e-Invoicing under GST

e-Invoicing under GST: Everything you need to know about the e-Way Bill APIs

Introduction

The implementation of e-Invoices has changed the various aspects of GST significantly.

It is not a surprise that e-Invoicing under GST has affected GST Compliance to a large extent, starting from GST Filing, to Reconciliation, ITC, Refunds & e-Way Bills.

However to connect all these aspects of GST electronically, a strong API framework is necessary & the government has taken the same into consideration.

As they released the e-Invoicing & e-Way bill APIs to ease the e-Way Bill compliance through IRNs & IRP.

In this blog we have explained the details of these APIs & their functions so you can understand how they work towards making GST compliance simple for you.

e-Invoices & e-Way Bills under GST

e-Way Bills are relatively known to businesses by now considering that they were introduced a long while ago. But also because the government rolled out many strict rules to make businesses comply with the provisions of the e-Way Bills.

So e-Way Bills are documents that the transporter of the goods need to carry when the consignment is in transit.

This contains some of the invoice & item details & is a mandatory document with  time validity.

e-Way Bills are generally generated on the e-Way Bill portal and accounted in the billing systems for the record.

On the other hand, e-Invoices are newly introduced upgraded version of the traditional paper invoices.

However, the drill is that these invoices are completely electronic, meaning there is a standard for at specified by the government in which these invoices are to be made by businesses & accountants.

Later you need to declare these invoices on the IRP for validation purposes. The portal will validate your invoices & assign a unique QR code & hash generated IRN.

Only then will the e-Invoices be called valid & will be considered as suitable to use for carrying out business.

Like e-Way Bills e-Invoices are also mandatory for select class of business, transactions & documents.

 There is a major link between the two documents; either of the two tends to support each other.

For example, for any missing e-Way Bills, a valid e-Invoice can back up that transaction, and vice versa.

e-Way Bills are mostly generated against Invoices, Credit & debit notes, all these documents are liable to invoicing.

API Specifications to Link e-Way Bills with e-Invoices

The government has additionally launched API specifications to merge e-Way Bills with e-Invoices even further.

There are two new APIs that the government has lunched-

1. Generate IRN

2. Generate EWB by IRN

Now what does this mean?

It means that you can generate e-Way Bills from the Invoice Registration Portal in real time with the e-Invoice, using the two APIs.

To generate e-Way Bills along with e-Invoice- Generate IRN

This API will enable you to generate the e-Way Bills along with the e-Invoicing software. How? The Government has inserted new columns in the SCHEMA Format of the e-Invoice.

This new format contains a section for the e-Way Bill details as well. In this, if you furnish all the e-Way Bill details for generate both Part A & Part B, then the IRP will generate an e-Way Bill with validity, which you can put to use immediately.

If you only furnish the details of the e-Way Bill to generate Part-A, then Part of the e-Way Bill will be generated. You can later visit the e-Way Bill Portal & furnish the transporter details to generate Part B & activate the e-Way Bill.

The above two process happen at the time of e-Invoice & IRN generation itself.

Note-  you can use the same API when you do not wish to generate an e-Way Bill along with the e-Invoice.

To Generate e-Way Bills after the IRN Generation- Generate e-way Bill by IRN

You can use this API if you are generating the e-Way Bill using the IRN, after the e-Invoice has been generated.

You can generate an e-Way Bill from the IRP itself using the IRN, all you need to do is provide the IRN & the e-Way Bill details.

Now depending on the type of detail that you provide the IRP will generate the Parts of the e-Way Bill accordingly.

If you provide complete transporter details then the IRP will generate an active e-Way Bill with validity.

And in case you provide minimum or half transporter details then only part A will be generated & you will have to update the Part B from the NIC e-Way Bill Portal.

Additional Validation Rules to note

1. IRN cannot be cancelled if there is an active e-Way Bill against it.

2. IRN & e-Way Bills cannot be cancelled post 24 hours of generation

3. For cancelling them post the window you can generate credit Notes against them

4. IRNs are to be generated in real time only, that is you cannot create back-dated e-Invoice

5. IRN cannot be re generated for the cancelled e-Invoice. A new document with a new doc no. must be created to generate the IRN

6. All the e-Way Bill Actions such as edit, validity extension etc. need to be done from the e-Way Bill Portal only.

7. A cancelled e-Way Bill can be regenerated for the same documents using the NIC.

Conclusion

e-Invoicing compliance is of high priority for all businesses that are liable to it irrespective of its impact as it is a mandatory rule under the CGST Act 2017.

Compliance with this single provision, will help businesses comply with GST as a whole, considering that e-Invoices do reduce the compliance load.

So complying well with e-Invoicing alone will help business with the entire GST Compliance.

However, the compliance can sometimes be a little more difficult than it seems considering the complex SCHEMA Format, Real-time Validations, Bulk operations, Archiving and more.

The Government also recommends the use of external solutions such as GSPs to comply better with e-Invoicing, one such GSP is GSTHero which is also the best e-Invoicing Solution in the market currently.

GSTHero makes e-Invoicing simple to understand and operate with its user-friendly features and prominent support.

So why GSTHero?

1.  Simple ERP integration

2. High Data Security

3. Storage- e-Invoice Archiving for 8 years!

4. Direct integration of ERP with the IRP

5. Scalable for high data volume

6. Super Automated- requires minimal human input

7. Reduced Errors with automation

8. Saves time and delivers prompt results

9. Enhanced productivity of your accounts team

10. Compliance in real-time 

11. Bulk Operations- Generate, cancel, print, validate and edit e-Invoice in bulk within the ERP  

12. Achieve 100% Compliance with e-Invoicing Cost-effective