GST Invoice Format: Mandatory Fields and Free Templates (2026)

A GST invoice format needs the prescribed supplier, recipient, invoice, supply-value and tax particulars—not one compulsory visual design. Use the free Word, Excel and PDF resources below for ordinary domestic forward-charge supplies, then check the fields and conditional requirements under CGST Rule 46. A downloaded template is not a GST e-invoice registration tool.

The practical task is to produce a document that your customer and accountant can trace: what was supplied, which registered business supplied it, how the taxable value was calculated, and which tax was charged. Start with those details before adding a logo or payment instructions.

Need to work out the tax first? Use our free GST calculator to add or remove GST and get the CGST, SGST or IGST split.

Scope: this is general information and an editable resource, not transaction-specific tax advice or a government-approved form. The downloads do not cover reverse charge, exports/SEZ, cess, special or retail-sale-price-based valuation, composition supplies or exempt supplies. Have a qualified accountant review those cases and any uncertain classification.

Download the GST invoice format in Word, Excel or PDF

All examples are labelled fictional. GSTINs, classification codes and signatures are intentionally not invented. Replace the placeholders with verified details before creating an actual invoice. The Excel file is a calculation aid; it is neither GSTR-1 upload data nor the structured JSON accepted by an Invoice Registration Portal.

First choose the right document

Use a tax invoice for the relevant taxable supply by a registered regular supplier. Composition taxpayers and suppliers making exempt supplies generally issue a bill of supply instead; they should not simply keep the tax columns and collect GST. CBIC’s invoice and bill-of-supply explanation sets out this distinction.

Resolve registration status and the actual nature of the transaction first. A new business should not treat a “GST invoice” heading as permission to collect GST. Likewise, the customer asking for a particular format does not settle what the law requires for that supply.

If the buyer only needs a price for approval or an advance, send a proforma invoice format (not a tax invoice). Buyers confirming an order use a purchase order format, not an invoice.

GST invoice format: the fields to check

For an ordinary invoice, organise the particulars into the groups below. Some apply only to specific recipients or transactions, and special sectors have additional rules. The detailed reference is Rule 46, subject to Rule 54; the layout can be adapted without deleting relevant information.

A logo, bank details, purchase-order reference, due date and amount in words can make the invoice easier to use. They are not all universal Rule 46 requirements. Keep optional commercial fields distinct from legally required particulars. The templates mark several of these optional fields so a missing logo is not confused with a missing supplier identity.

Invoice numbering: keep the financial-year trail intact

Rule 46 permits alphabets, numerals, hyphen/dash and slash in the invoice series, with a maximum of 16 characters. A sample such as DEMO/26-27/001 fits that length; it is an example, not a prescribed numbering system. Do not assume every punctuation mark accepted by a spreadsheet is permitted in the invoice number. Invoice-number requirements.

Choose a series that your business can control. When two people prepare invoices, allocate responsibility or controlled series rather than letting both start at 001. Record the number, issue date, recipient, value and status in your invoice register. Renaming a saved file does not change the number already printed inside it.

Keep draft filenames separate from issued documents. After issue, preserve the document and assess the appropriate correction process rather than overwriting the original with a different value under the same name. This also helps your accountant explain cancelled or corrected records.

Don’t edit an issued invoice; correct it with a credit or debit note (see our credit note format).

B2B, B2C and HSN: avoid blanket rules

When is an unregistered customer’s address needed?

For an unregistered recipient, Rule 46 requires recipient and delivery details with State name and code when the taxable supply value is ₹50,000 or more. Below that value, the rule covers these details when the recipient requests them. There are additional recipient-State requirements for specified online-service cases, so this is not a universal permission to omit customer details below ₹50,000. Read the recipient-detail clauses and provisos.

Ask whether the customer is registered before finalising a B2B invoice. Request the correct registered billing details instead of copying a GSTIN from an unrelated branch or an old purchase order. Do not create a dummy GSTIN for an unregistered buyer. Retain only the information your invoicing and accounting process actually needs.

