Introduction to e-Invoice format
e-Invoice format is one of the concern topic under e-Invoicing system. The Government has implemented e Invoicing under GST for large enterprises from October 1st 2020 as a step towards digitalization.
e-Invoices are to be generated within the ERP but in a specified format/SCHEMA.
SCHEMA Format has various mandatory & optional fields and you must keep these in mind while creating the e-Invoice.
This is because the IRP will validate your e-Invoice for these fields as well, so it becomes essential to furnish all the mandatory fields & understand the SCHEMA Format.
Here is a detailed break-down of the e Invoicing under GST SCHEMA Format & everything you need to know.
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e Invoicing under GST - An Introduction
So, e Invoicing under GST is the method of generating & managing Invoices in an advanced & electronic fashion.
e Invoicing under GST will apply to large Enterprises for now, & later, will get extended to other businesses as well, by April 2021.
Currently, e-Invoices are applicable to all businesses having an annual aggregate turnover of Rs. 500 Crores and above. But by December 2020 e Invoicing under GST will also apply to all businesses having an annual aggregate turnover of Rs. 100 Crores and above.
And as per the Government’s plan, by April 2021, GST e Invoicing will be a mandatory provision for all businesses, other than a few exceptions.
For now, these big businesses are required to generate invoices in the SCHEMA Format with all the mandatory fields furnished & then upload it to the IRP for validation.
The IRP will validate the invoice & check the GSTINS, the mandatory fields & a few other details & then generate a unique IRN & QR Code upon successful validation.
e Invoicing under GST is all about B2B Invoices, nonetheless, you will also have to report B2G, Export, & Reverse Charge Invoices, Credit Notes & Debit Notes, to the IRP.
The same SCHEMA format shall apply to all types of invoices, supplies & business, however the mandatory fields will vary accordingly.
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Contents of an e-Invoice format
An e-Invoice contains details & information of the transaction including the details of both the supplier & the recipient.
Apart from the details of both the parties, an e-Invoice also contains multiple Mandatory & Optional Fields.
Recently, the Government has revamped the SCHEMA Format adding & removing various fields. The current e-Invoice format contains 30 mandatory fields while the previous one had 50 of them.
The Mandatory fields are distributed into 5 Major Sections-
Additionally, there are two mandatory Annexures namely-
- Invoice Item Details
- Document Total Details
Note- Each invoice can only have 100 Line items.
The IRP validates your GST e-Invoices for the mandatory fields & annexures majorly hence you must prioritize furnishing these fields at the least, & in case the value in the mandatory fields is zero, mention NIL instead of leaving the fields blank.
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The e-Invoice Format & List of Mandatory Fields
The SCHEMA is a guide to help the users understand the various parts of an e-Invoice. Following are the content of the e-Invoice SCHEMA to ease your understanding & navigation-
Defined Columns | Meaning |
|---|---|
Technical name of the field | This contains the section names, line items, annexure names, and sub-entries |
Cardinality | This column indicates whether the item is mandatory or optional. Additionally, it also clarifies the recurrence of the item, meaning whether the items can be repeated or not, with the help of codes. The codes are as follows: 0..1 – Optional, but cannot be repeated while reporting 1..1 – Mandatory and cannot be repeated 1..n – Mandatory and can be repeated more than once 0..n – Optional, and can be repeated more than once while reporting. |
Brief description of the field | This simplifies the intent of the technical field name mentioned in the e-Invoice |
Whether mandatory/optional | This column indicates whether filling the particular item is mandatory or optional |
Technical field specification | This column indicates the maximum length of the field- date format, and decimal places are elaborated here |
Sample values of the field | This column simplifies all the columns for the user by giving an example or sample values |
Explanatory notes | A detailed explanation of the intent of any line items is given here, indicating the meaning & what details are to be furnished in the same. |
Now, as per the last notification given by CBIC, dated July 30th, 2020, there are 30 mandatory fields that you must furnish in the e-Invoice to achieve 100% successful validation.
