GST invoice format for a car workshop: Tax Invoice, Bill of Supply and what goes on each

Three documents, one rule

A GST-registered workshop charging tax issues a Tax Invoice. A registered workshop billing something with no tax on it issues a plain Invoice. A workshop that is not collecting GST — under the composition scheme, or below the registration threshold and not registered — issues a Bill of Supply and must not show a tax line. The document title is not decoration; it tells the customer's accountant what they may claim. Kenro picks the title automatically from whether the shop has a GSTIN and whether the bill carries tax, so nobody on the counter has to remember the rule.

What a Tax Invoice must carry

• 1. Your name, address and GSTINPrinted the same way on every bill. This is the block the customer's CA checks first.
• 2. Invoice number and dateA running serial with no gaps or repeats within a financial year, and the date of issue. Kenro numbers every invoice and keeps the sequence.
• 3. Customer name, address and GSTIN if they have oneA business customer cannot claim credit on a bill without their GSTIN. Kenro validates the GSTIN format before it lands on the invoice.
• 4. Place of supplyThe state the service is supplied in. Same state as you: CGST plus SGST. A different state: IGST. Kenro takes it from the customer's state and does the split.
• 5. Vehicle registration numberNot a GST requirement, but the line that ties the bill to the job card and to the car's history. Kenro prints it under the customer.
• 6. One line per part and one per labour itemDescription, quantity, rate, amount. Parts and labour carry different codes and often different rates, so they must not be lumped into one line.
• 7. HSN for parts, SAC for labour, on every lineMotor vehicle repair and maintenance services sit under SAC 9987; parts carry their own HSN. The number of digits you must print depends on your turnover, so confirm it with your CA once and set it in the catalogue. Kenro carries the code on each service, bundle and part so it prints itself.
• 8. Taxable value, rate and tax per lineThe value after any discount, the GST rate, and the tax amount. Discounts shown on the invoice reduce the taxable value; discounts given later do not.
• 9. Totals: subtotal, discount, CGST, SGST or IGST, grand totalEach tax component on its own line. Kenro shows the split and the total, with the amount in words beneath it.
• 10. Reverse charge: yes or noFor a workshop billing a customer this is almost always No, but the field has to be there. Kenro's GST export carries it.
• 11. Payment received and balance dueNot a GST field, but the one the customer reads. Kenro records payments and part-payments against the invoice, prints what is paid and what is due, and puts a UPI QR on the bill for the balance.
• 12. SignatureOf the proprietor or an authorised person. A printed name and designation on a system-generated invoice is the usual form; ask your CA whether they want a physical signature as well.

The two mistakes almost every workshop makes

The first is one line that reads “Service and parts” with one rate. Parts and labour are separate supplies with separate codes, and when they are shown separately each is taxed at its own rate. Billed as a single lump, the whole bill may be treated as one composite supply at the rate of the main item, which is rarely what you intended and never what the customer's accountant wants to see. Split the lines. Your CA decides which treatment applies to you; the split gives them the choice.

The second is the tax split for a customer registered in another state. A Gurugram company car serviced in Delhi is an inter-state supply and takes IGST, not CGST plus SGST, and their GSTIN must be on the bill or the credit is lost to them. The fix is to capture the customer's state and GSTIN at the job card, not at the counter when the car is already outside with the engine running.

When it is a Bill of Supply

If you are not collecting GST, the bill carries everything above except the tax lines, and the title reads Bill of Supply. A composition-scheme workshop also has to state on the bill that it is a composition taxable person not eligible to collect tax; check the exact wording with your CA. What you must not do is print a Tax Invoice, or a GST amount, when you are not registered to collect it.

How Kenro raises it

The invoice comes off the job card, so the lines are the services and parts the customer approved, with the HSN or SAC each one already carries. The shop's GSTIN and the customer's state decide the title and the split. Payments and part-payments sit against the bill until it is settled, and the udhaar ledger shows who still owes and for how long. At month end the Tally and GST exports carry invoice number, date, customer GSTIN, place of supply, the tax split and the reverse-charge flag, in a shape your CA can file from.

A format you can copy today

Header: your name, address, GSTIN, the document title. Then invoice number and date; customer name, address, GSTIN and state; the vehicle registration. Then the table: description, HSN or SAC, quantity, rate, discount, taxable value, GST rate, tax, amount, one row per part and one per labour item. Then subtotal, discount, CGST and SGST or IGST, grand total, amount in words, reverse charge No, payment received, balance due, and a signature line. Twelve fields, one sheet, and an accountant who stops calling.