GST Invoice for Freelancers in India: Complete 2026 Guide
Everything Indian freelancers need to know about GST invoicing — registration threshold, SAC codes, billing format, and how to invoice foreign clients.
For retainers, subscriptions and AMCs: create the invoice once, set the schedule, and ZapInvoice generates a fresh GST-compliant invoice every cycle — numbered sequentially, emailed to your client, and chased with automatic reminders until it's paid.

Overview
A recurring invoice is one you issue on a fixed schedule for an ongoing engagement — a monthly design retainer, a quarterly maintenance contract, weekly consulting hours. The line items stay largely the same; only the invoice number and dates change. Yet most freelancers re-create it by hand every cycle, and forget some months entirely.
Under GST, ongoing engagements are "continuous supply of services" (Section 31(5), CGST Act). The invoice must be issued on or before the due date of payment stated in the contract — which makes a reliable schedule a compliance requirement, not just a convenience. Each cycle's invoice needs its own sequential number, correct dates, and the same CGST/SGST/IGST treatment as any tax invoice.
ZapInvoice automates the whole loop: pick any saved invoice, choose weekly, monthly or quarterly (and the day of the month), and every cycle a new invoice is generated with the next number in your series and today's date. Turn on auto-email and it lands in your client's inbox without you lifting a finger; with automatic reminders on, unpaid invoices are followed up on day 3, 7 and 14 until you mark them paid.
Fields
How it works
Build the retainer invoice in the free builder — client, line items, GST, branding. Save it to your account.
In All Invoices, open the ⋯ menu → Make recurring. Pick weekly, monthly or quarterly, the day of the month, and whether to auto-email.
Every cycle a new, sequentially numbered invoice is generated (and emailed). Pause, resume or delete the schedule any time from the Recurring page.
FAQ
Everything you need to know about recurring invoices generation.
Creating and downloading invoices is free and unlimited. Recurring schedules — auto-generation, auto-email and automatic payment reminders — are part of the Pro plan (₹199/month or ₹1,499/year).
Yes. Every generated invoice takes the next number in your sequential series, exactly as if you had created it manually — no duplicates, which matters for GSTR-1.
Yes. Turn on auto-email when creating the schedule and each cycle's invoice is emailed to the client on the invoice, from your business name, with a hosted link where they can view, download and pay.
With automatic reminders enabled, ZapInvoice emails a polite follow-up on day 3, 7 and 14 after sending — and stops the moment you mark the invoice paid or cancelled.
Yes. Each generated invoice is a full tax invoice under Rule 46 — sequential number, dates, GSTIN, place of supply, CGST/SGST/IGST split and HSN/SAC codes. For continuous supply of services, issuing on a fixed schedule is exactly what Section 31(5) expects.
Yes. The Recurring page lists every schedule with pause, resume and delete controls. Generated invoices are kept even if you delete the schedule.
Free to use
Create the invoice once, then make it recurring from your dashboard — ZapInvoice generates and emails it every week, month or quarter, and chases payment automatically.
Guides
Everything Indian freelancers need to know about GST invoicing — registration threshold, SAC codes, billing format, and how to invoice foreign clients.
Everything you need to create a legally compliant GST invoice — mandatory fields, tax calculation, and common mistakes to avoid.
A proforma is a quote; a tax invoice is a legal demand. Confusing them can cause compliance issues — here's exactly when to use each.