The mandatory fields along with a sample input are mentioned below for your reference-
No. | Name of the field | List of Choices/ Specifications/Sample Inputs |
|---|---|---|
1 | Document Type Code | Enumerated List such as INV/CRN/DBN |
2 | Supplier Legal Name | String Max length: 100 |
3 | Supplier GSTIN | Max length: 15 Must be alphanumeric |
4 | Supplier Address | Max length: 100 |
5 | Supplier Place | Max length: 50 |
6 | Supplier State Code | Enumerated list of states |
7 | Supplier Pin code | Six digit code |
8 | Document Number | Max length: 16 Sample can be “ Sa/1/2019” |
9 | Preceding Invoice Reference and date | Max length:16 Sample input is “ Sa/1/2019” and “16/11/2020” |
10 | Document Date | String (DD/MM/YYYY) as per the technical field specification |
11 | Recipient Legal Name | Max length: 100 |
12 | Recipient’s GSTIN | Max length: 15 |
13 | Recipient’s Address | Max length: 100 |
14 | Recipient’s State Code | Enumerated list |
15 | Place Of Supply State Code | Enumerated list of states |
16 | Pin code | Six digit code |
17 | Recipient Place | Max length: 100 |
18 | IRN- Invoice Reference Number | Max length: 64 Sample is ‘a5c12dca8 0e7433217…ba4013 750f2046f229’ |
19 | Shipping To GSTIN | Max length: 15 |
20 | Shipping To State, Pin code and State code | Max length: 100 for state, 6 digit pin code and enumerated list for code |
21 | Dispatch From Name, Address, Place and Pin code | Max length: 100 each and 6 digit for pin code |
22 | Is Service | String (Length: 1) by selecting Y/N |
23 | Supply Type Code | Enumerated list of codes Sample values can be either of B2B/B2C/ SEZWP/S EZWOP/E XP WP/EXP WOP/DE XP |
24 | Item Description | Max length: 300 The sample value is ‘Mobile’ The schema document refers to this as the ‘identification scheme identifier of the Item classification identifier’ |
25 | HSN Code | Max length: 8 |
26 | Item Price | Decimal (12,3) Sample value is ‘50’ |
27 | Assessable Value | Decimal (13,2) Sample value is ‘5000’ |
28 | GST Rate | Decimal (3,2) Sample value is ‘5’ |
29 | IGST Value, CGST Value and SGST Value Separately | Decimal (11,2) Sample value is ‘650.00’ |
30 | Total Invoice Value | Decimal (11,2) |
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Sample e-Invoice format for you!
Here is a sample of an e-Invoice, generated using the best GST Software, GSTHero-
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Most Silent Points about the e-Invoice SCHEMA - Do not ignore these!
Now, that you are familiar with the e-Invoice schema, here are the SCHEMA related features & facts that you must note while creating an e-Invoice-
- 1The IRP will validate the e-Invoice mainly for mandatory fields, Party Details, Taxable Values, Tax Values, HSN, Duplicate Serial Numbers, etc.
- 2Your e-Invoice will be rejected if- mandatory fields are missing or if the values in the mandatory fields are incorrect.
- 3An e-Invoice will be signed digitally only after all the mandatory fields & other details are correctly furnished.
- 4Upon successful validation, the IRN & QR Code will be generated, these are unique for an Invoice.
- 5An Invoice can only have 100 line items
- 6An e-Invoice without authentication, IRN & QR Code will not be considered valid or legal
- 7The SCHEMA will help taxpayers to read invoices in multiple ERPs, making invoices standard.
- 8There is a specific field for mentioning the e-Way Bill details in the Format, by furnishing this field you can generate both Part-A & Part-B of the e-Way Bill.
- 9The SCHEMA does not have a specified space for your company logo, you can place it anywhere in the e-Invoice. Also, if you are taking the help from GSPs, ASPs, or other third party software you can custom specify a spot for your company logo.
- 10The Schema does provide specified space to place your digital signature & you must place your signature there itself.
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