E-Invoicing is increasingly mandated by governments across the globe particularly to avoid tax evasion. As per the recent update, e-invoicing has also been initiated for smaller companies with a turnover of Rs. 50 CR. onwards via GST Notification 05/2021-Central Tax, dated. 08-03-2021. With the unfortunate advent of COVID-19, countries worldwide have felt the need and importance of paperless transactions- and India is no exception. It was fairly understood that going digital is the way to fast-track growth and invite success.

And thus there couldn’t have been any other opportune time than this for the introduction of the e-invoice mandate. A proper e-invoicing implementation keeping in mind the role an invoice plays in any business transaction can prove to be fruitful in the long-run.

Let us discuss the benefits of e-invoicing in this post COVID world.

1. Reduce Tax Leakage and Fraud

Tax leakage and frauds using fake invoices have been an issue that the government is trying to fight even before the GST era. E-invoicing in India is proposed to put an end to this by mandating authorization of every invoice from the government portal. Real time invoice reporting discourages subsequent fraudulent changes/adjustments. E-invoicing will result in a proper mechanism to deal with tax-frauds on a nationwide level leading to lesser tax frauds in the near future.

For individual taxpayers and companies, IRIS Peridot – is a mobile app that can be extremely useful in verifying GST information and filing history of any GSTIN as well as verifying QR code on an e-invoice or an e-way bill.

2. Save Time and Money

E-invoicing has brought about a revolution in the billing systems. With invoice going paperless, there is a minimum requirement of human intervention in checking,tallying, matching etc. Thus, the process of raising and matching invoices has not only become smooth but also has speeded up. Use of technology saves time and efforts on both sides of the transaction, leading to faster payments and fewer errors between vendors and buyers. There is lesser paperwork with increased transparency amongst various parties. This benefits the companies in terms of saving their time, money and efforts.

3. Benefits of e-invoicing to MSMEs

MSMEs – Medium and Small size enterprises that have recently been mandated for e-invoicing will highly benefit from the same. Usually, small or mid size companies are juggling between multiple aspects of business and a proper billing and administrative system is a dream far-fetched. which leads to chaos. With e-invoicing, streamlining administrative work can really become convenient with the help of a reliable e-invoicing software like IRIS Onyx. Onyx is a one-stop e-invoicing solution that can integrate with billing systems seamlessly in multiple ways and generate IRN with zero disruption to the businesses.

4. Benefits of e-invoicing to the Taxpayers

Besides plugging the tax leakage, the implementation of the e-invoicing under GST shall be beneficial for the taxpayers as well.

Some of the key benefits are:

• One-time reporting of the invoicing details for all your GST filings
• Seamless generation of E-way Bill with Part A and Part B slip
• The standard invoicing system means interoperability between multiple software
• Real-time tracking of invoices prepared by the supplier
• Minimized invoice mismatches during reconciliation
• Easy and Precise ITC claim

5. E-way Bill and E-invoicing

Generation of E-way Bill is now intertwined with E-Invoicing. IRP can be used to generate not only IRN but also E-way bills, for the documents that qualify. Thus, depending on the data sent, the IRP system returns IRN or E-way Bill Number or both. If the taxpayer sends transportation details along with invoice details, IRP communicates with the E-Way Bill portal in real-time and generates an E-Way bill. Read E-invoicing and E-way Bill: Generating E-way Bill using IRP for more details. This helps in keeping the hassle of preparing the same data twice at bay.

6. GST Data Based Lending

E-invoicing under GST will help secure instant loans without much documentation. It will majorly benefit the MSMEs as banks can rate them on the basis of these e-invoices and other GST Data which will be readily available in public domain.

GST Data based lending gives a more realistic view of business operations and hence better estimate of the business’s credit-worthiness. GST Data based lending can be transformational if used correctly. It is not only just a more efficient way of lending but also a safer one.

IRIS Credixo – Our GST Data Based Lending solution helps lending institutions to move from traditional asset-based lending to data-based lending. The likes of Banks, NBFC’s and Fintechs can simplify their credit assessments with consented GST data.

7. Reduced Human Error and Enhanced Transparency

One of the major advantages of e-invoicing is that it reduces the chances of human errors and mishaps drastically. With E-invoicing, the information will directly be populated in the billing systems and all the data will be maintained safely thus reducing errors. The data will also be registered with the government and certain parts of which will be made available to the public as well so transparency is one major benefit here. Companies will not have to do back and forth with their suppliers and vendors as correcting and re-sending invoices via emails will be stopped resulting in smoother flow.

Conclusion

E-invoicing is gaining popularity globally. In India,big players of the business world i.e. Rs. 100 Cr turnover companies have already adopted e-invoicing welcomingly. Now, with the e-invoicing mandate also taking the MSMEs under its radar, it is vital that companies choose to adopt the right technology solution to leverage the benefits of e-invoicing and stay afloat in the competitive world. A reliable e-invoicing solution can not just make the entire e-invoicing process seamless but cut through the chaos and streamline the billing process and help in maintaining records thus saving costs in the long run.

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IRIS GST, a business line of IRIS Business Services Limited is one of the few authorized GSPs chosen in the first round of selection by GSTN in 2017. At IRISGST, we believe that implementation of GST and now e-invoicing will play the pivotal role in crafting the technological advancement of any business.

If you are looking for Automated, Integrated and Seamless e-invoicing Software, Try IRIS Onyx!

IRIS Onyx – has multiple options for Integration. It is a complete tool for a seamless e-invoicing process.

1. Data APIs – Send one invoice to IRIS Onyx at a time and get a real time response.
2. Push File to SFTP – Push file to SFTP location and get IRN in a response file on the same SFTP location.
3. Upload File APIs – Send CSV file containing one or multiple invoices through APIs. Integrate status and other API to also get the IRN response back into the system
4. Manual Upload – Use Onyx to upload the CSV file and generate IRN

IRNs generated through any of the above approaches will be present on IRIS Onyx web portal also.

Onyx has proven to be a blessing for all our clients who managed to carry out the entire process of IRN generation smoothly. Our team has been dedicatedly helping clients with all their queries and has been conducting free webinars to spread awareness about the latest changes and extend support in the implementation of the e-invoice mandate.