All you should know about E-invoice and E invoicing.

Invoicing under GST means the submission of the generated or integrated invoices on a common e-invoice portal.   

Although it perceived otherwise that E-invoice means generating of these invoices on the GST portal. To make things easier to understand let’s learn about e-invoices first. 

What is an e-invoice? 

E-invoice is nothing but a system or a mechanism that involves B2B invoices which get authenticated electronically by the identification number or GSTN. To further understand the concept of GSTN. You must know that IRP or the Invoice Registration Portal has the responsibility of issuing Identification numbers for invoices. So, here you have come to know the concept of e-invoices.  

• E invoices resolve and fill in the gap of data reconciliation under GST to eliminate errors. 

• E invoices look after tracking real-time invoices prepared by the supplier. 

• The flexible feature of E invoices allows it to be accessed and read on any platform or portal without causing any major discrepancy or error. 

So, E-invoicing helps in the prevention of fake and illegal invoicing. The introduction of E-invoicing helped to bring this on a common platform. Various tax leakages, tax frauds, and tax evasion have been on the top list but with E-invoicing things got better for the present and the future. The government implemented this plan to tackle such discrepancies and authorize every invoice. So, E-invoicing and E-Invoice Framework is the generation and the submission of the e-invoices on the GST portal as explained above.  

What is e-invoice schema? 

Have you ever wanted a go-to-go guide for understanding invoices and their various roles and functions? This e-invoice schema is that guide that entails all the responsibilities in explaining and guiding you with examples, illustrations, and specifications. The invoice fields and E-Invoice Format become simple and effective to understand and implement. 

The E invoice schema has certain defined columns. 

• Cardinality defines whether an item is mandatory or not and gives an idea of whether the item can be repeated or not.  

• The e-invoice also gets the field name mentioned on it.  

• E-invoice Template also has some sample values of the field mentioned to make the users get familiar. 

Some of these fields like the mandatory fields get updated from time to time for improved output.  

How do I create an electronic invoice? 

The generation of E-invoice or electronic invoice isn’t a nut to crack rather it’s a unique process to 

begin with.  

1. The creation of the e-Invoice Format in GST on taxpayer’s ERP- The generation of the e-invoices must be done as per following the schema parameters. The general generation and submission of the e-invoices to the GST portal must be carried away by following the e schema regulations. 

2. The next step is the generation of the unique IRN – The IRN also known as the unique number is generated by the e invoice system by using an algorithm-based e-invoice generation. Again, this is a simple step involving different modes such as offline mode and API. 

3. The next step is to generate the QR Code. The e-invoice system has to generate the IRN and digitally approve the e-invoice and the QR code. This unlocks easy access to the invoices from other devices. The parameters consist of the GSTIN of the supplier, the GSTIN of the recipient, the invoice value, and the HSN code.  

4. All these parts of the E-invoice are generated from the E-way bill Software including the transporter ID, vehicle number. 

What is the criteria for e invoicing? 

Taxpayers or business houses have to submit GST invoices, billing, debit/credit notes, tax documents to the government portal with the sole motive of submitting them to the government portal called the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). Now, that we have come to know the area of submission, we must understand the role of IRP. IRP or the Invoice Reference Code validates the data in the invoices and comes up with an IRN. The next step is the digital attestation of the invoice where the e-invoice gets sent to the taxpayers electronically. 

The IRN portal enables end-to-end encryption with APIs. This is an added benefit for the comprehension of the generation of invoices, payloads, and requests. It also helps with the proper evaluation of the accuracy of encryption.  

How do I get JSON file of e-invoice? 

JSON file of e-invoice is a JAVA-based computer file that can be easily interpreted. The format of this file is quite easily understandable and transmits such structured data between servers. The E-invoice request is made for Business-to-Business transactions(B2B) and Business to Government Transactions(B2G) and business to Export Invoices and reverse charges invoices. The JSON file of e-invoice can be made by only the supplier of e-commerce. Only original IRN requests are considered for JSON files of e-invoices and the IRN gets generated on a combination of supplier GSTIN, document type, and numbers.