice.

Letters of credit. Where payment is under a documentary credit, the bank examines the documents strictly against its terms. 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.

Chamber of commerce certification. In many trade lanes the expected first certification of an invoice is by a chamber of commerce, not a notary. Some destinations accept either; some specify one; some want the chamber's certification and then embassy legalisation. The credit or import permit decides.

Apostille or legalisation. The Apostille Convention says it does not apply to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations, and countries read that exclusion differently. A destination that is a Convention member may still want embassy legalisation for an invoice. Check membership on the HCCH status table, then ask the embassy or importer which certificate it accepts for a trade document.

Who attends and what to bring

The person who will sign the invoice attends in person. The notary needs to see them sign.

• Photo identification for the signatory, preferably a passport.
• Evidence the company exists, usually a current ASIC company extract.
• Evidence of authority. 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. Notarising a board resolution covers what a notary checks in one.
• The invoice, unsigned, on letterhead, in the number of originals the credit or importer requires. A notary cannot attest a signature made before the appointment.

A sole trader brings their own identification and ABN details, and the authority question largely falls away. The difference between signing for yourself and for a company is set out in company and individual notarisation.

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. 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: a new signature, a new notarial certificate, a new DFAT step and a 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 first, so the document that is notarised is the one that will be presented. The certificate of origin often travels with the invoice and has its own rules.

The chain, step by step

1. Confirm the chain with the buyer, bank or embassy: chamber, notary, DFAT, embassy, or some combination.
2. Reconcile the invoice with every other shipping document.
3. Sign before the notary. The notary checks identity and authority, watches the signing and attaches the notarial certificate.
4. DFAT issues an apostille for a Convention country that accepts one for trade documents, or an authentication certificate otherwise. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise treats business documents as private documents that must be notarised first. No notary can issue an apostille.
5. Embassy legalisation, where required. Each embassy sets its own forms and requirements, and some want the invoice submitted with other shipping documents. Ask before you start. Consulates and document legalisation explains that step.

What the notarial certificate says

The notary's certificate is usually short, and it is worth knowing what it will and will not contain before a foreign reader relies on it. It typically records that a named person, identified by the documents the notary sighted, signed the attached invoice in the notary's presence on a stated date, and that the notary was satisfied, from the company extract and any resolution produced, that the person holds the stated office or authority. Some destinations want particular wording, such as a statement that the signatory is authorised to sign export documents; if yours does, give the notary that wording in advance.

The certificate will not say the invoice is correct, the goods exist or the price reflects the market. If the destination's customs wants those things confirmed, it will look to the exporter's own declaration on the invoice, to the chamber's certification where one applies, and to its own valuation rules. A notary who describes precisely what they saw and checked gives the foreign reader something more useful than a certificate that appears to promise more.

Translation

Where the destination wants the invoice in its own language, a bilingual invoice drafted by the exporter is often simpler than a separate translation, because it is one document to sign and authenticate. If a separate translation must be legalised too, DFAT deals only with translations by a NAATI certified or recognised translator. Prices, currency codes, quantities and invoice numbers must match the original exactly. See NAATI translation with a notary.

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 at later appointments, and keep it and the signatory's identification current.

Build the authentication and legalisation steps into the shipping schedule. Goods can arrive before the paperwork, and the importer may not be able to clear them until the legalised invoice reaches it.

Requirement says	What it usually means	Notary involved?
"Certified by a chamber of commerce"	The chamber's certification	Not necessarily
"Notarised"	An officer's signature attested by a notary	Yes
"Apostilled"	Notary, then a DFAT apostille	Yes
"Legalised by the consulate"	Notary or chamber, DFAT authentication, then the embassy	Usually
"Attested"	Often the full chain; ask the embassy	Usually

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Melbourne food exporter's buyer in the Middle East opens a letter of credit calling for a commercial invoice "legalised by the consulate". The exporter's logistics coordinator, who is not a director, has signed and scanned an invoice, and asks for it to be notarised. It cannot be: the notary must see the signature made. The company passes a resolution authorising the coordinator to sign export documents, the coordinator signs a fresh invoice before a notary, DFAT authenticates the notarial certificate, and the embassy legalises it. The next shipment is quicker, because the standing resolution is already in place.

In short

A notary attests who signed your commercial invoice and their authority to sign for the company, not the goods or prices. Read the credit or import requirement word for word, bring the unsigned invoice, photo ID, a company extract and evidence of authority, and reconcile the invoice with the rest of the shipping set first. DFAT and, where required, the embassy complete the chain. For those steps, see document notarisation and apostille and authentication.

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Asked for a notarised or legalised invoice? Send us the exact wording of the requirement, and we will explain each step before you book.