Customer asked for a GST bill, I only have a notebook

Last year around Holi week, a man walk into my shop in Raja Park, Jaipur.

He was wearing office badge. Sitapura company I think, some electronics park name on it.

He needed Samsung A52 screen. I told him two thousand four hundred fifty with fitting.

He said okay. Then he take out phone and say, I need GST bill.

I had only a red notebook. The one from Johari Bazaar wholesale, twenty rupee.

I write name, model, amount. That is my system since 2018.

He look at the notebook like I showed him a joke.

Customer asked for a GST bill, what actually happened

I told him, bhai this is how I keep account. Small shop. No computer bill.

He said his accounts uncle will not pass notebook photo. They need GST bill with tax column.

I felt little shame. Not because I cheat. I never cheat. I just never print that paper.

My cousin in Sikar still use carbon copy pad. At least that look like a bill. Mine look like grocery list.

I try to write GST 18 percent on the notebook itself.

2450 plus 18 percent. I calculate on phone calculator. 441 rupee tax. Total 2891.

I write it. He still shake head. He need proper format. Shop name, GSTIN, invoice number, HSN, all that.

I have GSTIN. I registered in 2019 because wholesale dealer force me.

I file on official GST portal when my CA send reminder. BillOnDesk is not GSTN. I say this because later I used a draft tool and I don't want anyone think it is government site.

I told the customer, wait, I will make on laptop.

I open Excel. I type GST INVOICE on top in big letters.

Then I copy a format from some random Google image. Columns go left right. Print come half cut.

customer ne gst bill manga, maine copy-paste se bigad diya.

He was standing there checking WhatsApp. His driver waiting outside on bike.

I said I will send PDF on WhatsApp in one hour. He agreed, left the phone for screen change.

I called my CA in the afternoon. He was eating. He said don't send random Excel as tax invoice if you don't know what you are doing.

He said if you give a paper that look official but you are not ready with books, that is headache.

He also said a draft paper for the customer to show his office is different from filing.

File tax on official portal. Not on any website. Not on my laptop.

I searched invoice draft because I was tired of Excel.

I found GST invoice draft on BillOnDesk.

I filled seller name as my shop, Mobile Corner Raja Park.

Buyer name I put his company name from the badge photo I clicked.

Item: mobile display assembly, qty 1, rate 2450, GST 18 percent.

The preview showed tax column and grand total. DRAFT mark on it.

That DRAFT mark saved me from feeling like a film villain. I am not printing fake government hologram. I don't even know how those look properly, and I should not make them.

This is draft paper. Customer can take it to his accounts. My real return still go through CA and GSTN.

I downloaded PDF and sent on WhatsApp.

He replied after twenty minutes. Can you put GSTIN of our company also.

I asked him to send GSTIN. He forwarded a blur photo. I typed it in the buyer field.

Second PDF. He said okay.

Next day he came for the phone. Screen was done. He paid 2891 in cash, then he said company will reimburse so he need the paper in his bag.

How I fill GST invoice draft now

I printed from the same GST invoice draft again. Small shop printer, a bit light on toner.

He folded it and left.

I sat down and thought about all the other people who asked bill in last two years.

There was a boy from university. He needed bill for project expense. 1200 rupee earphone. I gave notebook tear page. His professor rejected it. He came again, almost crying.

That time I still didn't have the draft tool. I made Word file. Total came 1200 in one place and 1218 in another because I typed GST and forgot to change grand total.

He noticed. I felt stupid. Now I don't type totals by hand if I can avoid. The draft page calculate.

I still keep the red notebook. For daily cash. For my own memory. Who took which phone for repair. Which IMEI I wrote.

Notebook is not waste. Notebook is not GST bill.

When customer say GST bill, I ask two questions now.

First, you want a draft paper with tax shown, for your office.

Second, you want me to put your GSTIN.

If they don't have GSTIN, I still can make a draft with their name and phone. Some offices accept. Some don't. I don't fight with accounts department of a company I never seen.

I also tell them clearly. This print is DRAFT / ESTIMATE style. It is not a government invoice generated from GSTN.

If their CA is strict, they should talk to CA, not to me at 8 pm when I am closing shutter.

One uncle from Bani Park came in June. He wanted GST bill for a 18,900 phone.

He said put extra amount, I will pay cash, you write 22,000 so my company give more.

I said no.

I don't do that. Not for uncle, not for anyone.

Wrong amount on bill is not a small mistake. It is a mess for him and for me.

I wrote actual selling price. He got angry. He went to another shop near Adarsh Nagar. I don't know what they did. Not my problem.

My job is simple. Sell, repair, write honest numbers.

The GST percent I put is 18 on most phones and parts I sell. Some items maybe different. I am not a tax teacher. If I am not sure, I ask CA. I don't guess on a printed paper.

A wholesaler in Chandpole told me, number your bills. I write INV-2024-001 in the draft tool. Next one 002. Last number still lives in the red notebook. Funny circle.

I show preview on my phone first. If name spelling wrong, we fix before print. One customer named Prabhu became Prabhoo. He was not happy.

Date I put same day as sale. Not back date. A Kota cousin dated a bill February for a March sale. His buyer company questioned him. I don't copy that habit.

The Sitapura man from Holi week, he came again in October for a battery.

This time I was ready. Five minutes. Draft PDF. He smiled. He said you learned computer.

I said I learned one page. I still don't know Tally properly.

He paid on UPI. I still gave the GST draft because his office need paper, not PhonePe screenshot.

Screenshot is not bill. I told him that also. He laughed. His accounts uncle already told him same.

If you are sitting in a small town shop like me, and you only have notebook, don't panic.

You can fill a GST invoice draft, print, keep a copy in your WhatsApp starred messages.

Don't draw Ashoka emblem. Don't hunt hologram stickers from some market stall.

Don't call it official tax invoice if you are only making a draft for the customer to carry.

And when month end come, sit with CA or with GSTN portal. File there.

BillOnDesk is a desk for paper. Government is government.

I still have that red notebook under the glass of my counter.

First page is still 2018. Last pages are 2024 numbers and a few IMEI.

When the next office wala come, I will not hide the notebook.

I will just say, wait, I make the draft on phone, then I write the same amount in notebook so I don't forget.

That is the whole system. Not fancy. It works in Raja Park. It will work in your gali shop also.