Introduction to e-Invoicing

E-invoicing, often known as electronic invoicing, is a method of creating invoices using digital documents. The invoices are split between the customer and the supplier. It is then verified by the government’s tax site, making it trustworthy and secure to use.

“E-invoices guarantee that all companies use the same format. As a result, GST compliance becomes simpler.”

Fake invoices were widely used to evade paying taxes and conduct fraud, posing a significant issue for the authorities. By requiring e-Invoices via the government site, a system for e-Invoicing was suggested to put a stop to these operations.

How can I create an electronic invoice?

It is the provider’s responsibility to create the IRN. If IRN is unavailable, the government’s IRP system will provide similar findings. IRP will check (or generate) the hash/IRN connected to JSON and compare it to the GST central register to ensure there are no duplicates. For the whole fiscal year, the IRN will remain the E-unique invoice’s identification.

The invoice will be updated with IRP’s digital signature on the invoice data and a QR code will be added to the JSON file after successful verification. The unique IRN (hash) of a digitally signed QR code may be checked on the central site as well as by offline apps.

The seller will get the digitally signed JSON, as well as the IRN and QR code, from the gateway. In addition, the invoice will be sent to the buyer’s email address on file.

Any existing accounting or invoicing software/application (Groflex, SAP/Tally/Busy) must generate invoices in compliance with the PEPPOL (Pan European Public Procurement Online) standard to complete the processes mentioned above.

“GSTN cited the PEPPOL standard, which employs a type of electronic XML known as Universal Business Language (UBL).”

The GSTN’s e-invoice includes the E-invoice schema, masters, and E-invoice template.

E-Invoicing Benefits

1. Saves Time
With e-invoicing, you don’t have to manually input invoice information. It saves you time during transactions and allows you to make payments more quickly. Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about printing, signing, and filing paper and PDF bills.

E-invoicing makes it much simpler to commit to the process and saves a lot of time. Because there isn’t enough manual labour, it results in better structured and accurate invoicing. It is also cost-effective, so it saves you both time and money.

2. Preserves cash flow
Any company’s cash flow is critical to its success. Businesses face a slew of issues when they send out invoices and don’t get paid on time. Even late payments may have an impact.
You can receive timely payments and keep your cash flow using e-invoicing. You may send invoices on time and within a specified period so that your customers are aware that they must pay. It helps you save time!

3. Low Probability of Human Error
There are relatively little possibilities of human mistake with e-invoicing since it does not need companies to enter data manually. There will be no errors, giving your company a good impression on your consumers.
Payments are made more rapidly with e-invoicing because less time is spent generating, amending, and re-sending invoices. There are virtually no possibilities of invoicing errors since everything is done digitally.

4. Increases the productivity of MSMEs
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) make up a significant part of the economy, and electronic invoicing makes conducting business simpler for them. It is responsible for a significant portion of the company’s revenue by following up on late payments and identifying erroneous invoicing.
It allows MSMEs to concentrate more on the actual job and less on chasing down payments from consumers, making them more productive.

5. Simple to Set Up
E-invoicing is a simple procedure that may be set up by businesses. It just takes a few minutes of your time and provides hours of labour in return. It’s as simple as signing up for e-invoicing software and uploading your GST information. The greatest thing is that it saves your data for future usage, so you don’t have to re-enter your information.

6. Is It More Safe?
Traditional invoicing techniques are less secure than e-invoicing. You can minimize the risk of fraud by using e-invoicing. Furthermore, since the transactions would take place from company to business, there will be little risk of fraud. As a result, you can be certain that your information is being sent to a reliable source. The government’s involvement adds to the security. The government validates the invoices, making them safer to use.

7. Provides assistance Keep an eye on your revenue.
There may be moments when you are unsure if your company is profitable. That’s where e-invoicing can assist! You can keep track of your incomes and pending income using e-invoicing. Examining your bills may provide insight into your performance. In only a few minutes, you may also keep track of how many bills are pending, finished, or cancelled.

It guarantees that your company is profitable. By evaluating your performance, you may adopt superior techniques. Overall, e-invoicing may help your company develop by providing real-time revenue data through invoices.

Disadvantages

1. The new invoicing system presently only covers B2B bills. The e-Invoicing framework has yet to include business-to-consumer (B2C) invoicing. Several scams have been recorded where B2C invoices are involved. Due to the lack of an ITC component, this is the case.

2. IRP does not provide an archiving option. Invoices are not kept at the IRP for more than 24 hours. It is not possible to generate a new e-invoice using the previous invoice number. On the IRP, a taxpayer must update the invoice number, fix any errors, and generate a new e-invoice.

3. It is not feasible to cancel an e-invoice in part. Even if it is just for a little modification, it must be fully cancelled. Within 24 hours, you may cancel an e-invoice on the IRP. After 24 hours, the cancellation cannot be done on the IRP; it must be done on the GST site.

How Can Invoice Software Help Your Business

If invoicing seems to be a challenge, invoice software may help! When it comes to invoicing, nothing beats invoice software for convenience, speed, and efficiency. After all, it’s 2021, and in order to remain in business, you’ll need to keep up with the newest technology developments.

Because you don’t have to manually input data into an invoice template, invoicing software reduces the chance of mistake. You can now respond to client demands 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and even monitor your finances in real time, thanks to new technologies designed especially for invoicing software users.

Aside from providing beautiful templates, invoice software will fully automate the process of generating an invoice for you, requiring just a few adjustments before it is sent out.

To submit invoices, you don’t need a complex Excel spreadsheet. All you need is invoice software to quickly and easily generate professional invoices from your laptop.

Take away

One of the most essential parts of your company is sending invoices to your customers. Groflex, for example, is excellent invoice software since it enables you to keep all of your customers’ information. It also saves you a lot of time, money, and effort. It is more cost-effective to utilize software to generate invoice templates if you operate a small business.

Groflex allows you to generate GST-compliant invoices and quotes with only a few mouse clicks. Through a simple export of file for your GST returns, you can give your Chartered Accountant with all essential information and receipts regarding your revenue and expenditures.

Groflex’s basic features and clear user interface are designed to provide you the finest accounting experience possible. Everything is designed to make your life easier, from GST exports to credit and debit notes, simple ledgers to document management.

Gone are the days when you had to worry about keeping track of complicated ledgers and stacks of paperwork. Switch to Groflex for simple ledgers that include statement summaries, bulk payments, and streamlined documentation, making accounting a breeze.