What every restaurant bill in India should show: a GST and FSSAI checklist

A restaurant bill is more than a receipt for the guest. It is a tax document. Getting the details right protects you during GST checks, keeps your accountant happy and builds trust with guests.

Here is a practical checklist of what a restaurant tax invoice in India should show. Rules change and individual situations differ, so confirm the details for your business with your chartered accountant.

Business details

• Legal or trade name of the business and the outlet name.
• Full outlet address, including the state and PIN code.
• GSTIN of the outlet. Chains with outlets in different states have a GSTIN for each state.
• FSSAI licence or registration number. FSSAI requires food businesses to show it on bills and cash receipts.

Invoice details

• The words Tax Invoice, for GST-registered restaurants.
• A unique invoice number in a consecutive series for the financial year, with no gaps or repeats.
• Date of issue.
• For business guests who give their GSTIN, the customer’s name and GSTIN, so they can claim credit where eligible.

Items and tax

• Each item with quantity and value.
• The taxable value before tax.
• The tax rate and amount, split into CGST and SGST for sales within the state, or IGST where that applies.
• The HSN or SAC code where required. Restaurant services generally fall under SAC 9963.
• Any service charge shown separately, if you levy one.
• The total, with any round-off shown clearly.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Handwritten bills during internet outages that break the invoice series and never reach your records.
• Several terminals sharing one series, which causes duplicate or missing numbers.
• The wrong GSTIN on bills from a second outlet in another state.
• Missing FSSAI numbers after adding a new outlet.
• Composition-scheme restaurants charging GST on the bill. They issue a bill of supply instead and don’t collect tax from guests.

If your POS can’t print a correct bill when the internet is down, it can’t keep your books correct either.

How Covers gets it right

Covers prints the outlet’s name, address with PIN, GSTIN and FSSAI number on every bill, splits CGST and SGST (or IGST) correctly with GST and HSN per dish, and gives every terminal its own gap-free invoice series, even when billing offline. Bills can also go to the guest on WhatsApp with the total in words, and your CA can have read-only access with Excel exports.