Generating an e-way bill is a routine task once you know exactly what information the portal asks for — the confusion usually comes from missing a detail midway and having to start over. This walkthrough covers how to generate an e-way bill from start to finish: what to keep ready before you log in, the exact screens you will move through, and where people commonly get stuck.
Before You Start: Information to Keep Ready
Have these details on hand before you open the e-way bill portal, so you are not pausing mid-form to look them up:
- Supplier and recipient GSTIN, trade name, and address (with PIN code)
- Invoice or document number and date
- HSN code and description of goods
- Taxable value, and applicable CGST/SGST/IGST/cess amounts
- Transport mode — road, rail, air, or ship
- Either the vehicle number (for road transport) or the transporter's ID/document number, if the transporter will update transport details later
- Approximate distance to be covered for this consignment
Step-by-Step: Generating an E-Way Bill on the Portal
- Log in to the e-way bill portal (ewaybillgst.gov.in) using your registered credentials.
- Go to "Generate New" under the E-Way Bill menu.
- Select the transaction type — Outward (you are the supplier) or Inward (you are the recipient generating on the supplier's behalf).
- Choose the sub-type that matches the transaction — supply, export, job work, sales return, and so on.
- Select the document type (tax invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan, credit note, etc.) and enter the document number and date.
- Fill in the "To" and "From" party details. If the recipient's GSTIN is registered, several fields may auto-populate; verify them rather than assuming they are correct.
- Enter item details — product name, HSN code, quantity, unit, taxable value, and applicable tax rates. The portal calculates the total invoice value from these.
- Enter transporter details: either the vehicle number directly, or the transporter's ID if they will fill in vehicle details separately closer to dispatch.
- Enter the approximate distance for the movement, in kilometres. This figure feeds directly into how long the e-way bill remains valid.
- Click Submit. The portal validates the entries and, if everything checks out, generates a unique E-Way Bill Number (EBN) along with a QR code.
- Print or save the e-way bill (or just the EBN) so it can be produced during transit, either as a printed copy or accessible digitally by the transporter.
Part A vs Part B
An e-way bill is built from two distinct parts, and it is only complete — and valid for movement — once both are filled in.
| Part A | Part B | |
|---|---|---|
| Contains | Invoice, GSTIN, item, and value details | Vehicle number and transporter details |
| Filled by | Supplier or recipient (whoever is generating) | Whoever has the vehicle/transport details — often the transporter |
| Can be saved without the other | Yes — Part A can be saved and shared with a transporter to complete Part B | Cannot be submitted alone; needs a Part A reference to attach to |
| Bill becomes valid for movement | Only once both parts are complete | Only once both parts are complete |
Generating Through the API, an SMS, or Software Instead of the Web Portal
Besides the standard web form, e-way bills can typically also be generated via the mobile app, SMS-based generation for smaller volumes, direct API integration for high-volume businesses, or through invoicing/accounting software that connects to the e-way bill system. If you already generate GST invoices through software, check whether it supports e-way bill generation directly from the invoice, so you are not re-entering the same item and party details a second time.
Multi-Vehicle and Consolidated E-Way Bills
If a single consignment needs to move using more than one vehicle (for example, transhipment partway through the journey), the portal allows updating the vehicle details multiple times against the same e-way bill. Separately, if a transporter is carrying multiple consignments (each with its own e-way bill) in one vehicle, a consolidated e-way bill can be generated that bundles the individual EBNs into a single document for that vehicle's trip, which is usually simpler for the transporter to carry than several loose e-way bills.
A Worked Example
You are dispatching a consignment of packaged goods worth ₹75,000 taxable value (plus 18% IGST) from your Pune warehouse to a buyer in Nagpur, roughly 470 km away, by road. You log in, select Outward > Supply, enter the tax invoice number and date, fill in the buyer's GSTIN and address, add the item with its HSN code and value, enter the transporter's ID (since the vehicle will be assigned by the transport company at pickup), and enter the distance as 470 km. On submission, you receive the EBN with Part A complete. The transporter later logs in with that EBN and updates Part B with the actual vehicle number before the truck leaves your warehouse.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Entering the wrong distance — since validity period is calculated from this figure, an understated distance can cause the e-way bill to expire mid-transit
- Mismatched invoice value between the e-way bill and the actual tax invoice carried with the goods
- Forgetting to update Part B before the vehicle leaves, which makes the e-way bill incomplete for that movement
- Using an expired or already-used transporter ID that no longer matches the transporter actually carrying the goods
- Not cancelling an e-way bill promptly when a shipment is called off, leaving an open document that can cause confusion later
Keeping Your Invoice and E-Way Bill Data Consistent
Since e-way bill values need to match the underlying tax invoice, it helps to generate both from the same source of item and party data rather than typing figures into two separate systems. If you are also tracking which invoices still need an e-way bill raised against them, it is worth reviewing our detailed rules on e-way bill limits and validity and, if your business is close to the e-invoicing threshold, how the two processes relate in e-invoice vs e-way bill. Accurate HSN coding on your invoices also carries straight through to your e-way bill item entries — see HSN code on invoices for the applicable digit requirements by turnover.
Frequently asked questions
Can I generate an e-way bill without an invoice number?
No, the e-way bill requires a reference document — typically a tax invoice, bill of supply, or delivery challan — along with its number and date, since Part A is built directly from that document's details.
What if I do not know the vehicle number when generating the e-way bill?
You can generate Part A using the transporter's ID instead of the vehicle number, and let the transporter (or you, later) update Part B with the vehicle number once it is confirmed, before the goods actually move.
Can I edit an e-way bill after it is generated?
The core Part A details generally cannot be edited once generated; if there is an error, the usual route is to cancel the e-way bill (within the permitted window) and generate a fresh one. Part B (vehicle details) can typically be updated multiple times during the validity period.
Is a separate e-way bill needed for each invoice?
Generally yes, one e-way bill corresponds to one document (invoice, delivery challan, etc.), though multiple e-way bills covering different consignments in the same vehicle can be grouped into a consolidated e-way bill for the transporter's convenience.
How long does it take to generate an e-way bill?
Once you have all the required details ready, generation on the portal itself typically takes only a few minutes. Most of the time is usually spent gathering accurate item, party, and transport information beforehand.
Where does this sit alongside your GST software?
E-way bill generation happens on the government portal or through a GSP, and it is worth being clear about scope: OneBooks GST does not generate e-way bills today. E-invoicing and e-way bill workflows are part of its published roadmap rather than a shipped feature.
What OneBooks GST does cover is the layer either side of the transport document. It is a GST and accounting platform for Indian businesses that imports marketplace sales from Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho, prepares GSTR-1 with B2B, B2C, HSN and document-summary sections, parses bank statement PDFs into ledger-mapped rows, and exports to Tally XML, Miracle, Profit NX, Excel and CSV. The invoice values you move goods against are the same values that must reconcile in your return, so keeping the sales register clean upstream is what stops e-way bill and GSTR-1 figures drifting apart.
How OneBooks GST fits into this
This is where tooling earns its place: OneBooks GST sits either side of the transport document rather than issuing it: importing sales, validating GSTIN and tax data, and exporting reviewed GSTR-1 output.
Reviewing the output in OneBooks GST before it leaves the system is the step that catches period, GSTIN and tax-rate errors while they are still easy to fix.
