Invoices in India: GST Formats & Free Generator

A tax invoice is a document showing the supply of goods or services, the tax charged, and the parties involved, issued within the time prescribed by GST rules. Every registered supplier must issue a tax invoice for taxable supplies — and a bill of supply when exempting credits are not claimed.

GST law is precise about what a tax invoice must contain. Miss one field and the buyer's input tax credit claim can be rejected in audit.

Small businesses issuing manual invoices often use a two-column layout: the left column carries the invoice meta (number, date, GSTIN, payment terms) and the right column carries the itemised bill table with tax lines at the bottom.

A compliant small-business invoice must still show GSTN, HSN, taxable values and tax split. The Crafex invoice generator builds a professional small-business format automatically and computes CGST, SGST and IGST for you.

Supplies to unregistered consumers or composition dealers use a Bill of Supply instead of a tax invoice, where GST is not shown separately. Composition-dealer invoices also print the words 'composition taxable person'.

HSN (Harmonised System of Nomenclature) codes classify goods; SAC codes classify services. HSN has been mandatory on invoices since GST since simplified thresholds: 2-digit codes for turnover up to ₹5 crore, 4-digit between ₹5–15 crore... consult the current notifications for your business.

Consecutive numbering based on the financial year is mandatory — like INV-2026-0001. GST portals validate that numbers are sequential and running. The Crafex generator applies a clean numbering field you can control.

A proforma invoice is a quotation, not a tax document — it states what you will charge, without raising a GST liability. A credit note is issued when a supply is amended, returned or pricing is corrected, and it forms part of your GST reconciliation.

E-invoicing applies to large businesses above the prescribed turnover threshold, where the invoice is reported to the GST portal through the Invoice Reference Number system. Below that threshold, digital invoices like PDFs are fully valid for filing and claiming credits.

You must keep GST records, including invoices, for at least 8 years from the relevant financial year's end. Digital copies are acceptable, which makes a systematic PDF archive of every generated invoice a compliance must.

Create a professional GST invoice in seconds: add your business and customer details, line items, GST rates, and the Crafex generator computes tax and totals and outputs a clean PDF.

Processing happens in your browser — nothing is uploaded, so customer data stays on your device.

Export invoices follow a different lane: they carry the shipping term, the country of destination, and the LUT or bond number instead of the usual GST zone arithmetic. The tax block shows zero-rated status rather than a CGST–SGST split.

Number exports in a separate series so the books can tell the domestic and export flows apart at a glance. Keep the bill of lading number on the invoice and the invoice number on the bill of lading — the match is the export file's spine.

When the bank's export-realisation certificate arrives late, the invoice count stays the anchor for the GST export reporting; file it the month the goods ship, not the month the remittance lands.

Monthly GST reconciliation is the ten-minute ritual that keeps an annual audit short: the sum of the month's invoices must equal the outward supply figure in the GSTR-1. Mismatches come from three places — cancelled invoices still included, credit notes not paired, and exempt lines mislabelled.

Rebuild the reconciliation from the invoice register rather than from the portal; the register is where corrections belong. Keep the cancellations in a separate list with the reason so the auditor sees a controlled system rather than a messy portal history.

When a buyer requests a re-issue with a new number, cancel the original on the portal the same day or the summary will carry a phantom line for months.

The invoice does not get paid; the terms printed on it do. Standardise the term block — due on receipt, net 7, net 15 — and put the number where the buyer's accounts team sees it inside three seconds. A printed due date beats a negotiated date every month.

Offer the early-payment discount in the term block: 1% for payment within a week converts slow payers into your cheapest source of working capital. Chase against the printed terms, never against the memory of a call, and the ageing report stops being an opinion.

Automate the weekly chaser email by invoice number and due date; the credit list shrinks when every invoice carries a clock that visibly runs.

Under the GST law, a valid invoice must include the supplier's name, GSTIN and address, the invoice number and date, the recipient's name and GSTIN (if registered), an itemised description, HSN/SAC codes, taxable value, rate and amount of tax, and the total value.

An invoice without GSTIN details is not a valid tax invoice — it can be rejected as an input tax credit claim and attract penalties during audit. The Crafex generator builds every field automatically.

The GST law requires invoices to be preserved for at least 8 years. Digital copies stored on your device or cloud are fully valid as long as they are legible and complete.

With Crafex, each invoice you generate is downloaded as a PDF — easy to archive, share with accountants, and retrieve during scrutiny.

Missing invoice numbers, wrong GSTIN, absent payment terms, and no due date are the top reasons clients delay or dispute payment. A professional invoice removes every excuse.

Sequential invoice numbering, clear bank details, and a stated payment window dramatically reduce collection time for small businesses.

A distinctive, sequential invoice number is the cheapest credit-control tool you own. Buyers file by number, accountants reconcile by number, and GST returns validate by number. A clean series prevents duplicate payments to the same supplier on different invoices.

Add a visible due date and a PO or project reference line. The reference line is what lets the buyer pay the right invoice from a stack — and it is the field auditors check first.