GST, invoicing and billing guides

CGST and SGST are charged together, in equal halves, on supplies within one state; the Centre collects CGST and the state collects SGST. IGST is charg...

The GST composition scheme lets small businesses pay tax at a flat rate on turnover instead of normal GST. Manufacturers and traders with aggregate tu...

From 22 September 2025 India's GST rate structure was rationalised into two main slabs — 5% (merit rate) and 18% (standard rate) — plus a 40% special...

To register for GST, fill Part A of Form GST REG-01 on gst.gov.in with PAN, state, mobile and email to get a Temporary Reference Number (TRN). Log in...

You must register for GST once aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds ₹20 lakh for service providers (₹10 lakh in special category states), or...

A GSTIN is a 15-character, PAN-based identification number. Characters 1–2 are the state code, 3–12 are the holder's PAN, 13 is the entity number for...

Place of supply decides whether a supply is intra-state (CGST+SGST) or inter-state (IGST). For goods that move, it is where the movement ends; for goo...

Under GST's reverse charge mechanism (RCM), the recipient of a supply, not the supplier, pays the tax. It applies to goods and services notified under...

Time of supply is the point at which GST becomes payable. For goods it is the earlier of the invoice date and the last date by which the invoice shoul...

GST (Goods and Services Tax) is India's single, destination-based indirect tax on the supply of goods and services, in force since 1 July 2017. It is...

A credit note under GST is issued by a supplier under Section 34 of the CGST Act when the taxable value or tax on an invoice was too high, goods are r...

A debit note under GST is issued by a supplier under Section 34(3) of the CGST Act when the taxable value or tax charged on an invoice is lower than w...

A delivery challan under GST is a document issued under Rule 55 of the CGST Rules to move goods without a tax invoice, for job work, liquid gas of unk...

An export invoice under LUT is a tax invoice for a zero-rated export made without paying IGST, after filing a Letter of Undertaking in FORM GST RFD-11...

A GST invoice format is the layout of a tax invoice under Section 31 and Rule 46 of the CGST Rules. It has a header with supplier name, address and GS...

Under Rule 46(b) of the CGST Rules, a GST invoice number must be a consecutive serial number of up to 16 characters, using only letters, numbers, hyph...

Rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists the mandatory fields of a GST tax invoice: supplier name, address and GSTIN; a unique serial number up to 16 character...

A proforma invoice is a pre-sale document that quotes price, tax and terms so a buyer can approve an order or arrange payment. It has no status under...

Under Section 31(3)(a) of the CGST Act, a revised invoice is issued by a newly registered person, within one month of the registration certificate bei...

A tax invoice is issued for taxable supplies and shows GST charged, so the registered buyer can claim input tax credit. A bill of supply is issued und...

E-invoicing is mandatory for a GST-registered business whose aggregate turnover in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards has exceeded ₹5 crore. The...

Most e-invoice rejections fall into a few groups: duplicate document numbers, invalid or inactive GSTINs, PIN codes that do not match the state, inval...

Even above the ₹5 crore turnover limit, some registered persons are excluded from e-invoicing: SEZ units; insurers, banking companies and financial in...

The e-invoice JSON schema is the standard structure (form GST INV-01) in which invoice data is sent to the Invoice Registration Portal. It groups data...

The e-invoice QR code is a signed QR generated by the Invoice Registration Portal when it issues an IRN. It carries key invoice details — supplier and...

An e-invoice registers a B2B invoice with the Invoice Registration Portal to get an IRN, and depends on the supplier's turnover. An e-way bill is a mo...

An e-invoice IRN can be cancelled only in full and only within 24 hours of its generation, on the same IRP or through your software's cancel option, b...

To generate an IRN, register your GSTIN on an Invoice Registration Portal, create the invoice in your billing system, convert it to the e-invoice JSON...

From 1 April 2025, taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover (AATO) of ₹10 crore or more cannot report an e-invoice, credit note or debit note on the I...

E-invoicing under GST is a system where businesses above the notified turnover limit (currently ₹5 crore aggregate turnover) report each B2B invoice,...

