Do you actually need GST registration for your shop?
Plenty of shopkeepers register for GST because someone told them to, then spend the next year filing returns they never needed. Others cross the line without noticing. Here's the general shape of it — then take your own case to a CA, because the common answer isn't always the right one.
The turnover line
For a shop selling goods, registration becomes compulsory once annual turnover crosses ₹40 lakh. In the special-category states — most of the North-East, plus a few others — that line is ₹20 lakh. For services the thresholds are lower.
Turnover means your total sales for the financial year, not your profit. That catches people out: a shop with thin margins can cross the line while barely making money.
When you have to register regardless
Some situations need registration whatever your turnover — selling to customers in other states, or selling through an online marketplace, among others. If that's you, the threshold doesn't help.
The composition scheme
If you're over the line but still a small trader, the composition scheme exists for exactly this. You pay a small flat percentage of turnover instead of regular GST, and file quarterly instead of monthly.
The trade-offs are real: you can't collect GST from your customers, you can't pass on input credit, and you can't sell interstate. For a counter shop selling to walk-in customers, that's often a fair deal. For a wholesaler whose buyers want credit, it usually isn't.
What changes in your shop
Once you're registered, a slip with the total on it isn't enough. Every sale needs a proper tax invoice — your GSTIN, a running invoice number, the HSN code on each line, and CGST/SGST shown separately. That's the part that bites, because doing it by hand on a busy evening is genuinely slow.
Either way, your billing shouldn't have to change
BazarBook handles both. Not registered? It makes a clean plain bill. Registered? It prints a proper tax invoice with your GSTIN, HSN codes and the tax split worked out for you, with invoice numbers running in order and no gaps. If you register later you switch it on — you don't move to a different app and re-enter everything. (GST invoicing is on the Medium plan.)
One thing worth saying plainly: thresholds and rules do change, and your situation may have a wrinkle this page doesn't cover. Confirm with your CA before you decide either way.
Try BazarBook free for 7 days and bill either way.