e-Invoicing, a.k.a Electronic Invoicing, is a process to make invoices more authentic and compliant for tax return filing purposes for B2B businesses. An e-Invoice consists of invoice data in a more structured visual presentation. With the adoption of e-Invoice systems, businesses can pre-populate the returns for filing purposes and get rid of reconciliation challenges. Businesses can share invoice data to the GST system by integration of IRP (Invoice Registration Portal) via GSP (GST Suvidha Provider) for validation.

e-Invoicing applies to all the businesses that are registered under GST and issuing B2B invoices in a phased manner as discussed above. From April 1st, 2022, every business crossing an aggregate turnover of over ₹20 Cr. from any preceding year after FY 2017-18 to 2021-22 is required to follow the current e-Invoicing guidelines. The aggregate turnover includes all GSTINs under a single PAN across India. If the turnover in the last FY was below the threshold limit but it increased beyond the threshold limit in the current year, then e-Invoicing would apply from the beginning of the next financial year.

Irrespective of the turnover, e-Invoicing shall not apply to the following categories of registered businesses for now –

1. An insurer or a banking company or a financial institution, including an NBFC

2. A Goods Transport Agency (GTA)

3. A registered person supplying passenger transportation services

4. A person supplying services by way of admission to the exhibition of cinematographic films in multiplex services

5. An SEZ (Special Economic Zone) unit

6. A government department and local authority.

1. All the invoices generated by suppliers can be tracked in real-time by enabling e-Invoice.

2. Major gaps in data reconciliation are plugged, resulting in reduced errors and data mismatch instances.

3. e-Invoices created on one software can be read by another, helping reduce fraudulence.

4. Details of invoices get auto-populated for returns, making the filing process seamless.

5. Information procurement at the transaction level minimizes the possibility of audits by tax authorities.

6. The QR code on the e-Invoices provides access to the eligible GST invoices.

e-Invoicing currently applies to:

1. Supplies to registered persons (i.e., B2B supplies),

2. Supplies to SEZs (with/without payment of tax),

3. Exports (with/without payment of tax), and

4. Deemed exports

The documents that will be covered under the e-Invoicing system are as follows-

1. Invoices by the supplier

2. Credit notes by the supplier

3. Debit notes by the recipient

Any other document as notified under GST law to be reported as an e-Invoice by the creator of the document

An e-Invoice structure includes both mandatory and optional fields. Mandatory fields are those which are compulsory for an invoice under the e-Invoice standard. Optional areas are those which can be classified as per business requirements.

The maximum number of items in an e-Invoice is 1000. All mandatory fields have to be filled in for filing e-Invoices on IRP. A mandatory field without value can be reported as NIL.

Basic details required –

1. Supplier’s information

2. Recipient’s information

3. Invoice item details

4. GST details

No, e-Invoice does not apply to nil-rated or wholly-exempt supplies as in these cases, only a bill of supply is issued and not a tax invoice.

Download the QR Code Verify app and verify the QR code printed on the e-Invoice.

An e-Invoice can only be fully canceled. It cannot be partially canceled. Also, the e-Invoice must be canceled within 24 hours of its generation, otherwise it needs to be manually canceled on the GST portal in the GSTR-1 return, before the same is filed. Moreover, once an IRN is canceled, the same invoice number cannot be used again to generate another invoice. If used again, the IRP will reject the same.

Open’s e-Invoicing solution helps businesses seamlessly connect with the IRP system and generate e-Invoices in a single click. Businesses can enable e-Invoicing to easily generate e-Invoices and also import the existing invoice details on Open fetch, generate, cancel, print the e-Invoice details (QR code, IRN, Acknowledgement date and status). This helps them manage e-Invoice requirements without much changes to the business process.