Make bills with the GST worked out
Three items, three rates and a customer waiting for the total. Let the bill do the sum.
The first buyer who asks for GST, and the paint bill with five rates
The buyer who wants a GST bill for twenty chargers
A man from a repair shop in the next lane buys twenty chargers, a box of earphones and a few covers, and asks for a GST bill. Each item carries its own tax, so you work it out line by line on a calculator while he stands waiting. The number of GST taxpayers rose from 66.5 lakh in 2017 to 1.65 crore in May 2026, according to the finance ministry, so more of your buyers now ask.
The paint dealer's bill for a contractor, five lines and five rates
A tin of paint, two brushes, a roll of masking tape, thinner and a scraper: five lines, and they are not all taxed alike. The contractor's accountant looks at the bill for the tax on each line. If one line is wrong, he sends the whole bill back, and the dealer rewrites it while the contractor's painters wait at the site. He had made the sum in his head, and the accountant had made it with a calculator.
The home seller waiting for her registration
A woman has begun to sell pickles and packed snacks to her neighbours' families from home, taking orders on WhatsApp. She hears that registration within three working days is offered to low-risk applicants, and that small e-commerce sellers of goods within a state were exempted from registration in October 2023. She does not know which of these is hers. Until she knows, her bills have no tax on them, and she does not know what to write.
What goes with a GST bill at a phone-accessory counter, a paint dealer's and a home seller's
GST bills
Twenty chargers, a box of earphones and five covers are three lines, each with the tax worked out, and the repair-shop man sees the total below.
Bills on your phone
While the repair-shop man counts the chargers into his bag, the bill with its tax is already on his WhatsApp.
Credit book (khata)
The contractor who pays for his paint at the month's end has a page where each tax bill sits with its date, so his accountant reads one page for the month and not a pile of slips.
Your own online shop
The woman who sells pickles from home has a shop page to send to families, with her goods on it, before the first GST bill is ever made.
Daily reports
Open a day to see every bill made on it, so the accountant's question about one particular afternoon has an answer.
The tax on every line, from a charger to a tin of paint
Rate once per item, tax worked out on every bill
The bill for twenty chargers is the same sum every time, and the app does the sum. The repair-shop man's accountant reads the lines once, with the tax under each, and stops phoning. The bill is on the man's WhatsApp before he is back at his bench.
A bill the contractor's accountant can read line by line
With each line carrying its GST, the paint dealer's bill is clear on why the total is what it is. The accountant can check a line against his own list. Fewer bills come back, and the painters at the site are not waiting for a corrected slip.
Her first bill with GST on it is the same as her tenth
When her registration comes, the woman who sells pickles makes her bills the way she did before, with the tax worked out under the items. There is no new paper to learn on the day she registers. The bill that goes to the neighbour's WhatsApp looks as clear as any shop's. The neighbour who orders a jar of pickle and a packet of snacks sees GST on the bill in the same place as any shop.
Questions from shops that have just started giving GST bills
Does Bharatrath file my GST return?
No. It makes bills with the GST worked out. Filing the return is done the way you do it now, through your accountant or the GST portal.
How do I know what GST rate to put on a tin of paint or a charger?
Your accountant or the official rate list tells you. You enter it once for the item, and every bill after that uses it. The app does not decide the rate for you.
Do I need to know the tax rules to make a GST bill?
No. Set the tax on each item once and every bill works the tax out line by line. What you hand the buyer is a bill he can read from top to bottom, with each line's tax beside it.
The contractor and I agreed one price for a tin of paint and a brush together. How does the bill show it?
The bill shows the tin and the brush as two lines, each with its own tax worked out from the rate set for that item. The contractor sees both lines and the total below them, so he can match it to his helper's list.
A buyer wants the month's GST bills together for his accountant. Can I give them in one go?
Give him a page of his own. Every bill you made him sits on it with its date and its tax line, so you read them together and send them to him on WhatsApp.
The repair-shop man wants his firm's name on every bill from now on. Do I type it each time?
No. Give him a page of his own with the firm's name on it, and the bills you make under it carry the name.
GST registration limits, in numbers
From April 2019 the GST registration limit for goods suppliers is ₹40 lakh, up from ₹20 lakh, says the finance ministry. A shop's yearly sales of goods decide on which side of that line it stands.
The GST composition scheme limit rose from ₹75 lakh to ₹1.5 crore, letting small taxpayers pay a fixed rate on turnover, says the finance ministry. Whether the scheme suits a shop is for its accountant to say. A shop owner should ask before choosing, because the scheme changes what a bill may show.