Your bank asks for documents about an already paid order of desk lamps. The original proforma lists a larger quantity than the final invoice, the warehouse records two arrivals and the supplier receipt is smaller than the total money your company funded. Sending those documents without explanation leaves the reviewer to guess whether they concern the same purchase. Build a short reconciliation supported by the originals.
The lamps and request are fictional illustrations, not customer transactions or a bank checklist. This article is general information, not banking, customs, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. The requesting institution sets its own requirements; qualified advisers must assess corrections and disclosures. A complete folder does not guarantee acceptance.
Start with the actual request
Retain the bank's questions, reference, deadline and submission channel. Ask for clarification where the scope is unclear: purchase purpose, counterparties, source of funds, goods received or a specific amount difference. Do not assume a standard invoice packet answers every request.
Assign a colleague to coordinate the response with finance, purchasing and the relevant advisers. Submit through a verified channel and protect unrelated personal or commercial information. A request to minimise unnecessary disclosure is not permission to omit facts the institution requires.
Use the accounting-records guide to locate the underlying purchase folder. This task adds an explanation of particular differences, not another unlabelled collection of screenshots.
Preserve the sequence from proforma to receipt
List the original proforma, agreed amendments, final commercial invoice, shipment-specific packing lists and receiving records in order. Identify which version was valid at each payment stage. For the lamps, locate the supplier's accepted quantity reduction and the documents allocating goods to the two arrivals.
The proforma-and-commercial-invoice guide helps distinguish their roles. Keep the earlier proforma even if it no longer states the final amount. Deleting it would remove the reason the deposit was originally approved.
The ITA export-document guide describes commercial invoices and packing lists as distinct documents, with packing lists identifying shipment contents and packages. It is US exporter guidance, not a universal import checklist. A receipt for cartons should not be presented as proof of the value credited to a supplier.
Write one explanation for each difference
Use references another reviewer can follow. State what changed, who agreed it, when and which attachment supports the explanation. Distinguish a documented fact from a supplier explanation still awaiting evidence.
| Difference | Records to connect |
|---|---|
| Proforma versus final quantity | Approved amendment and final supplier document |
| Invoice versus arrival quantity | Shipment allocation, packing lists and intake records |
| Funding versus supplier receipt | Conversion, charges, payment execution and credited amount |
| Buyer or seller name variation | Entity evidence and explanation from the issuing party |
| Payment beneficiary versus seller | Documented arrangement and appropriate professional review |
| Refund or credit | Accepted settlement and actual receipt or application record |
| Unresolved amount | Known evidence, missing confirmation and responsible follow-up |
These are editorial reconciliation fields, not a bank form. For the fictional lamps, a quantity amendment might explain the final invoice, while provider charges might explain a separate funding difference. Neither explanation should be asserted unless the actual records establish it.
Do not net a refund against the invoice and hide both original payments. Show what was paid, what the seller credited, what came back and what remains unresolved. Avoid describing a promised refund as money received.
Request corrections from the proper issuer
Where a supplier document contains an error, ask the issuer for a correction identifying the earlier record and the reason. Keep both versions and their dates. A buyer-created reconciliation can explain the documents; it cannot masquerade as a supplier-issued invoice.
If customs records may require amendment, refer the question to the broker and appropriate adviser. Do not edit a lodged declaration or alter dates to make it match a later payment. Preserve the record of any authorised correction and its status.
The WTO valuation overview describes transaction value and alternative valuation methods. It does not make a customs value identical to every invoice or funding total. Ask the broker to explain the actual valuation basis where that is relevant to the bank's question; this article supplies no destination-specific procedure.
Link payment evidence to the purchase
The payment-proof guide helps distinguish token funding evidence from confirmation of the supplier payment. Match each actual supplier credit with its invoice and stage. Explain a payment to another beneficiary using verified documents and adviser review, not merely a salesperson's statement that it is another account.
Ask the provider for available execution records through the established support channel. Do not demand that it issue a goods invoice, certify warehouse quantities or retroactively change a transfer's commercial purpose. Keep an unavailable record marked as unavailable rather than manufacture a substitute.
Submit a bounded response and retain the outcome
Give the reviewer a brief narrative, a referenced schedule and the requested attachments. State unresolved matters honestly and describe the follow-up underway. Keep the submitted version and subsequent questions so another colleague can see exactly what the institution received.
Use pay an invoice to ask A2vanta about a future supplier payment before funding. Your bank decides whether the response meets its request; your supplier, accountant and broker address the goods and document history. Payment handling does not certify that the import or bank review is approved.