A consolidated e-way bill (Form GST EWB-02) is a single document a transporter generates when carrying several consignments, each with its own e-way b...

The general e-way bill limit is a consignment value above ₹50,000. Consignment value is the invoice, bill of supply or challan value including GST and...

Form GST EWB-01 has two parts. Part A holds the consignment details from the invoice or challan: GSTINs of supplier and recipient, delivery PIN, docum...

If goods move without a valid e-way bill, officers can detain the vehicle and goods under Section 129 of the CGST Act. Release requires a penalty of 2...

E-way bill validity depends on distance. For normal cargo it is 1 day for up to 200 km and 1 more day for every further 200 km or part of it. For over...

When a principal sends goods to a job worker in another state, an e-way bill is required whatever the value; the principal or a registered job worker...

An e-way bill can be cancelled only by the person who generated it, within 24 hours of generation, and only if it has not been verified in transit by...

You can extend an e-way bill in a window from 8 hours before to 8 hours after its expiry. The current transporter (or the generator, if no transporter...

To generate an e-way bill, log in to ewaybillgst.gov.in with your GSTIN username, password and two-factor OTP, open e-Waybill > Generate New, enter Pa...

An e-way bill is an electronic document generated on the GST e-way bill portal (ewaybillgst.gov.in) before goods worth more than ₹50,000 are moved by...

Most electronics fall in HSN Chapters 84 and 85. Under Notification 9/2025 (Rate), effective 22 September 2025, mobile phones (8517), laptops and comp...

Food products fall mainly in HSN Chapters 04 to 22. From 22 September 2025, most processed foods such as butter, ghee, cheese, biscuits, namkeen, choc...

Medicines are classified in HSN Chapter 30. Under Notification 9/2025 (Rate), effective 22 September 2025, medicaments in bulk (3003) and in measured...

Textiles fall in HSN Chapters 50 to 63. From 22 September 2025, most yarns and woven or knitted fabrics are taxed at 5% GST. Apparel in Chapters 61 an...

Under Notification 78/2020-Central Tax, a GST-registered business with aggregate annual turnover up to ₹5 crore in the previous financial year must sh...

To find an HSN code, identify what the product is made of and what it does, locate the matching chapter in the Customs Tariff, narrow down to the 4-di...

Construction services fall under SAC heading 9954. It has seven groups: 99541 buildings, 99542 civil engineering works, 99543 site preparation, 99544...

IT services fall under SAC group 99831 within heading 9983. The main codes are 998313 (IT consulting and support), 998314 (IT design and development,...

A SAC (Services Accounting Code) is a six-digit code that classifies services under GST. Every SAC starts with 99 (Chapter 99, 'All Services'), follow...

An HSN code (Harmonized System of Nomenclature) is a numeric product code used to classify goods. India follows the Customs Tariff's 8-digit version,...

Blocked input tax credit is GST paid on purchases that Section 17(5) of the CGST Act bars you from claiming even for business use. It covers most pass...

Late GST returns attract two charges. A late fee under Section 47 runs per day of delay; for GSTR-3B the portal charges ₹25 CGST plus ₹25 SGST a day,...

To claim a GST refund you file Form RFD-01 on the GST portal within two years of the relevant date, as Section 54 of the CGST Act requires. Common cla...

GSTR-1 is the statement of outward supplies every regular GST taxpayer files on the GST portal. Monthly filers file by the 11th of the next month; QRM...

GSTR-1 is an invoice-level statement of your sales, filed by the 11th (monthly) or 13th after the quarter, that feeds your buyers' input tax credit. G...

GSTR-2B reconciliation means matching the auto-drafted ITC statement on the GST portal with your purchase register before filing GSTR-3B. Supplier inv...

GSTR-3B is the summary return in which a regular GST taxpayer declares total outward supplies, claims input tax credit and pays the net tax. Monthly f...

GSTR-9 is the annual GST return in which a regular taxpayer consolidates a financial year's outward supplies, input tax credit and tax paid, as report...

