E-Invoicing

Also called E-Invoice and IRN

Under GST, reporting each business-to-business invoice to the government's Invoice Registration Portal, which returns a unique reference number (IRN) and a signed QR code that the invoice must carry. Since 1 August 2023 it is mandatory for any business whose turnover has crossed ₹5 crore in any year since 2017-18.

Why it matters

An invoice that needed an IRN and lacks one is not a valid tax invoice, so your customer cannot claim input tax credit on it, which stalls payments from larger buyers. Businesses with turnover of ₹10 crore or more must report each invoice within 30 days of its date, so your billing software has to do it as you invoice.

For example

A B2B SaaS startup crosses ₹5 crore in revenue, and from the next year its billing system sends every invoice to the portal and prints the QR code before the invoice is emailed.

Go deeper

Related terms

Goods and Services Tax Accounts Receivable Regulatory Compliance

Also in Starting Up

See how founders actually handle this on Money, pricing and metrics, part of the Starting Up hub.

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