GST-ready billing, explained simply

Restaurant billing in India has a few moving parts that are easy to confuse: tax rates, whether the price on the menu includes tax, your GSTIN, and the codes printed on each line. This post explains how Snapitto models them. It is a description of the software, not tax advice. Your accountant decides which rates apply to you.

Start with tax components

A tax component is a named rate. You might have CGST at 2.5% and SGST at 2.5%, or a single GST line, or a Cess on top. In Snapitto you define these once for the whole business in Settings › Taxes.

Each active component is applied on its own to the same net taxable amount. They do not stack on top of each other. So if a dish is ₹200 before tax, CGST 2.5% is ₹5 and SGST 2.5% is ₹5, each calculated from the ₹200.

You can deactivate a component without losing the past. A component that has been used on a real order cannot be deleted, so old bills always make sense.

Exclusive, inclusive and exempt

The menu price can mean different things, so every item has a tax mode.

• Exclusive: the price is before tax. Tax is added at billing. Most dishes work this way.
• Inclusive: the price is what the customer pays, and the tax is already inside it. Packaged items with a printed MRP, such as bottled water, are the classic case. The bill separates the tax portion but does not charge it a second time.
• Exempt: no tax on this item.

Combos are always exclusive, and a variant such as Half or Full follows the mode of its parent item.

Getting this right matters. If an MRP item were treated as exclusive, the customer would pay more than the printed price, which is both irritating and improper.

Your GSTIN and the TAX INVOICE

If you add your business's GSTIN in the settings, receipts are titled TAX INVOICE. Each line can show the HSN or SAC code you entered on the item, and the tax breakdown shows each component and its amount. If no GSTIN is set, you get a plain receipt.

The same document can be viewed in the app and downloaded as a PDF from any completed order.

Rounding

The final total is rounded down to the nearest rupee, and the receipt shows a separate round-off line. Customers can see exactly how the number was reached, and your books can match it.

What Snapitto does not do

We would rather be upfront about limits:

• There is no IGST or inter-state handling. The model is built for billing within one state using CGST and SGST style components.
• Snapitto does not file returns or integrate with accounting software.
• It applies the rates you configure. It does not know which rate is correct for each dish.

A sensible setup routine

1. Ask your accountant which components and rates apply.
2. Add them in Settings › Taxes.
3. Set each item's tax mode, especially MRP items.
4. Add HSN or SAC codes to items if you issue tax invoices.
5. Add your GSTIN.
6. Take a test order and print the receipt. Show it to your accountant.

Spending ten minutes on this at the start avoids corrections later. The details are in Taxes and GST and Menu setup.

A note on receipts for customers

A clear bill is part of hospitality. A tax invoice that lists rates, amounts and a round-off line answers most questions before they are asked. If you would like to shape the header and footer, the bill template in Printing settings lets you add your logo text and a short message. See Printing KOT and receipts.