Bill of supply format

Who issues a bill of supply

• Composition dealers, who pay tax on turnover at a fixed rate and cannot collect GST from buyers. See the GST composition scheme.
• Registered persons selling exempt goods or services, such as fresh vegetables, unbranded grains or certain educational services.
• Mixed sellers who sell both taxable and exempt items to an unregistered buyer may issue one invoice-cum-bill of supply covering both.

The rules are in section 31(3)(c) of the CGST Act and Rule 49 of the CGST Rules. This is general information, not tax advice.

Fields a bill of supply must show

The serial number follows the usual GST rule: up to 16 characters, letters, digits, hyphen and slash, unique for the financial year. Use a BOS/ prefix if you also issue tax invoices.

Small sales below ₹200

For individual sales below ₹200 to unregistered buyers who do not ask for a bill, the rules allow one consolidated bill of supply at the end of the day instead of one per sale. Many counters still give a printed slip for every sale, which customers prefer anyway.

The composition dealer declaration

A composition dealer must print the words composition taxable person, not eligible to collect tax on supplies at the top of the bill of supply. The same declaration should be displayed at the shop and on the signboard. Missing it is one of the most common errors found during inspections of small shops.

A composition dealer cannot issue a tax invoice and cannot show GST separately, even if a customer asks for it. The tax the dealer pays is a cost built into the price.

Bill of supply vs tax invoice

See tax invoice format under GST for the full list on the other side.

Worked example: a mixed bill

A regular-scheme grocer sells to an unregistered customer: rice sold loose (exempt) and packaged biscuits (taxable). The grocer can issue one document showing both.

Whether an item is exempt can depend on packaging, labelling and branding, and the rules on pre-packaged food have changed in recent years. Check the current position for each HSN before treating it as exempt. See nil-rated, exempt and non-GST supplies.

Moving out of composition mid-year

When a composition dealer crosses the turnover limit or opts out, the switch to tax invoices happens from the date of withdrawal. Bills raised up to that date stay as bills of supply; from that date, tax invoices with GST are issued in a new series. Plan the switch carefully: update your billing software, print the new series, remove the composition declaration from the signboard and bills, and tell regular buyers that from now on they will receive tax invoices on which they can claim credit. Many buyers who avoided you because of the missing credit come back once you issue tax invoices.

Checklist

1. Declaration at the top if you are under composition.
2. No GST rate or amount anywhere on the bill.
3. Separate series from any tax invoices you issue.
4. HSN for each item where required.
5. Bills of supply counted in the documents-issued table of GSTR-1, where you file GSTR-1.

Doing this with Tally and Cashflow OS

TallyPrime prints a bill of supply for composition companies and for exempt items based on your GST settings. With Cashflow OS, sales entered from the phone are written into Tally through the connector, so the document follows the company's Tally setup. The owner sees daily sales, receipts and cash from the home screen without opening Tally.