What is an E- Invoicing ?
E-invoicing Electronic Invoicing is an electronic authentication mechanism under GST. Under the mechanism, all the invoices generated by a business (aggregate turnover more than 100 CR) will have to be authenticated on the GSTN portal, electronically, Furthermore, to manage these invoices, the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) will issue a unique identification number for every invoice called as Invoice Reference Number
The taxpayers having an aggregate turnover exceeding Rs.100 crore should implement e-Invoicing from 1st January 2021
What are the benefits of E-Invoicing under GST
- One time reporting of the invoicing details all your GST fillings
- Minimized invoice mismatches during reconciliation
- The standard invoicing system means interoperability between multiple software
- Real-time tracking of invoice prepared by the supplier
- Automated return of invoice process as necessary details shall be auto-populated for various returns and even EWB(Part A)
What is the information required to generate an E-invoice in GST
. Supplier GSTIN.
. Supplier’s invoice number and Date
. Financial year (YYYY-YY)
. Details of supplier & consignee
. Type of Supply
A. if it is B2B or B2C
B. if it attracts RCM
C. if it attracts TDS/TCS
D. if it is an Export, Supply made to SEZ or Deemed export
. Details of Supply
. Authorization by designed authority
The following are the detailed steps to generate e-invoice in GST
Step -1 Creation of e-invoice JSON: The first step is to create the invoice JSON using the accounting software as per the prescribed format. The taxpayer can generate it either using ERP software or using the offline utility provided by the government.
Step -2 Uploading of JSON: In this step, the invoice JSON for every B2B invoice generated using accounting software or any other utilities are uploaded to the IRP system. If the ERP software is integrated with IRP via GSP, the upload of the JSON file will be automated, meaning system sends the required details directly to the IRP portal.
Step-3 Verification of e-invoice JSON: In this step, IRP system validates the e-invoice JSON and checks the central registry of GST for any duplication.
Step-4 Generating invoice reference number (IRN): After successful validation of e-invoice JSON, IRP system will generate IRN. IRN generated will be a unique number of each invoice for the entire financial year. Also, the e-invoice JSON will be updated with digital signature along with QR code.
Step-5: Receiving digitally singed e-invoice JSON: Here, the digitally signed e-invoice JSON along with QR code is sent to the supplier. The IRN and QR code will be printed on the invoice before issuing it to the buyer. In case of an integrated environment of ERP and IRP via GSP, the software will automatically fetch and print such details
Step-6 Transfer of data to e-way bill system and GST system: The invoice JSON data uploaded, will be shared with the e- way bill and GST system, for preparing e – waybills and for auto-population of GST return.
Part-A of e-way will be auto-populated with e-invoice data GSTR-1 of the supplier will be auto-populated as per the e-invoice details uploaded into the IRP portal
GSTR-2A will be updated, giving a real-time view to the buyer