How to Fill In a Commercial Invoice for UK to USA Shipping

The short answer

A commercial invoice is the customs document that tells US Customs what’s in your parcel and what it’s worth. To fill it in correctly for UK→USA shipping in 2026 you need specific item descriptions (not “gift” or “clothing”), the correct HS code for each item, the declared value in GBP or USD, and the sender’s signature. Three copies travel with the parcel.

Get the form right and the parcel clears in 24 hours. Get it wrong and it sits at the border for 2–5 working days while US Customs and the carrier work it out.

What a commercial invoice actually is

It is not the same as your sales invoice to the customer. It is a customs document, written for the eyes of a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, that lets them:

1. Verify the parcel’s contents match what was declared
2. Calculate the duty owed
3. Decide if any items are restricted or prohibited
4. Match the parcel to the carrier’s manifest

It has to be in English. It has to be signed. It has to be specific. And since February 2026, when the US removed the $800 de minimis for commercial imports, every commercial parcel needs one.

The required fields, in order

A well-formed commercial invoice for UK→USA has the following sections. Most carrier platforms (UPS, DHL, FedEx, TradeWind) generate the form automatically from the booking inputs — but you still need to know what each field is for.

1. Header / invoice details

• Invoice number (any unique reference; the carrier’s tracking number is fine)
• Invoice date (today’s date)
• Currency (GBP or USD — be consistent)

2. Sender (shipper) block

• Full business or personal name
• Full UK address including postcode
• VAT number or EORI number (commercial shipments only — required for B2B and most ecommerce)
• Phone number (mandatory; carriers will reject without)
• Email address

3. Recipient (consignee) block

• Full business or personal name
• Full US address including ZIP+4 where possible
• Phone number (mandatory)
• Email address
• US EIN or IRS number (for B2B shipments to US businesses — speeds clearance)

4. Reason for export

Tick one of:

• Sale — commercial transaction, the most common
• Gift — personal gift between individuals
• Sample — commercial sample for evaluation
• Return — goods being sent back to the US after UK return
• Repair and return — goods sent to UK for repair, now returning

Mismatching this with the actual nature of the shipment is a common reason for hold-ups.

5. Item lines

For each distinct item in the parcel:

• Item description — specific. “Cotton round-neck t-shirt, size M, black”
• HS code — 6-digit minimum, 10-digit (HTSUS) preferred
• Country of origin — where the goods were made, not where they’re shipping from
• Quantity — number of units
• Unit value — value per unit in chosen currency
• Line total — quantity x unit value

6. Totals and shipping

• Total goods value
• Freight (shipping) cost separately listed
• Insurance, if any
• Grand total

7. Declarations

• “I/we hereby certify that the information on this invoice is true and correct and that the contents of this shipment are as stated above.”
• Sender’s signature
• Sender’s printed name
• Date

That’s it. The whole form fits on one page if you have fewer than 10 line items.

The single biggest mistake: vague descriptions

This is the one that causes 80% of customs delays. “Gift”, “clothing”, “household goods”, “supplies” — these are not item descriptions. A US Customs officer cannot calculate duty or assess restriction from those words.

The rule of thumb: would someone who has never seen the parcel be able to picture the item from your description? If yes, it’s specific enough.

HS codes — what they are and why

The Harmonized System (HS) is the international classification system for traded goods. Every product has a code. The first 6 digits are global; countries add 2–4 more for national classification.

• 6-digit code: globally standard, accepted on US imports as a minimum
• 10-digit code (HTSUS): the full US tariff classification, preferred by CBP

Examples for common UK→USA items:

You don’t need to memorise these — every booking platform looks them up from a product database, or you can search the official USITC HTS lookup. For more on HS codes specifically, see our HS codes guide for UK to USA shipping.

Personal vs commercial — the difference

The form is similar but the rules differ.

