First invoice today, which tool first

3 September a boy from Bansur, Alwar side, called me. Relative of a relative. New mobile counter. First day.

He said, BillOnDesk has too many tools. Which one I open. Customer is standing. He want bill.

I could hear the customer in background. And a mother. And maybe a goat. Village shop sound.

I said, don't open GST. Don't open challan. Don't open credit note. Open simple invoice.

He said, but customer said GST bill.

I said, ask him, you need tax column, or you need a printed bill with shop name.

Silence. He asked. Customer said, printed bill, school will pass.

I said, simple invoice. Shop name, his name, item, qty, rate, total. Download. Print. Sign.

That is first invoice today.

First invoice today, what actually happened

He called back in twenty minutes. PDF done. Printer not done. He has no printer.

I said, send PDF on WhatsApp. If they need paper, go to photocopy shop, print there. First day don't buy a printer in panic. Buy stock.

He did that. Customer left. Boy was breathing.

Then he asked, now I learn all 18.

I said, no. You will mix papers.

This is the map I gave him. I give you also. Not a big English map. A shop map.

If they already took the thing and they pay, simple invoice.

If they want tax shown per line, and you are actually putting GST on your sales with CA advice, GST invoice draft. Still draft. Still not GSTN. Still not official portal.

If they are only asking rate, not buying today, quotation maker. Valid till date. Don't make invoice for a maybe.

If they send money before goods decide, proforma type paper. Advance story.

If goods go on tempo and bill later, delivery challan. Vehicle number. I learned that the hard way.

If they return one item, credit note draft. Don't scratch the first bill.

If you paid extra or they paid extra, debit note is a different page. Don't use it on day one.

If you are composition, bill of supply draft, CA told me that for some shops. Don't guess. Ask.

Rent of house, rent receipt. Not your mobile sale.

UPI came, they want received paper, payment receipt.

Hours for a designer cousin, freelance invoice. Not your first tool in Bansur.

Numbers look ugly, item total calculator. Then copy total.

Amount in words, rupees in words.

Invoice number helper if you forget next number. Still write in notebook.

Discount page if you keep messing 10 percent.

Cash memo if that is your habit.

Estimate sheet for repair labour plus parts.

Purchase order if you are ordering from supplier, not selling.

Boy said, too many still.

I said, today only simple invoice. Tomorrow quotation if a school ask rate for 5 phones. GST draft only after you talk CA. You don't even know if you are registered.

He was not registered. He almost put 18 percent to look big. I said don't. Looking big is how CA visit happen. I saw it in Adarsh Nagar.

BillOnDesk is not GSTN. Not a CA. I told him. His mother said, then what is it.

I said, a desk to type paper. Government is government.

First invoice fields I made him write on paper before typing.

Shop name as on shutter.

Address.

Phone.

Buyer name.

Item name from box, not nickname.

Qty.

How I print the simple invoice

Rate.

Total.

Date today. Not yesterday. School month is their problem.

Invoice number BNS-001. Notebook.

Draft mark. Leave it.

He wanted to remove draft. I said, never claim official. The site is honest with that mark. You be honest.

Signature. His hand. He is 22. Hand shaking. Ok. Hand shaking is not fraud. Fake GSTIN is fraud. Don't.

I told him no Ashoka, no hologram, no extra amount for the school.

He said the customer didn't ask extra. Good. Some will. No.

6 September he called again. Second invoice. A charger. He opened GST draft by mistake. Columns empty, he panicked.

I said, close. Simple invoice. One line. 349 rupee. Don't perform.

He asked, when I will use the other tools.

When the situation come. Not before.

If you open all, you will send a challan as a bill. I did mix in 2021. Header invoice, body quotation, footer received. People called, is this paid.

Don't.

Printer he still don't have. Photocopy shop is 40 rupee away. Fine.

He send PDF to himself first. I taught him closed tab story. He is young, he close tabs like a game. Download.

Books. A school copy. Date, number, amount. Still need. Tool is not books.

I don't want him in two months saying website filed GST.

It didn't.

Which tool first, the title people search.

Simple invoice.

Not because GST is useless. Because first customer is often a human who want a paper, not a tax novel.

If the first customer is a company with GSTIN and purchase order, then you may need GST draft and you may need to call a CA before you sound confident.

Bansur boy first customer was a school teacher energy, even if it was a parent. Simple paper.

He asked, English or Hindi.

Shop is Hindi. Bill he made English because I sent him my habit. Parent didn't mind. Amount he wrote in numbers. If they want words, rupees in words tool. Later.

I asked him to read preview loud. One charger, 349. He felt shy. He did. Parent nod.

Nod is good.

If you are opening today in a Rajasthan town, Fatehpur, Bansur, Churu, Nawalgarh, same advice.

Don't watch 18 YouTube videos. Don't copy a GST invoice from Google image.

Open the simple page. Fill. Download. WhatsApp. Notebook.

Tea. Next customer.

When a hotel ask quotation for ten power banks, you will find that tool. When a tempo go to Pali, challan. When one earphone come back, credit note.

The tools wait. The customer in front of you don't wait.

Boy sent me a photo of BNS-001. Light print from photocopy. His sign like a ladder.

I said, ok. Keep it.

He said, I am a computer shop now.

I said, you are a shop with one PDF. Still put the phones in a lock. Computer bill don't stop theft.

He laughed. Goat sound. Call ended.

First invoice today is not a career. It is one paper.

Which tool first. The simple one.

Then you close the shutter at night and you still have to count cash. Website don't count cash.

I count cash. He will too. Welcome to the desk.