# Make a GST receipt for a photography advance

Couples pay a token advance months before the wedding, long before the final invoice. A studio registered under GST gives a receipt voucher for that advance, with the GST in it, and sets the advance against the invoice later. Here is how the platform does it.

## This is not tax advice

> **Check the rate, the place of supply and your filing with your chartered accountant. The platform does the arithmetic and the numbering; the tax decisions are yours.**

## What a receipt voucher is

- For services, GST falls due when an advance is received, even before the invoice. The supplier gives a receipt voucher for it.
- The platform takes the advance as including GST: the taxable value is the amount times 100, divided by 100 plus the rate.
- When the rate is not known yet, 18% is used. When it is not known whether the client is in your state, the tax is shown as IGST.
- A studio without a GSTIN gives a plain receipt instead, which says it is not a tax invoice.

## Record the advance

1. Open the project and go to its Payments tab.
2. Record a payment: the amount, the date, how it was paid (UPI, cash, bank transfer, cheque, card or other) and a reference.
3. For a GST-registered studio, the payment gets a receipt voucher numbered in its own series, RV/2026-27/0001, with the taxable value and the CGST and SGST or IGST in it.
4. Send the receipt link to the client on WhatsApp from the same tab. The link does not expire, and shows the balance as it was on the receipt's date.

## When you issue the final invoice

1. Make the invoice from the project, so it is linked to it.
2. When it is issued, the project's advances are set against it.
3. The invoice carries the full value and its full GST. The advances, with the GST already paid on them, come off what the client owes.

So the tax on the advance is not paid twice. The invoice is a tax invoice with CGST and SGST, or IGST, numbered by financial year.

## Questions

### Is a receipt voucher a tax invoice?

No. It records an advance and the GST in it. The tax invoice comes later, with the advances set against it.

### My studio is not registered under GST. What do I give?

A plain receipt (RCPT series) that says it is not a tax invoice. Your invoices are issued without GST.

### Can the client see how much is left?

Yes. The receipt shows what was paid to date and the balance on the receipt's date.

## See also

- [Quotes and GST invoices](https://isodesk.io/features/quotes-and-gst-invoices): Make a quote from a template and the client accepts it online. Tax invoices with SAC, CGST and SGST or IGST, numbered by financial year, with a UPI QR.
- [Collect a 25/50/25 payment schedule](https://isodesk.io/guides/collect-a-25-50-25-payment-schedule): Set a 25% advance at booking, 50% before the first event and 25% on delivery, then record payments, send receipts and remind clients on WhatsApp.
- [Projects and CRM](https://isodesk.io/features/projects-and-crm): Every enquiry in one pipeline with follow-ups. Bookings become projects with their events and crew, on one calendar, with clash warnings and a Today page.

Page: https://isodesk.io/guides/gst-receipt-for-a-photography-advance. Updated 31/10/2026.