E-invoicing in India got introduced under the GST scheme. It was rolled out in a phased manner on October 1, 2020, after the 39th GST Council Meeting.
What is E-Invoicing under GST?
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to E-invoicing. It is often misunderstood that businesses need to create e-invoices on the GST Portal, but, the actual process is to upload the e-invoice on the GST portal and obtain a unique invoice number known as Invoice Reference Number (IRN).
Once this is done, the invoice information is synced between GST Portal and E-Way Invoice portal in real-time. This eliminates manual errors while filing GSTR-1 returns and generation of part – A of the e-way bills.
Which businesses are liable to generate E-Invoices?
As per notification No. 17/2022 by the CENTRAL BOARD OF INDIRECT TAXES AND CUSTOMS, any business having a turnover of more than ten crores??? will have to generate E-Invoices. Before this, businesses having turnover greater than equal to 20 crores were required to generate e-invoices.
Can IRN be cancelled?
Once the IRN is generated it also generates a document number. Once the document number is generated it cannot be re-used even after cancelling the IRN. The only way to do this is to cancel the original invoice and raise it again and obtain a new IRN.
What is the time frame for cancelling E-Invoicing?
Businesses have 24 hours to cancel the E-Invoice post-generation. Similarly, IRN details can be accessed and downloaded within the next 48 hours after its generation.
How to manage E-Way bills with E-Invoicing amidst the non-availability of transport details?
If the transport details aren’t available at the time of Invoice generation, a business can Part A slip and later add transportation details. After adding transportation details, an E-Way bill will be generated.
Another way to do this using the IRN number as a reference obtained after E-Invoice generation. Once you obtain the IRN number you can generate Part-A Slip or E-Way Bill.
What documents are to be reported under E-Invoicing to the GST System?
- Invoice by Supplier
- Credit Note by Supplier
- Debit Note by Supplier
How does QR Code work in an E-Invoicing mandate?
Once the invoice is successfully registered on IRP, you will get a digitally signed QR Code for b2b transactions. The QR code contains selected information from the invoice. Note, that the structure of the QR code will remain the same for any document generated under IRN.
Which software should be used to generate E-Invoice?
Ideally, any software adhering to E-Invoicing policies mentioned under the GST regime can be used to create E-Invoices. Akshay’s Software Technologies Limited E-Invoicing software is a complete solution which can make your e-invoicing journey easy.