Under Section 16 of the CGST Act you can claim input tax credit on GST paid for business purchases if you hold a valid tax invoice, the supplier has r...

The QRMP scheme lets GST taxpayers with aggregate turnover up to ₹5 crore in the previous year file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B quarterly while paying tax mont...

Service businesses bill using hourly, fixed-fee, retainer, milestone or usage models. In India, a GST-registered service provider must issue a tax inv...

Start with your compliance needs (GST tax invoices, HSN/SAC codes, e-invoice IRN if your turnover crosses ₹5 crore, e-way bills, GSTR exports), then m...

To make an invoice, add your business name, address and GSTIN; give it a unique serial number and date; enter the buyer's details; list each item with...

Use a consecutive serial number of no more than 16 characters, containing only letters, numbers, hyphens and slashes, and unique within the financial...

Invoice payment terms state when and how the buyer must pay, for example 'Net 15' (full payment within 15 days of the invoice date), 'Due on receipt',...

An invoice is issued by the seller to request payment for goods or services supplied. A bill is the same document seen from the buyer's side, or a sim...

An estimate is an approximate price that may change once the actual work is known. A quotation is a fixed price offer, valid for a stated period, that...

A recurring invoice is an invoice generated automatically on a fixed schedule, such as monthly or quarterly, for the same customer and similar charges...

A purchase order (PO) is issued by the buyer to a supplier, confirming what they want to buy, at what price and on what terms. A sales order (SO) is i...

An invoice is a document a seller issues to a buyer that records what was sold, the quantity, the price, any tax charged, the total amount due and whe...

Accounts receivable management is the process of controlling money customers owe you: setting credit terms and limits, invoicing promptly, matching ev...

When you receive an advance, issue a receipt voucher under section 31(3)(d) of the CGST Act. For services, GST is payable on the advance because the t...

The CGST Act has no provision to refund or adjust GST because a customer never paid. Section 34 credit notes are allowed only for reasons such as exce...

Cash flow management means knowing when money will come in and go out, and acting early to cover gaps. For a small Indian business, that means a rolli...

To get paid faster, invoice on the day you deliver, put a clear due date and payment terms on every bill, add a UPI QR code or payment link, send the...

Under the MSMED Act 2006, a buyer must pay a Udyam-registered micro or small supplier by the agreed date, which cannot be more than 45 days from accep...

A good payment reminder names the invoice number, amount, due date and a one-tap way to pay, and its tone gets firmer at each stage. Use a friendly no...

Under section 52 of the CGST Act, an e-commerce operator collects TCS on the net value of taxable supplies made through its platform by other supplier...

TDS is deducted by the payer, not shown as a tax on your invoice. From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act 2025 applies, and most non-salary TDS sits in s...

To accept UPI as a business, open a merchant (P2M) UPI account through your bank or a payment aggregator, then display a QR code or send payment links...

Barcode billing lets counter staff scan an item's barcode instead of typing its name, so the bill picks the right item, price, HSN code and GST rate i...

Batch and expiry tracking records every lot of stock with its batch number, manufacturing date, expiry date and cost, so you can sell the earliest-exp...

Double-entry bookkeeping records every transaction in at least two accounts, with total debits always equal to total credits. Assets and expenses incr...

Section 35 of the CGST Act requires every registered person to keep true and correct accounts of production, inward and outward supplies, stock, input...

Markup is profit as a percentage of cost; gross margin is profit as a percentage of selling price. An item costing ₹100 and selling at ₹125 has a 25%...

Inventory management means tracking what stock you buy, hold and sell so you never run out of fast movers or tie cash up in slow ones. The basics are...

A POS (point of sale) billing system is the counter software and hardware that creates customer bills, records the payment mode, updates stock and pro...

A profit and loss statement shows a business's income and expenses for a period and the resulting profit or loss. For a trading business it starts wit...

Under ICAI's AS 2 (and Ind AS 2), inventory is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. For interchangeable goods, cost is assigned using...

A year-end closing checklist covers everything needed to close the books on 31 March: finish all invoices and credit notes, count and value closing st...