GST invoice format every Indian business can copy
The exact fields Rule 46 asks for, how the tax split is shown, and a layout you can rebuild in Excel, Word or PDF today — written for shops and small businesses, not for tax lawyers.
Create a GST invoice freeA GST invoice is not a design problem. It is a checklist. Rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists the particulars every tax invoice must carry, and a bill that misses one of them can cost your buyer their input tax credit — which is usually when you hear about it. Get the checklist right once, save it as your template, and the rest is routine.
This page sets out the mandatory fields, the numbering rules, how CGST, SGST and IGST are shown, and the errors that show up most often in real invoices we see from Indian retailers. The rates referenced here are the ones in force from 22 September 2025: nil, 5%, 18% and 40%, with bullion and jewellery at 3%.
What this format must carry
Every field below, with whether it is mandatory and what it is for.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice number | A consecutive serial number of up to 16 characters, unique for the financial year. Letters, digits, hyphen and slash are allowed. Start a fresh series every April. | |
| Invoice date | Date of issue. For goods the invoice is raised on or before removal; for services, within 30 days of supply. | |
| Supplier name, address and GSTIN | Your legal name as registered, full address and 15-digit GSTIN exactly as it appears on the certificate. | |
| Buyer name, address and GSTIN | GSTIN is required when the buyer is registered. For an unregistered buyer, name and address are enough — and only needed above ₹50,000. | |
| Place of supply with state code | This decides CGST+SGST or IGST. Mandatory for inter-state supplies and for any supply to an unregistered buyer where it differs from the billing address. | |
| HSN or SAC code | Four digits for B2B supplies if your turnover is up to ₹5 crore, six digits above that. Services use SAC instead of HSN. | |
| Description, quantity and unit | Plain description with the unit of measure — nos, kg, mtr, box. Vague lines like "material supplied" invite disputes. | |
| Taxable value and discount | Value after any discount recorded on the invoice itself. Post-sale discounts have to go through a credit note instead. | |
| Rate and amount of CGST / SGST / IGST | Shown separately per rate. Same state means CGST plus SGST at half each; different state means the full rate as IGST. | |
| Reverse charge declaration | State whether tax is payable on reverse charge. Most invoices simply carry "Reverse charge: No". | |
| Total in words and round-off | Not mandatory, but a rounded grand total with the difference shown separately keeps your books and your GSTR-1 reconciled. | |
| Signature or digital signature | Signature of the supplier or an authorised person. Not needed if the invoice is issued electronically with a valid digital signature. |
Guidance only. GST rules and rates change by notification — confirm the requirements for your business on the CBIC portal or with your CA.
When you must issue a GST invoice
Any business registered under GST as a regular taxpayer issues a tax invoice for every taxable supply of goods or services. For goods, the invoice is raised before or at the time the goods leave your premises. For services, you have 30 days from the date the service is supplied.
There is one relief for counter sales. If the buyer is unregistered and the value is under ₹200, you need not hand over a separate invoice for each sale unless the customer asks — you can raise a single consolidated invoice at the end of the day for all such sales. A composition dealer never issues a tax invoice at all; they issue a bill of supply.
How many copies, and how the tax is split
For a supply of goods the invoice is prepared in triplicate — original for the buyer, duplicate for the transporter, triplicate for your own file. For services a duplicate is enough: one for the buyer, one for you. Digital invoices sidestep the paperwork, but the same evidence trail still has to exist.
The tax split follows the place of supply, not the buyer's billing address on paper. If your state and the place of supply are the same, the rate is split equally into CGST and SGST — 18% becomes 9% plus 9%. If they differ, the full 18% is charged as IGST on a single line. Mixing the two on one invoice line is the single most common reason a buyer's credit gets blocked.
Mistakes that cost you or your buyer
Numbering is where most trouble starts. Duplicate numbers, gaps left by cancelled bills that were never recorded, series longer than 16 characters, and a series that runs on from the previous financial year instead of restarting — all of these show up during scrutiny. Keep one clean series per financial year, or clearly separated series per branch or document type.
The rest is detail work: a wrong or missing GSTIN, no HSN code, no place of supply on an inter-state bill, or a discount promised over the phone but never written on the invoice. If you would rather not police all of this by hand, RetailDek's free invoice generator builds a Rule 46 compliant invoice with the tax split and HSN summary already worked out, and you can download it as a PDF.
Skip the template — generate it
Filling a blank Excel sheet every time is where numbering gaps and missing fields creep in. Our free tool builds this document with the fields already in the right places, and you can download it as a PDF — no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
Create a GST invoice freeGST Invoice Format — FAQs
No. The government prescribes the particulars an invoice must contain, not its design. You are free to lay out your invoice however you like — in Excel, Word, a printed bill book or billing software — as long as every field listed in Rule 46 is present and readable.
Make it the output, not the chore
Save your items and parties once, and every document comes out numbered, GST-correct and ready to print — with the stock and reports updating behind it.
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