How many HSN digits are required?

Notification 78/2020–Central Tax specifies four digits for aggregate turnover up to ₹5 crore in the preceding financial year and six digits above ₹5 crore, effective from 1 April 2021. Its proviso allows the up-to-₹5-crore group to omit the specified HSN digits on invoices to unregistered persons. Check any other applicable classification requirements as well.

That turnover rule does not identify the correct code or rate for your item. Enter the verified HSN for goods or applicable service classification/SAC; do not add arbitrary digits to satisfy a cell length. The downloads intentionally leave the code as a placeholder rather than attach a plausible-looking code to a made-up product.

CGST plus SGST/UTGST, or IGST?

For an ordinary domestic supply, the supplier’s location and the legally determined place of supply guide the tax treatment. Special cases need separate review; this template is not intended for SEZ supplies. CBIC’s place-of-supply explanation should not be reduced to “use the customer’s postal address in every case.”

The template offers two calculation modes: Intra-State splits the entered combined rate into CGST and State tax; Inter-State calculates IGST. Select SGST or UTGST as appropriate. These are inputs you choose after checking the transaction, not a legal decision made by Excel. Do not charge both sets on the same ordinary supply.

For inter-State invoices, show the place of supply and State name; Circular 90/09/2019-GST specifically addresses that requirement. Bill-to/ship-to arrangements, property-related services and other special cases need their own place-of-supply review. Exports and SEZ transactions are outside the downloadable calculator’s scope.

Worked GST invoice example: ₹53,100 total

Illustrative assumptions: one ordinary taxable domestic supply, ₹50,000 before an on-invoice discount of ₹5,000, a hypothetical combined GST rate of 18%, no cess and no other charges. This does not prescribe 18% for any real goods or service. The parties and classification details in the sample are deliberately fictional or blank.

The discount assumption matters. Section 15(3)(a) of the CGST Act addresses discounts given before or at supply and recorded in the invoice. Freight, packing and other charges can affect taxable value; the calculator does not decide their treatment. Do not use it unchanged for special valuation or assume every post-sale discount can be deducted the same way.

If ₹10,000 has already been received against this example, the balance to collect is ₹43,100. The invoice still totals ₹53,100. A payment is not another discount. The workbook keeps this optional payment line separate and does not determine advance-tax timing, TDS or GST-TDS treatment.

How to use the Excel GST invoice format

Open Start Here, then make a copy of Invoice Template. The two Example sheets are for checking the arithmetic, not for sending to a customer. The other tabs are a human-review Checklist and a Sources sheet. Save the blank original separately so it is not gradually overwritten with past customers’ details.

Complete the inputs, not the formula cells

Enter verified party and invoice details, choose the tax treatment, and fill the pale-blue line inputs: description, HSN/SAC, quantity, unit, unit price, discount amount and combined GST rate. Enter a percentage such as 18%, not the whole number 18. The discount column is a rupee amount, not a percentage. An unused line should remain entirely blank.

The dark-text formula cells calculate taxable value and the line-by-line tax breakup. A status message flags several arithmetic input problems, such as a discount exceeding the line amount, a missing rate or an invalid payment. “Calculations OK” does not validate GSTINs, invoice uniqueness, classification, taxability or compliance. The workbook makes that limitation explicit.

Check rounding and the final print area

The workbook rounds taxable values and each line’s tax components to two decimal places. Review any difference against the method used by your accountant or invoicing system; do not force a total by altering a tax cell. After changing or adding rows, recheck formulas. Eight prepared line slots are included; complex invoices may be better maintained in billing software.

Print only the needed invoice sheet and use an appropriate landscape/fit-to-width setting, checking legibility before saving the final PDF. The Word/PDF packet provides a more compact portrait layout. Do not send the whole workbook with another customer’s data or hidden working sheets. Keep the original calculations with your own records.

