Packing list: the page customs and the warehouse open first
What a packing list has to show, the three figures that must agree with the invoice and the bill of lading, and how one wrong carton count holds a container.
The invoice says what the goods are worth. The packing list says how they are packed: how many packages, what is in each, how much each weighs and how much room it takes. Customs uses it to choose which carton to open, the warehouse uses it to receive the goods, and under a letter of credit the bank reads it against every other document you present.
What it has to show
For each package: its number, the shipping marks printed on it, what is inside and how many, the net and gross weight, and the outside dimensions. Then the totals: the number of packages, the total net and gross weight, and the volume in cubic metres. The marks matter more than they look, because they are how a carton on the floor is matched to a line on the page.
It usually carries no prices, and it does not need to. Put the invoice number and date on it, so that the two papers are filed and read as a pair.
The three figures that must agree
The number of packages, the gross weight and the volume appear on the packing list, on the bill of lading or air waybill, and usually on the invoice. They need not be laid out the same way, but they must not contradict each other. Under a letter of credit, a bank that finds documents in conflict can refuse them, and a gross weight that differs by one carton is a conflict.
Weigh after packing, not from the product sheet. The pallet, the wrapping and the cartons themselves are part of the gross weight, and the carrier's scale will find them if you do not.
When it holds a shipment
A customs officer who opens the carton the list says holds 200 units and counts 180 does not stop at that carton. It often leads to a wider inspection and days in port while every other line is checked. A list written from the order, not from what was packed, is the most common cause.
Make the list from the packing floor's count after the last carton is sealed, and send it with the invoice in one email, so that nobody files one without the other.
Where Ara helps
Give Ara the order sheet and the packing floor's carton counts, and ask for a packing list with the totals worked out. Then give it the invoice and the draft bill of lading, and ask which packages, weights and volumes do not agree. The list and every version of it stay on your PC.
Shipping to a new market? Check the certification, duty and trademark rules for your product there, free: TradeGraph before-you-sell checklist (opens in a new tab)
Turn the guide into your next shipment's documents.
Ara runs on your own PC and drafts the export documents with you: it reads the LC terms, fills the checklist and keeps every version. You stay the one who signs.