Recurring invoices

Where recurring billing shows up

• Shop, godown or office rent charged by a registered landlord.
• Annual maintenance contracts for machines, lifts, RO plants, computers or CCTV. See annual maintenance contracts.
• Rental of equipment such as generators, scaffolding or printers.
• Retainers for professional services such as accounting, design or IT support.
• Monthly supply contracts, such as water jars or office stationery, billed at month end.

GST timing for continuous supplies

Most recurring services are continuous supplies of services under GST, and section 31(5) of the CGST Act sets when the invoice is due:

An AMC billed once a year in advance is a single invoice for the year; the same AMC billed quarterly produces four invoices on the quarterly due dates. Continuous supply of goods has a similar rule based on successive statements or payments. This is general information, not tax advice; confirm the treatment of your contract with your CA.

Each recurring invoice is a full invoice

There is no special short form. Every monthly bill needs the full set of fields: number from your series, date, your and the customer's GSTIN, SAC or HSN, period covered, taxable value, tax and signature. Add the period clearly, e.g. Rent for November 2025, or AMC instalment 2 of 4, 01-10-2025 to 31-12-2025. Numbering follows the normal rule; see invoice numbering rules.

Worked example: monthly rent

A registered landlord in Pune lets a godown to a distributor at ₹60,000 a month, due by the 5th.

Each invoice is raised on or before the 5th of its month. If the tenant pays late, the GST is still due for the month of the invoice. The tenant may also deduct income-tax TDS on rent above the applicable threshold, which is a separate matter; check the current limits on incometax.gov.in. GST rules for renting commercial property from unregistered landlords to registered tenants have also changed in recent years, so confirm the current position before billing.

A monthly calendar that works

1. Day 1: list all contracts due this month with amount and period.
2. Day 1 to 3: raise invoices; send PDFs to each customer.
3. Due date minus 2 days: friendly reminder.
4. Due date plus 3 days: follow-up call.
5. Before GSTR-1: check that every contract has its invoice for the month and nothing is billed twice.
6. Quarterly: review contracts ending soon and send renewal quotes 30 days before expiry.

Price changes and contract ends

• Annual escalation: if rent rises 5% from April, update the amount in your template on time; ₹60,000 becomes ₹63,000. Late updates lead to debit notes.
• Mid-month start or end: pro-rate by days and write the calculation on the invoice, e.g. ₹60,000 × 12/30 = ₹24,000.
• Contract ends: stop the series. A forgotten recurring bill sent after cancellation damages trust.

Common mistakes

• Raising one invoice for three months when the contract says monthly payment, and paying GST late on the first two months.
• Copying last month's bill and forgetting to change the period.
• Missing SAC, or using the wrong one for rental vs maintenance.
• Not recording advance received for a year's AMC as advance for services; see GST on advances received.

Doing this with Tally and Cashflow OS

Cashflow OS does not automate recurring invoices. What it does help with: the monthly invoices you raise in Tally sync to the app, so you can check outstanding by tenant or AMC customer on the phone and share statements on WhatsApp. For service businesses, repair and pickup jobs can be tracked as service jobs and invoiced when closed. Sales vouchers can also be created from the phone through the connector when write-back is on.