E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 10 – How to register your e-invoice

Latest update: The government introduced a new GST e-invoice scheme under which businesses with turnover of Rs 500 crore and above will generate all invoices on a centralised government portal starting October 1, 2020. Earlier, the turnover threshold for businesses was set at Rs 100 crore.

Starting January 2020, e-invoicing is available under GST on a voluntary basis. It is only in April 2020 that e-invoicing will become mandatory, that too, for organisations having an annual turnover above Rs. 100 crore. Because e-invoicing is being introduced in a phased manner, businesses have plenty of time to adapt this requirement into their daily business operations. Additionally, e-invoicing by phase will be capped at certain turnover limits and might even be required for invoices above a certain value.

An e-invoice is created using an enterprise’s current accounting and billing software. The procedure to create an e-invoice will be almost identical to the current process of raising an invoice electronically. However, a business enterprise will now need to re-align their software system in order to ensure that the invoice raised follows the standardised format/schema laid down by the Goods and Services Tax Network. While the physical copy of the invoice or print out will not look any different, the seller’s ERP will have an inbuilt feature to generate each invoice in JSON format, which can then be uploaded onto a central system.

Once a business follows the prescribed invoice schema, they will need to send the electronic invoice to an Invoice Registration Portal for validation. A commonly asked question at this point is, how does a business go about registering their e-invoice. Is it only possible through the Government enabled IRP? Are there alternative routes? The answer to these questions is yes. There are multiple ways to register e-invoice - these have been created keeping in mind the need to facilitate the needs and convenience of the taxpayer. Here's how you can register your e-invoice.

• Web based registration of e-invoice.
• API based registration of e-invoice.
• SMS based registration of e-invoice.
• Mobile app-based registration of e-invoice.
• Offline tool based registration of e-invoice.
• GST Service Provider/ GST Suvidha Provider based registration of e-invoice.

Web based registration of e-invoice / How to register for e-invoicing through website?

Invoice Registration Portals operate through a website for assigning Invoice Reference Numbers (IRN) to each invoice/credit note/debit note. Once the business generates an e-invoice in line with the prescribed schema, the invoice can be uploaded onto the Invoice Registration Portal for generating or validating the Invoice Reference Number (IRN) of the invoice uploaded. Only invoices with an authorised IRN will be considered valid as per GST law. Currently, there is only one IRP – the National Informatics Centre (NIC). However, multiple invoice registration portals are expected to be added in the future.

Application Programming Interface (API) based registration of e-invoice

Using the API mode, the large businesses as well as accounting software providers can interface their systems and pull the Invoice Registration Number after sharing the relevant invoice information in JSON format. An API request will handle one invoice request at time to generate the IRN.  Since large companies tend to generate a large quantity of invoices, this mode can be used for bulk requirement (users can pass the request one after the other and get the IRN response within a fraction of a second) as well. This is the same methodology applicable under the current e-way bill system.

SMS based registration of e-invoice

Taxpayers will be able to enter invoice details while adhering to a specific format - they can then send these details to the Invoice Registration Portal via SMS for processing and electronic authentication.

Mobile based registration of e-invoice

Once e-invoicing is introduced and adapted in full swing, there will be a need to allow invoice registration through all kinds of modes, even when taxpayers are on the move. A mobile app is likely to be provided for solve this purpose. The mechanism will be similar - taxpayers will need to adhere to a specific format for processing and electronic authentication of their invoice.

Offline tool based registration of e-invoice

The Goods and Services Tax Network is expected to provide an Offline Tool where data of an invoice generated on paper can be entered into the system which in turn will create a JSON file that can be uploaded to the IRP. This is a two step process for registration of e-invoice.

GST Service Provider/GST Suvidha Provider based registration of e-invoice

Taxpayers could consult with GST Service/Suvidha Providers like Avalara to register and help with compliance in reference to e-invoice.

To know more about our E-invoicing and GST compliance solutions, contact us here.

Follow our E-invoicing under GST Series on the links below:

1. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 1 - What is an e-invoice?
2. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 2 - E-invoicing and the Tax Department
3. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 3 - Benefits of e-invoicing
4. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 4 - Documents to be reported under e-invoicing
5. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 5 - How does e-invoicing work?
6. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 6 – E-Invoicing Workflow from Supplier to Invoice Registration Portal
7. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 7 - Workflow from IRP to Buyer and GSTN or E-Way Bill System
8. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 8 - Everything you need to know about Invoice Registration Portal
9. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 9 – Features of e-invoice system you need to know
10. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 10 – How to register your e-invoice
11. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 11 - Myths around e-invoicing
12. E-Invoicing Under GST: Part 12 – Frequently asked questions on e-invoicing