For Indian manufacturers, GST-ready cloud ERP means tax is built into every transaction: parties carry GSTIN and state, items carry HSN codes and rates, invoices calculate CGST, SGST or IGST automatically, e-invoices and e-way bills are generated from the same record, and reports line up with GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. When GST lives inside the ERP, compliance becomes a by-product of daily work instead of a monthly scramble.

Tax masters: get them right once

  • Party master: GSTIN, legal name, state code, registration type (regular, composition, unregistered, SEZ, export).
  • Item master: HSN or SAC code, GST rate, unit of measure and any cess.
  • Place of supply logic: the ERP should decide intra-state or inter-state tax from the party and dispatch details.
  • Reverse charge and exempt supplies: marked on the transaction, not handled in Excel later.

E-invoicing from the ERP

E-invoicing has applied to businesses with aggregate annual turnover above 鈧5 crore since August 2023, and larger taxpayers face a time limit for reporting invoices to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP). Good cloud ERP sends the invoice to the IRP directly, receives the IRN and signed QR code, and prints them on the invoice. Cancellations and credit notes should follow the same flow, so your books and the GST portal never drift apart.

E-way bills for goods movement

Most movement of goods above the notified value needs an e-way bill, and some movements, such as certain job-work dispatches, can need one regardless of value. The ERP should create the e-way bill from the invoice or delivery challan, capture vehicle and transporter details, and let you update Part B or extend validity without logging into the portal separately.

Job work under GST

Job work is common in Indian industries, especially textile, engineering and foundry. Goods sent to a job worker move on a delivery challan, must come back within the allowed time and need to be tracked party-wise. Cloud ERP should record challans, track material at each job worker, record returns with process loss, and help with the ITC-04 details. Our textile job-work tracking under GST guide shows how this works on the shop floor.

Returns, reconciliation and reports

  • GSTR-1 ready data: B2B, B2C, credit notes, exports and HSN summary from the ERP.
  • GSTR-3B summary: output tax and eligible input tax for the month.
  • Purchase reconciliation: matching supplier invoices with GSTR-2B to protect input tax credit.
  • TDS and TCS: where applicable, captured on the transaction.

The audit trail requirement

Since 1 April 2023, companies in India must use accounting software that keeps an audit trail (edit log) of every change, which cannot be disabled, under the Companies (Accounts) Rules. A good cloud ERP logs who created or changed each entry and when, which also helps with internal control. Ask vendors to show this log during the demo.

GST compliance checklist for your ERP demo

  1. Create an inter-state invoice and confirm IGST is applied automatically.
  2. Generate an e-invoice and print the IRN and QR code.
  3. Create an e-way bill from a delivery challan.
  4. Send material for job work and receive it back with process loss.
  5. Export GSTR-1 data for a month.
  6. Show the edit log for a changed invoice.

Pinakexa builds GST billing, e-invoicing and e-way bill flows into its industry-ready cloud ERP. Read the complete guide to cloud ERP software for Indian industries or book a free demo.