How to fill out a simple packing list
A simple packing list drops the HS codes, per-item dimensions and marks that the detailed version carries. It suits shipments where nobody needs them — domestic movements, samples, internal transfers — and it is the wrong choice the moment a customs officer wants to reconcile a specific carton against an invoice line.
The 14 fields on a packing list — simple
Taken from the document itself, in the order it prints them.
- Document No.
Your reference. It should match or clearly relate to the invoice number, because the two documents are read together.
- Date
- PO Reference
The buyer's order. Often the only reference the receiving warehouse recognises, since they never saw your invoice.
- Shipper / Exporter
- Consignee
- Notify Party
- Vessel / Voyage
- Port of Loading
- Port of Discharge
- Country of Origin
- Container No.
Four letters and seven digits from the box itself. Copy it rather than retyping from a booking email — the last digit is a check digit and a transposition will be caught.
- Seal No.
The seal fitted after loading. A mismatch between the seal on the door and the seal on the paperwork means the container gets opened.
- Method of Dispatch
- Notes
Handling constraints: stacking limits, temperature, which pallets carry the heavy items. Not the place for commercial terms.
The line-item columns
One row per product. Columns can be hidden, renamed or added in the generator.
- Item #
- Description
The same wording as the commercial invoice, exactly. Two different descriptions of the same goods across two documents is the discrepancy officers look for first.
- Qty
- Unit
- Pkgs
Physical pieces, not units of product. Six hundred tiles in twenty cartons is twenty packages, and the column total is what the carrier signs for.
- Pkg Type
Carton, pallet, crate, drum. It also flags whether the packaging itself needs a treatment certificate — anything on solid timber usually does.
- Gross Wt
Goods plus packaging plus pallet. The total must agree with the weight declared to the carrier and, on a sea shipment, with the verified gross mass once the container tare is added.
- Net Wt
The goods alone. Always below gross, and if the two are equal somebody has typed one figure twice.
- Tare Wt
- Vol
Cubic metres. On LCL you are charged on whichever is greater, weight or volume, so this column decides the freight bill.
A working packing list — simple, prefilled with a sample shipment. Every field above is editable here, and it downloads as a PDF.
| Item # | Description | Qty | Unit | Pkgs | Pkg Type | Gross Wt (KG) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Your entries are kept as you move between documents: the parties, ports, container and line items all carry across.
When simple is not enough
Use the detailed version for anything crossing a customs border, moving under a letter of credit, or shipping LCL. Customs may want HS codes per line; a bank may require the packing list to name marks and numbers; and on LCL your pallets travel with strangers' and are separated at a freight station, where unmarked packages are found by opening them.
It still has to reconcile with the invoice
Dropping columns does not drop that obligation. Total package count and total gross weight have to match what the invoice and the transport document say, and the goods descriptions have to be the same words. A mismatch stops the shipment regardless of which document is right.
No prices, ever
A packing list carrying values becomes a second invoice, and where the two disagree the officer has to decide which is the real transaction value. That decision will not go your way.
+Can I use a simple packing list for export?
You can, and many low-value shipments travel on one. The risk is that an officer wanting to verify a line has nothing to verify it against, and a question is a delay.
+Do I need both a simple and a detailed list?
No. Pick one. Both read from the same consignment, so you choose which to download rather than filling in two.
+Does it need signing?
Usually not, unless a letter of credit requires it.
Judge it by the document, not the feature list.
Everything above is already on the form. Fill it in and download the PDF — no account needed.
Open the packing list — simple generator