Businesses used manual paper-based invoicing, which was prone to errors and required a lot of physical labor and resources. In recent years, the term “e-invoicing” has been popular worldwide. The E-invoicing system generates invoices by businesses with a turnover of at least Rs. 20 Cr in revenue annually. The use of e-invoicing will benefit organizations and the government. This article explores the essential steps and strategies to ensure a smooth and effective e-invoicing implementation.
Determining the Need to Implement E-Invoicing
E-invoicing is new for everyone, and most companies have yet to learn how to implement it in their business. Determining whether your business needs e-invoicing is necessary, for which you need to prepare a checklist that will give insight into whether your business needs to use e-invoicing procedures. This assessment will also evaluate whether an ERP system can be integrated with the e-invoice schema or if any employee training is required. It will provide a clear view of the further steps for implementing e-invoicing in your business.
Familiarize with the E-Invoice Schema
When manual invoice generation was frequent, businesses produced invoices without standard forms. E-invoices are now generated in a format that is uniform for all organizations. The masters, e-invoice template, and e-invoice schema comprise the three components of the standard format. Workers need to become acquainted with the new format and its various fields. Its adoption will be aided by knowledge of the procedures for generating e-way bills, issuing e-invoices, and submitting returns.
Finding a Suitable Vendor
After familiarizing ourselves with the e-invoices schema, the next step would be finding a vendor for the ERP systems and aligning with the new e-invoicing standards. Select a vendor who has expertise in invoicing and GST compliance in India. The e invoicing software should provide updates and support, and if your business already has a well-acquainted ERP software, then there is no need to purchase a new one. Finding a vendor who can reconfigure the existing ERP system per the new schema and offer frequent updates and training for your staff will be good.
Integration with the E-Invoice Standards
The software vendor should integrate e-invoicing standards into the ERP systems within two months. Integrating the e-invoicing standards within the ERP systems is a top priority. There are different methods of integrating software systems with ERP systems that are API-based, SFTP-based, or using Excel utilities. Integrating an API-based solution would take longer than using Excel utilities. API integration doesn’t require human intervention and allows for real-time creation of e-invoices. When choosing, evaluating the budget and amount of invoices is essential.
Prepare for the Launch of E-Invoicing
Setting up a new system for the first time is difficult and involves more than simply staff training and the actual systems with software installations. When implementing e-invoices, it is required that workers need to be informed about its benefits and encouraged to participate for its success. Invoices must consist of all the necessary information; it might need to alter the invoice formats to reflect QR codes and IRN. Additionally, staff members and other parties, especially vendors, should be notified, encouraging them to adopt e-invoicing systems.
The process of implementing an e-invoicing system still needs to be completed. You must decide whether the selected software satisfies the criteria or expectations established at the outset and determine which areas need improvement.
FAQs-
What if an E-Invoice Is Not Generated after Three Days?
The businesses are subject to the 30-day time constraint for e-invoices, not three days. Failure to generate an e-invoice within this period necessitates the issuance of a new invoice, including all relevant information, and subsequent reporting to the IRP.
Who is Eligible for E-invoice?
According to GSTN’s latest guidelines, businesses with turnovers of over ten crores must create electronic invoices for B2B transactions.
Can We Cancel the E-Invoice?
An e-invoice can be canceled exclusively through the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) within a 24-hour. After this period, the invoice must be balanced, as partial cancellations are not supported. Furthermore, making amendments to an e-invoice is not feasible through the IRP.
What is the Turnover Limit for E-invoice 2023?
As per the latest GST guidelines, businesses exceeding a turnover of Rs 5 crore must comply with mandatory e-invoicing starting from August 1, 2023.
