Tally bill format

Last reviewed: October 2026

What people mean by a Tally bill

TallyPrime (and Tally.ERP 9 before it) is the accounting software most Indian traders and their accountants use, so its printed sales invoice has become the bill everyone recognises: a boxed, dense A4 page with dispatch details at the top and a tax summary at the bottom. When a buyer asks for a "Tally bill", they usually mean a bill laid out like that, not one that was literally produced in Tally.

Nothing in GST law requires that layout. Rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists the contents of a tax invoice; how you arrange them is up to you. The Tally layout simply shows them along with the references wholesalers and transporters expect.

How to fill in this Tally bill format

1. Enter your company as in your Tally company masterName, address and GSTIN, so the bill and your books match.
2. Add the buyer with GSTINThe two GSTINs decide CGST and SGST or IGST. If the goods go to another address, add it as "Consignee (Ship to)" in the notes and check the place of supply.
3. Add the itemsDescription, HSN/SAC, quantity, unit (Tally's "per"), rate and GST rate. Turn on the discount column if you give one.
4. Put the order and dispatch details in the notesBuyer's order number and date, dispatch document (LR) number, transporter, destination, vehicle number and the amount in words.
5. Add the declaration and jurisdiction, then sign inPut the declaration and "Subject to … jurisdiction" in the terms. Creating and downloading the PDF here are free; signing in issues the bill with the next number in your series, and issuing and clean PDFs without LuckPanda branding need the Sales module.

The Tally-style invoice, block by block

Shree Balaji Electricals in Indore supplies wire, switches and MCBs to a building contractor in Bhopal. Both are in Madhya Pradesh, so the 18% GST is charged as CGST and SGST at 9% each.

1. "Tax Invoice": Tally's default title for a GST sales voucher.
2. Invoice No.: Tally's voucher number; must be consecutive and unique for the year.
3. Buyer's Order No.: the customer's PO, so their accounts team can match it.
4. Dispatch Doc No.: the lorry receipt (LR) or docket number.
5. Company block: name, address, GSTIN/UIN, state name and code.
6. Buyer (Bill to) with GSTIN and state code; Tally prints a separate Consignee (Ship to) block too.
7. HSN/SAC column next to each item, as rule 46 requires.
8. Output CGST and SGST below the items, or IGST for another state.
9. Foot: PAN, declaration and jurisdiction; customary, not required by GST law.
10. "for Company, Authorised Signatory": the rule 46 signature.

Labels vary a little between Tally releases and print settings (Ctrl+P, then C to configure). The required fields do not: if a bill has every "Yes" row above, it is a valid GST tax invoice whatever it looks like.

Worked example with the HSN tax summary

Below the total, a Tally bill repeats the tax grouped by HSN code. Two lines share HSN 8536, so they are added together:

The summary is not a rule 46 field, but it is useful: GSTR-1 table 12 asks for exactly this HSN-wise summary of your outward supplies, so a bill that shows it is easy to reconcile.

How Tally numbers invoices, and how to keep one series

In TallyPrime the sales voucher type decides the numbering (Alt+G, Alter Master, Voucher Type). The methods are:

For GST, the invoice number must be consecutive, up to 16 characters and unique for the financial year, so most businesses set a prefix such as SBE/26-27/ and restart the series every April. If bills are made outside Tally and also entered in Tally, switch that voucher type to Manual (or Automatic with Manual Override) and type the bill's own number, or you will end up with two numbers for one sale.

If your books are kept in Tally

LuckPanda is a separate product. It has no Tally import, export or sync. If your accountant keeps the books in Tally, decide which system issues the invoices and which reports GST, and keep it to one of each.

1. Re-enter as a sales voucherThe simplest route for a few bills a month: Alt+G, Create Voucher, F8 (Sales), the party ledger, the items with HSN, and the bill's number and date. Then select the CGST and SGST (or IGST) ledgers; Tally calculates them from the GST rates in the item masters.
2. Or import from Excel (TallyPrime 4.0 and later)TallyPrime can import transactions from Excel using a mapping template (Alt+O, Import, Transactions). Earlier releases import XML only. Signed in, LuckPanda's sales reports download as CSV, which can be the starting sheet for a mapping; test with a few bills and check the Day Book and Sales Register before importing in bulk.
3. Or keep the books where the invoices areIssuing in LuckPanda posts the journal entry, the receivable and the GST for you, and GSTR-1 is prepared from those books. Your accountant can work from the same ledger instead of a copy.

Declaration, E. & O.E. and "computer generated": what they do

Declaration

"We declare that this invoice shows the actual price of the goods described and that all particulars are true and correct" is a statement by the seller. It is customary on Tally bills and some buyers ask for it; GST law does not require it.

E. & O.E.

"Errors and omissions excepted" reserves the right to correct a mistake. It does not cure a wrong GSTIN, rate or amount for GST: those are corrected with a credit note, a debit note or an amendment in GSTR-1.

"This is a computer generated invoice"

Rule 46 waives the signature only for an electronic invoice issued in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000, which in practice means a digitally signed invoice. A printed line saying the bill is computer generated is not the same thing; sign the printed copy or sign the PDF digitally.

Subject to … jurisdiction

Names the courts for disputes. It helps if it is agreed in the order or terms; printed alone on the bill it carries less weight.

Company's PAN and bank details

Useful for TDS and payment. PAN is already inside the GSTIN (characters 3 to 12), so it is optional on a GST bill.

Other Tally documents in the same layout

• Proforma invoice. In TallyPrime a sales voucher marked as optional prints as a proforma invoice and stays out of the books until regularised. Online, use the proforma invoice generator.
• Credit note and debit note. Tally's Credit Note and Debit Note vouchers print in the same layout against the original bill. The credit note format shows the GST fields they need.
• Delivery note. Tally's Delivery Note voucher is the delivery challan for goods sent before the bill.
• Bill of supply. Composition and exempt suppliers print a bill of supply, with no GST lines: see the bill of supply format.

Mistakes to avoid

• Copying an old Tally PDF and editing it. The number, date and buyer GSTIN are easy to miss; the series breaks.
• Two numbering series for one sale, one from the bill and one from Tally.
• Charging IGST just because the Ship to is in another state. When you deliver to someone else on the buyer's instructions, the place of supply is the buyer's principal place of business (IGST Act, section 10(1)(b)), so a buyer in your state still means CGST and SGST.
• Relying on "computer generated" instead of a signature.
• Rounding the tax lines. Round the grand total if you like; keep CGST and SGST exact.
• Filing GSTR-1 from two systems.

Key terms

Voucher

Tally's word for any entry; a sales invoice is a Sales voucher.

Optional voucher

A Tally voucher kept out of the books; a sales voucher marked optional prints as a proforma invoice.

Consignee

The person or address the goods are shipped to ("Ship to"), when it differs from the buyer.

LR / RR

Lorry receipt / railway receipt: the transporter's document for goods carried.

E. & O.E.

Errors and omissions excepted.

Questions people ask