A streamlined GST invoicing solutions can help you easily boost sales, reduce outstanding receivables, get deeper insights into the business and reduce the complexities associated with GST return filing. The LEDGERS GST invoicing suite that is integrated estimates, online payments and GST filing - can completely streamline revenue cycle management for a small or medium sized business

The rollout of GST in 2017 has necessitated changes to the invoice format for millions of businesses. The format for issuing GST invoice and the related rules are laid out in the GST Tax Invoice, Credit and Debit Notes Rules. With LEDGERS, you can automatically be assured that the GST invoice prepared by you conforms to the standards laid out by the GST rules and regulations.

Under GST rules and regulations, all invoice issued by businesses under GST must contain the following information:

• Name, address and GSTIN of the supplier
• A consecutive serial number not exceeding sixteen characters, in one or multiple series, containing alphabets or numerals or special characters hyphen or dash and slash symbolised as "-" and "/" respectively, and any combination thereof, unique for a financial year.
• Date of its issue
• Name, address and GSTIN or UIN, if registered, of the recipient
• Name and address of the recipient and the address of delivery, along with the name of State and its code, if such recipient is un-registered and where the value of taxable supply is fifty thousand rupees or more;
• HSN code of goods or Accounting Code of services;
• Description of goods or services;
• Quantity in case of goods and unit or Unique Quantity Code thereof
• Total value of supply of goods or services or both
• Taxable value of supply of goods or services or both taking into account discount or abatement, if any
• Rate of tax (central tax, State tax, integrated tax, Union territory tax or cess)
• Amount of tax charged in respect of taxable goods or services (central tax, State tax, integrated tax, Union territory tax or cess)
• Place of supply along with the name of State, in case of a supply in the course of inter-State trade or commerce
• Address of delivery where the same is different from the place of supply
• Whether the tax is payable on reverse charge basis; and
• Signature or digital signature of the supplier or his authorized representative.

When Should Invoice be Issued?

Time of supply for goods or service is when GST becomes payable. Issuance of tax invoice is an important element in determining time of supply. In most scenarios, time of supply of goods or service is the date of issuance of an invoice or receipt of payment, whichever is earlier. If goods or services have been supplied, then invoice must be issued within a period of 30 days. Hence, GST invoice should ideally be issued when payment for goods or services is reasonably assured or if the goods or services have been supplied to the recipient.

It’s very important to note that the supplier becomes liable for remittance of GST to the government on the issuance of tax invoice, even if payment has not been received from the customer. Hence, if payment is not reasonably assured and goods or services have not been delivered, an estimate can be issued by the supplier.

Procedure for Issuing GST Invoice

All GST invoices must be prepared in triplicate in case of supply of goods. The original copy should be marked as ORIGINAL FOR RECIPIENT. The duplicate copy should be marked as DUPLICATE FOR TRANSPORTER and the triplicate copy should be marked as TRIPLICATE FOR SUPPLIER. The invoice shall be prepared in duplicate, in the case of the supply of services, in the following manner, namely,- (a) the original copy being marked as ORIGINAL FOR

In case of supply of services, the invoice should be prepared in duplicate. The original copy should be marked as ORIGINAL FOR RECIPIENT and the duplicate copy should be marked as DUPLICATE FOR SUPPLIER.

Filing GST Invoice on GST Portal

The serial number of all invoices issued during a tax period should be filed every month in FORM GSTR-1. Also, GSTIN of all recipients registered under GST must be mentioned on GSTR-1 filing for B2B transactions. In case of recipients not registered under GST or B2C transactions, name, address and place of supply should be mentioned for high value transactions. GSTR-1 filing made by the supplier will automatically be auto-populated in the GSTR-2 filing to be submitted by the recipient of goods or service. Hence, GST invoicing plays an important role in input tax credit claims.