Gstewaybill, explained in the order it actually matters: whether you need one, what goes in each part, how long it lasts, and what causes trouble at a checkpoint.
When an e-way bill is required
Broadly, for the movement of goods where the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000 — in relation to a supply, for reasons other than supply, or for inward supply from an unregistered person.
Intra-state movement is where it gets local: states set their own limits and exemptions for movement within the state, and they are not identical. Check your own state’s notification rather than assuming the general position.
Certain goods are exempt, and there are relaxations for short distances in some circumstances. Where the value is near the threshold, generating one anyway is cheaper than arguing at a checkpoint.
What your billing system needs to get right
- Invoice value that matches the e-way bill. This is the single most common cause of trouble in transit.
- Correct GSTINs for both parties, in valid format.
- HSN on every line, since it is reported on the bill.
- Correct place of delivery, which is not always the customer’s registered address.
- A stable invoice number — the e-way bill references the document, so renumbering after the fact breaks the link.
- Billixo keeps all of these on the invoice by design, so the data the e-way bill needs is already correct and consistent.
Generating one, step by step
- Raise the invoice first. The e-way bill references it, so it has to exist and its value has to be final.
- Log in to the e-way bill portal, or generate from your billing or accounting system if it connects.
- Fill Part A: parties, GSTINs, place of delivery, document number and date, value, HSN, reason for transport.
- Fill Part B: transporter ID, or the vehicle number for own transport.
- Generate, and keep the e-way bill number with the consignment.
- If the vehicle changes mid-journey, update Part B. If validity is running out, extend it within the permitted window rather than letting it lapse.
The mismatch that causes most problems
The value on the e-way bill and the value on the invoice must agree. When they do not, it is almost always because the invoice was amended after the bill was generated, or because someone typed the taxable value where the total was required.
That is a workflow problem rather than a rules problem, and the fix is order of operations: finalise the invoice, then generate, never the other way round.
Validity, and what expiry actually means
Validity runs by distance and is counted in days from generation, with the exact calculation set by rule and differing for over-dimensional cargo.
Expiry is not administrative. Goods moving on an expired e-way bill are treated as moving without one, with the consequences that follow — detention, penalty, and a delay far more expensive than the extension would have been.
Extension is permitted within a window around expiry. The practical discipline is simple: whoever tracks the vehicle should also be watching the clock on the bill.
What a GST invoice legally has to carry
Rule 46 of the CGST Rules sets out what a tax invoice must show, and it is a longer list than most invoice templates carry. Getting one field wrong does not usually cost you anything the day you raise it — it costs your customer their input credit months later, which is a harder conversation.
The fields are:
- Your name, address and GSTIN
- A consecutive invoice number, unique within the financial year
- The date of issue
- The customer's name, address and GSTIN where they are registered
- Place of supply, and the state code, for inter-state supplies
- HSN or SAC against every line
- Description, quantity, unit, rate and taxable value per line
- Rate and amount of CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and cess, shown separately
- Whether tax is payable on reverse charge
- Signature or digital signature of the supplier or an authorised person
Billixo fills these in from the customer and product records rather than asking you to remember them, which is the only reliable way a busy counter gets them all right every time.
CGST, SGST and IGST — worked out, not chosen
Whether a sale attracts CGST and SGST or IGST is not a preference. It follows from the place of supply: same state as your registration means the tax splits into central and state halves, a different state means one integrated tax at the combined rate.
That sounds simple and goes wrong constantly, because it is a dropdown in most billing software and a dropdown is something a tired person clicks past. In Billixo the split is derived from the state on the customer record against the state on your registration, and it changes the moment either does.
The consequence of getting it wrong is real: an IGST invoice raised as CGST/SGST has to be credited and reissued, and if the return has already gone in, amended.
The AI, and what it is actually for
The useful application of AI to billing is not a chatbot. It is the twenty minutes a day spent retyping things that already exist on paper.
- Scan a supplier bill. Photograph it; the lines, the GSTIN, the tax and the totals come back as a draft you check rather than a form you fill.
- Find the HSN code. Describe the product in plain words and get a code to confirm, instead of scrolling a list of eleven thousand.
- Ask about your own numbers. "What is outstanding over sixty days?" answered from your data, not a manual.
- Write the reminder. A polite, specific chase for an overdue invoice, ready to send on WhatsApp.
Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask for it, and the platform runs on whichever model it has been configured with — including one hosted on your own server.
Where this fits in a working day
Morning: yesterday’s supplier bills get photographed and become purchase records. Through the day: invoices go out as goods do, shared on WhatsApp before the customer has left. End of the week: the receivables list says who to call. End of the month: the GST summary is a download, not a project.
None of that requires a new habit, which is the point. A billing system that needs discipline to work is one that stops working the first busy week.
What "free" means here, exactly
The Free plan costs nothing, needs no card, and has no expiry date. It is not a trial that turns into a bill; it is a plan you can run a small business on indefinitely.
What it gives you:
- Real GST invoices with the full Rule 46 field set
- Customers and products, with HSN/SAC held against each
- A daily and monthly invoice allowance, generous enough for a small operation
- One login
- Export of your own data, whenever you want it
What it does not give you:
- A watermark-free PDF
- GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B export
- The AI features — bill scanning, HSN lookup, the assistant
- Extra team logins, bulk import, recurring invoices and reminders
Every new account also gets the full paid feature set for its first 14 days, so you can see what the ceiling looks like before deciding whether you need it. When that ends nothing is charged and nothing is deleted — the account simply settles onto Free.
Start free now — it takes an email address and about a minute.
Where your data lives
On the server this platform is installed on. Every record carries a company identifier and every query is scoped to the signed-in account at the framework level, so one business cannot read another’s data by any route, including a crafted one.
Sign-in is rate limited, sessions can be restricted to one device per user, and passwords are stored hashed. Exports are available on every plan, free included: if you ever want to leave, your data leaves with you.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the vehicle number after generating?
Yes — Part B can be updated when the vehicle changes, which is expected on multi-leg journeys.
Does Billixo generate e-way bills?
It produces the invoice the e-way bill is generated against, with the GSTINs, HSN codes, place of delivery and value that the bill needs, correct and consistent. Generation itself happens on the e-way bill portal or through whatever route you already use.
Do I need one for goods moving within my own state?
Often yes, but the threshold and exemptions for intra-state movement are set state by state and differ. Check the notification for your state rather than applying the general figure.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in a browser, on a laptop, desktop or phone, so there is nothing to install, nothing to update and nothing tied to one machine. If the office computer dies, you sign in from another one and everything is there.
Are the invoices valid for GST?
Yes. Every invoice carries the fields Rule 46 requires — GSTIN, HSN/SAC on each line, place of supply, the correct CGST/SGST or IGST split, and a consecutive invoice series that restarts each financial year.
Try it — the demo is the product
There is no sales call and no scheduled demo, because a recorded walkthrough of somebody else’s data tells you nothing about your own. Open an account instead and raise a real invoice for a real customer; it takes about a minute and costs nothing.
Open the software demo → — sign in, or create a free account from the same screen.
See full details on the home page → — features, the AI, pricing and the answers to the usual questions.
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