Customizing your tax invoicesThe Ministry of Finance has released a draft of the GST invoice rules, which specifies the elements that every tax invoice must contain. For example, they must include the name, address, and GST Identification Number (GSTIN) of both the seller and the customer, as well as the place of supply. The invoice number must include the financial year, and it should be a consecutive serial number containing alphabets and/or numerals. For example, INV-001-2017 would be a valid invoice number. Without a proper system for following these rules, there is a significant risk that you might miss some critical information or follow the wrong format - either of which can render the whole transaction invalid.
A good online accounting system comes with a fully customizable invoice template. This means you can add and rearrange information fields in your invoice templates as needed, and the accounting system will automatically fill in those details when you create an invoice. You can also set your own format for the invoice numbers that are generated automatically when invoices are created. An online accounting system will ensure that you follow GST's invoicing rules and regulations.
Updating your business dataYou will need to make changes to your existing business data to comply with the GST law. This may include adjusting the pricing of your products, or updating your chart of accounts. Your customer data should include their GSTINs, which must be added to their invoices. Recording your customers' GSTINs is essential for transferring GST credits to them (as well as being necessary for tax reporting purposes).
An online accounting system allows you to make all of these changes with minimal effort. Businesses with relatively little data can make these changes right in their accounting system in just a few minutes. If you have a lot of data to update, you can simply download all your data as a spreadsheet, make the changes, and upload it. This reduces the amount of time you spend entering and updating your existing records manually.
GST filing and reporting
There are 10 types of GST returns that must be filed by various kinds of taxpayers and at various times. Businesses will need to file monthly returns, quarterly returns, and yearly returns. Typically, businesses wait till the end of the month or year to manually compile all of their reports and file their taxes, which can take days to complete.
When you use online accounting software, all the information you need to file your GST returns - like your sales and purchases - is readily available. So you don't have to spend time trying to enter transactions manually; you can simply export and upload your data when you file your returns. It's a level of convenience that you've never enjoyed before.
Go beyond tax compliance; get prepared for the futureAdapting to a new tax system can be challenging, especially if it requires you to change key business functions that you've been doing a certain way for a long time. With a proper accounting system in place, though, you can streamline the entire process, save time, and reduce inaccuracies in your tax preparation. Switching to an online accounting system is not just about tax compliance; it gets you ready for any other changes that you may need to make to your finances in the future. An online accounting system adapts and scales with your business as you grow.
Guest Author
Krupa Subramanian heads content marketing at Zoho, a company that offers comprehensive business solutions to 25 million users worldwide. Krupa and her team focus on creating content that helps small business owners manage their finance better.