A PDF is not automatically a GST e-invoice

GST e-invoicing requires covered invoice data to be registered through an authorised Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). The process returns an IRN and signed QR data; merely saving this template as a PDF does not perform it. The IRP’s explanation of the mandate describes the distinction.

The notified threshold was reduced to aggregate turnover exceeding ₹5 crore, effective 1 August 2023, for the covered class and transactions. Applicability examines preceding financial years from 2017–18 onward and includes notified exemptions. Check the taxpayer and transaction—not just today’s turnover or whether a customer is registered. Notification 10/2023–Central Tax and IRP applicability guidance.

For covered taxpayers with AATO of ₹10 crore or more, the IRP’s 30-day reporting restriction applies from 1 April 2025. It covers invoices and relevant credit/debit notes; older documents are blocked from IRN generation. This reporting window does not extend the underlying legal deadline for issuing an invoice. Read the official IRP reporting restriction.

Do not paste a decorative QR code, payment QR or fabricated IRN into the sample. Different B2C QR requirements can also apply to specified businesses. Use the appropriate registered workflow where required. Rule 48 also distinguishes invoices prepared under its e-invoicing mechanism from other invoices; our downloadable files do not replace that mechanism.

When to issue, how many copies, and whether to sign

For ordinary goods supplies, invoice timing is tied to removal or delivery/making the goods available, depending on the supply. Taxable service invoices generally have a 30-day issue period, with a 45-day rule for specified financial/insurance suppliers and other special provisions. Continuous supplies and other special cases need separate review. See CBIC’s goods-invoice explanation and the service-invoice timing rules.

The normal Rule 48 copy framework is triplicate for goods and duplicate for services. That framework does not apply in the same way to invoices issued under Rule 48(4). The blank document starts with “Original for recipient”; change copy labels only where your issuing process requires it. Invoice-copy provisions.

Rule 46 includes signature/digital-signature requirements and an exception for electronic invoices issued in accordance with the Information Technology Act. Do not assume the words “computer generated” automatically establish that exception. Keep the signatory field unless your compliant electronic process and advice establish otherwise. Signature and electronic-invoice provisions.

Mistakes a good-looking invoice can still contain

The CGST Act’s credit/debit-note provisions address relevant corrections to value or tax and other specified situations. Renaming a Word file is not a substitute for that process. Nor should a buyer treat a downloaded invoice layout alone as proof of input tax credit eligibility; the wider statutory conditions still have to be satisfied.

When a template is enough—and when software is safer

A template is practical when the volume is manageable, one person controls the number series, and the accountant can review the resulting documents. It can also help you agree a layout before configuring a billing system. The decision is about control of records, not whether a document was made in Word or in an app.

Consider an invoicing/accounting workflow when multiple staff create bills, you need IRP integration, several rates or locations complicate documents, or reconciliation and corrections become difficult. Test one normal invoice, a payment and a correction before migrating. A “GST-ready” badge by itself does not establish that a particular plan handles your required process.

ScaleSaathi’s accounting and invoicing software guide separates billing from complete bookkeeping. For a low-cost starting point, compare the scope and limits in our free accounting software guide. Choose the smallest system that supports the work your accountant actually needs.

For the broader tool-selection decision, the ScaleSaathi free tools library can help organise a shortlist. It does not decide your tax treatment. Keep the business’s login, backups and source records under its own control regardless of the software chosen.

GST collected on invoices shows up as GST payable in the balance sheet format.

Final GST invoice checklist before sending

Confirm the document type, supplier and recipient identities, invoice series and date, actual supply description, HSN/SAC, applicable rate, taxable value, tax split and total. Then check conditional requirements: recipient particulars, authentication, IRN/signed QR or other declarations, copies and any sector-specific rule. Finally, preserve the approved issued version and update the register.

The useful result is not merely an attractive invoice. It is a document that agrees with the supply, its tax treatment and the records behind it. Use the editable files to organise that information, and stop for professional review when the transaction falls outside their stated scope.