A freelance designer finishes a project on a Friday and needs to bill the client before the weekend. A small shop owner just made a bulk sale and the customer is standing there asking for a bill. A consultant closes a retainer and needs something that looks legitimate enough for the client’s accounts team to process payment. None of these people want to open a full accounting suite for a five-minute task.
Fill in your business details, add line items, pick GST or no GST, and the invoice preview updates live on the right. Download it as a PDF, done.
What makes an invoice valid in India
An invoice doesn’t need a government stamp to be usable, but a handful of things make the difference between something a client pays without questions and something that bounces back asking for corrections.
Every invoice needs: a unique invoice number, the issue date, seller name and address, buyer name and address, a clear description of what was sold, quantity and rate for each item, and the total amount. That’s the baseline for any business, GST-registered or not.
GST-registered sellers need more: your GSTIN, the buyer’s GSTIN if they’re also registered, HSN or SAC codes for what you’re billing (the generator above skips this for simplicity, add it in the description field if you need it on record), and the tax split shown separately, not folded into a single number.
CGST + SGST vs IGST, and why the toggle matters
This is the part people get wrong most often. If you and your client are in the same state, GST splits into CGST (central) and SGST (state), each at half the total rate. An 18% invoice becomes 9% CGST + 9% SGST, and both go to the exchequer through different heads.
If you and your client are in different states, the whole amount goes as IGST at the full rate. No split. A Karnataka business invoicing a Maharashtra client charges 18% IGST, not 9%+9%.
Get this backward and the buyer’s accountant will reject the invoice for input tax credit purposes, because CGST/SGST charged on an inter-state transaction isn’t valid, and neither is IGST charged intra-state. The toggle above exists specifically so this isn’t something you have to remember every time, just know which case you’re in.
Reading the discount and totals flow
Discount in the tool applies as a percentage before tax, which is how it’s supposed to work under GST rules, the tax is calculated on the value after discount, not the sticker price. A ₹50,000 invoice with a 10% discount and 18% GST taxes ₹45,000, not ₹50,000. Apply it the other way and you’ll either overcharge the client or under-collect tax, both of which create a mess later.
This generator is built for one-off invoices. If you're issuing dozens a month, tracking payments, and need GST filing that reconciles automatically, a proper invoicing tool pays for itself fast.
Worked example: consultant billing an inter-state client
A Bengaluru-based consultant bills a Mumbai client for a two-week engagement.
- Line item: “Strategy consulting, 2 weeks” - Qty 1, Rate ₹80,000
- Line item: “Travel reimbursement” - Qty 1, Rate ₹6,000
- Subtotal: ₹86,000
- No discount applied
- Karnataka seller, Maharashtra buyer, so this is inter-state: IGST @ 18% = ₹15,480
- Total: ₹1,01,480, “One Lakh One Thousand Four Hundred Eighty Rupees only”
Run the same numbers through the generator with the IGST toggle on and 18% selected, and it should land on the identical figure.
What this tool doesn’t handle
It doesn’t generate a GST-compliant e-invoice with an IRN (Invoice Reference Number), which is mandatory for businesses above the e-invoicing turnover threshold. It doesn’t track payment status, send reminders, or maintain a running ledger of invoices issued. For a single invoice to a client, this covers it. For running actual GST compliance across a growing business, a dedicated invoicing platform with e-invoicing support is worth the subscription.
If you’re structuring what to actually charge before you get to the invoice stage, the GST calculator works out the tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive amount first.
Need an editable copy instead of a PDF? The Excel invoice template downloads the same invoice as a formatted .xlsx you can rework line by line. For the specifics of GSTIN, CGST/SGST vs IGST, and what a compliant GST invoice format needs, the GST invoice template page covers that in more depth.