What this template includes
- Your details
- Business or trading name, address, phone and logo.
- Bill details
- Bill number and date.
- Customer
- Customer name, and address or phone if you want to record it.
- Items
- Description, quantity, rate and amount for each line.
- Totals
- Subtotal, optional discount or other charges, and the total payable.
- Payment note
- Payment mode, UPI or bank details, and a thank-you or terms line.
Example use case (illustrative)
A home baker in Pune who is not registered under GST takes a birthday order: one 2 kg cake and 24 cupcakes. She fills in the customer’s name and phone number, adds the two lines, notes “Paid by UPI” and prints the bill on A5 to hand over with the order.
How to fill in the Simple sales invoice
- Add your name and logo. Enter the name customers know you by, your address and phone number.
- Number the bill. Use a simple running series such as 001, 002 so you can trace every bill later.
- Enter the customer. A name is enough for walk-in sales; add a phone number or address for credit sales.
- Add the items. Keep descriptions short and clear, with quantity and rate.
- Print or save. Choose A5 for short bills or A4 for longer ones, then print or download the PDF.
When a simple bill is enough, and when it is not
A simple bill works when you are not registered under GST, or for informal records where no tax is charged. It keeps a clean record of what was sold and what the customer paid.
If you are GST-registered and making a taxable sale, a plain bill is not enough: you need a tax invoice with the particulars the GST rules require, such as your GSTIN, HSN codes and tax amounts. Use the GST tax invoice template instead. Composition-scheme businesses and sellers of exempt goods generally issue a bill of supply, which carries a declaration that no tax is collected; check the current wording with your adviser.
Keeping simple bills useful
Even a short bill becomes valuable when a customer disputes a payment or you need to total up the month’s sales.
- Never reuse a bill number, and do not skip numbers without noting why.
- Write the amount in words for larger bills to avoid alterations.
- Keep a copy of every PDF you issue, organised by month.
- Do not show any tax on the bill if you are not allowed to collect it.