Bill book format

Three kinds of bill book

Ordering the wrong book from the printer is a common mistake. A composition dealer printing "Tax Invoice" and charging GST is breaking the rules, even if the amount is small.

Sample bill book format

The sample uses made-up details. Switch between the Classic, Modern and Compact layouts, Print / PDF it on A4, or print a Blank template to fill by hand. Open in editor loads it into the free invoice generator, where you type straight onto the page and GST, totals and the amount in words are worked out for you.

What the format must contain

• Business name, address and GSTIN (printed)
• Heading: Tax Invoice, Bill of Supply or Cash Memo
• Pre-printed serial number
• Date
• Customer name, address and GSTIN (if registered)
• Place of supply and state
• Description and HSN
• Quantity, rate and amount
• Taxable value and GST (regular dealers only)
• Composition declaration (composition dealers)
• Total in figures and words
• Copy marking (original, duplicate)
• Signature

Bill of supply under Rule 49

Composition dealers, and registered persons supplying only exempt goods or services, issue a bill of supply. Rule 49 asks for the supplier's name, address and GSTIN, a consecutive serial number of up to 16 characters unique for the financial year, date, recipient details if registered, HSN, description, value net of discount, and signature. Composition dealers must also mention on the bill that they are a composition taxable person not eligible to collect tax on supplies. See bill of supply format and the composition scheme.

Laying out a GST bill book page

A regular dealer's bill book page is a tax invoice, so it needs the Rule 46 fields: your name, address and GSTIN printed at the top; a pre-printed serial number; space for date, buyer name, address, state and GSTIN; columns for description, HSN, quantity, rate, taxable value, GST rate and tax; totals; and an authorised signature line. For more detail see the GST invoice format.

Small retailers selling to consumers often use a simpler retail tax invoice. The rules allow some relaxation of buyer details for sales to unregistered customers below the notified value; see retail invoice vs tax invoice.

Numbering, copies and printing

• Get the serial numbers printed, and start a new series each financial year (for example 26-27/0001).
• Order books in duplicate or triplicate with carbon or carbonless paper: original to the buyer, one copy stays in the book. For goods sent by transport, the duplicate goes with the transporter.
• Never tear out a spoiled page. Write "Cancelled" across all copies and keep them in the book.
• Keep finished books in order; the counterfoils are your sales register.

Worked example: one handwritten bill

A paint shop in Patna, regular dealer, sells 2 tins of emulsion at ₹2,450 and 1 primer at ₹780 to a walk-in customer. Taxable value ₹5,680; CGST 9% ₹511.20; SGST 9% ₹511.20; total ₹6,702.40, rounded to ₹6,702. The 18% rate is used only to illustrate. At month end, every bill book counterfoil must be totalled and entered in the books, rate by rate, for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. That monthly totting-up is where most handwritten-bill errors surface.

How long to keep bill books

Finished bill books are part of your accounts and must be kept, in order, for the period GST and income-tax law require, counted from the due date of the annual return. Store them in a dry place, labelled by financial year and serial range. If a book is lost, report it to your CA at once, because a gap in the series raises questions during an audit or assessment. For the current period, see how long to keep invoices and records.

Moving from bill book to software

A bill book is cheap and needs no electricity, but each bill has to be typed into the books again. Printing bills from TallyPrime or a billing app removes that step: tax is worked out automatically and GSTR-1 comes from the same data. Many shops keep a bill book only as a backup for power cuts and enter those bills the same evening.