Personal (gift) shipments:

• Reason for export: “Gift”
• Sender’s name is a private individual, not a business
• Declared value under USD 100 qualifies for personal gift exemption (duty-free)
• HS codes still required for clarity, but customs is more lenient on personal gifts
• A simplified CN22 (under £270 in value) or CN23 (above) can substitute for full commercial invoice on small Royal Mail parcels

Commercial shipments:

• Reason for export: “Sale” (or sample/return as appropriate)
• Sender is a business, with VAT and EORI numbers listed
• All declared value attracts duty since February 2026 (no de minimis exemption)
• Full HS codes required at 6-digit minimum, 10-digit preferred
• Full commercial invoice required, no CN22/CN23 substitution

Sending a commercial shipment from a business address but ticking “Gift” to dodge duty is illegal. CBP routinely opens parcels and reconciles declarations against external evidence (the sender’s website, the marketplace listing, etc.). The penalty is parcel seizure and the seller flagged for future scrutiny.

A worked example

A UK Shopify shop ships a £75 cotton hoodie to a buyer in Atlanta GA. The commercial invoice should read (simplified):

Invoice No: 1Z999AA10123456784
Date: 12 May 2026
Currency: GBP

Sender:
  Acme Apparel Ltd
  12 High Street, Manchester M1 1AB, UK
  VAT: GB123456789
  EORI: GB123456789000
  Phone: +44 161 555 0123

Recipient:
  Jane Smith
  456 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
  Phone: +1 404 555 0199

Reason for export: Sale

Items:
| Description                          | HS code      | Origin | Qty | Unit value | Line total |
| Cotton round-neck hoodie, women's M  | 6110.20.10.10 | UK    | 1   | £75.00     | £75.00     |

Goods total: £75.00
Freight:    £15.40
Grand total: £90.40

Country of final destination: USA

I certify the above is true and correct.
Signed: ____________  Print: O. Gibson  Date: 12 May 2026

That’s a clean form. CBP can identify the item, look up duty (16.5% on knit cotton hoodies = ~£12.40 calculated on the goods value, paid on a DDP service), and clear the parcel without intervention.

What carriers do for you

The good news: you don’t usually fill this in by hand. Modern booking platforms generate the form from the booking inputs.

• TradeWind: /ship flow walks you through every required field and prints the invoice with the label. HS codes are looked up from product description. The form is attached to the parcel automatically.
• UPS WorldShip / WorldEase: same idea, more enterprise-focused.
• DHL MyGTS: similar, with extra fields for DHL Express’s per-parcel broker.
• Royal Mail Click & Drop: handles CN22/CN23 for under-£270 parcels automatically; a full commercial invoice for larger commercial shipments.

The platform’s job is to translate “what’s in the parcel and what’s it worth” into the structured form CBP wants. Your job is to give it accurate inputs.

Three copies, where they go

For UK→USA, the carrier needs three copies of the commercial invoice:

1. One in a clear plastic sleeve attached to the outside of the parcel — CBP reads this without opening the box
2. One handed to the carrier at drop-off or pickup — they keep it for their manifest
3. One retained by the sender — your record for accounting and any future query

The clear plastic sleeves are sold at every UPS Access Point and most Royal Mail post offices. Aggregator platforms usually ship them out free in batches if you’re a regular shipper.

Mistakes that get parcels held

The top 5 reasons a UK→USA parcel gets held at customs in 2026:

1. Vague item descriptions (45% of holds in my experience)
2. Missing or wrong HS codes (25%)
3. Wrong country of origin (10% — declaring UK when the item was made in China)
4. Undervaluation (10% — declaring a £200 item as £20 to dodge duty)
5. Restricted item declared incorrectly (10% — perfume declared as “cosmetics”, lithium battery not flagged)

Fix the first two and you handle 70% of all customs delay risk.

The bottom line

A commercial invoice isn’t optional, isn’t complicated, and isn’t something to rush. Spend 5 minutes filling it in properly and the parcel clears in 24 hours. Spend 30 seconds writing “gift” and “clothing” and you’ll spend 2 weeks emailing the carrier asking where the parcel is.

For UK→USA shipping specifically, TradeWind’s /ship flow handles the form generation from your inputs, with built-in HS code lookup and US-specific guidance. For B2B volume the business platform does the same with bulk consignment support.

For more on the customs side, see our HS codes guide and restricted items list. For the wider duty picture, DDP vs DDU shipping.