GST returns
Read GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for one firm and one period from its invoices and credit notes, export them for filing, then close the books for that period.
/accounts/reports/gstr-1SalesYatra works out each firm's GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B from the invoices and credit notes in the period. Printed books (HSN 4901) are exempt from GST, so nearly all of the business's sales land in table 8 of GSTR-1 and row 3.1(c) of GSTR-3B as exempt supplies. The taxable tables fill only when something taxable is sold.
File a month's returns
Choose the firm
Each firm files its own returns. Choose the firm with the switcher at the top of the page. If it says Both firms, the returns show the first firm and a note says which. The page header shows the firm's GSTIN. If the firm has none recorded, a warning asks you to add it under Setup before filing, so the invoices and the return carry it.
Choose the period
Both returns open on last month, because a return is filed for the month gone. Change it with the date pickers if you need another period.
Check GSTR-1
Open GSTR-1 from Reports. Every table is on one page, in the order the return asks for them, so the whole return prints in one go. Use the links at the top to jump to a table. Check each against the GST portal.
Check GSTR-3B
Open GSTR-3B from Reports and check its tables.
Export them
Select Export to Excel on each return for a workbook to file from or to send to the CA.
Close the books for the period
Once a return is filed, close the firm's books up to the last day it covered, so nothing can change what was filed. See Close the books after filing.
Registered or unregistered, and where
Two things decide where a sale lands in the returns:
- Registered or not. A buyer is registered when the invoice carries their GSTIN. This is what splits B2B from B2C.
- Inter-state or intra-state. The place of supply is the state in the buyer's GSTIN. Without a GSTIN it is the state the party is in, and failing that the firm's own state. A sale is intra-state when the place of supply is the firm's own state.
GSTR-1
The totals at the top show the Exempt supplies (table 8), net of credit notes, the Taxable value (tables 4, 5, 7), and the Invoices issued, with how many were cancelled.
| Section on screen | Table | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| B2B invoices | 4A | Taxable sales to registered buyers, invoice by invoice |
| B2C large invoices | 5 | Taxable inter-state sales to unregistered buyers above ₹1,00,000, invoice by invoice |
| B2C small | 7 | Every other taxable sale to an unregistered buyer, summed by place of supply and rate |
| Nil rated, exempted and non-GST supplies | 8 | The exempt sales, less the credit notes for exempt books |
| Credit notes to registered buyers (CDNR) | 9B | Taxable credit notes to registered buyers |
| Credit notes to unregistered buyers (CDNUR) | 9B | Taxable inter-state credit notes to unregistered buyers, against an invoice above the B2CL limit |
| HSN summary | 12 | Quantity and value per HSN code and rate, sales less returns, with registered (B2B) and unregistered (B2C) buyers apart |
| Documents issued | 13 | The first and last invoice and credit note numbers used, how many, and how many were cancelled |
Table 8
This is where the books go. It has four rows, each showing the exempt value:
- Inter-State supplies to registered persons
- Intra-State supplies to registered persons
- Inter-State supplies to unregistered persons
- Intra-State supplies to unregistered persons
The Nil rated and Non-GST supplies columns stay at ₹0. A credit note for exempt books is taken off the row its buyer belongs in.
What is left out
Cancelled invoices are left out of every table except table 13, which counts them. In the HSN summary, printed books show as HSN 4901, "Printed books", counted in numbers (NOS).
GSTR-3B
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Outward supplies | Row (a), taxable supplies, with the taxable value and the integrated, central and state tax. Row (c), nil rated and exempted supplies, where the books sit. Both are net of credit notes |
| 3.2 Inter-state supplies to unregistered persons | The part of 3.1(a) sold across a state line to buyers without a GSTIN, by place of supply |
| 4 Eligible ITC | Nought. Purchases are not kept in these books, so no input tax credit is worked out. Take it from the purchase register |
Rows (b), (d) and (e) of 3.1 (zero-rated exports, reverse-charge purchases and non-GST supplies) are not recorded in these books. Fill them from your own records if they arise.
Export for filing
Export to Excel always exports one firm. Each workbook opens with the firm's legal name, its GSTIN and the period.
| Return | Sheets in the workbook |
|---|---|
| GSTR-1 | b2b, b2cl, b2cs, cdnr, cdnur, exemp, hsn(b2b), hsn(b2c), docs: one per table |
| GSTR-3B | 3.1 Outward supplies, 3.2 Inter-state unregistered, 4 Eligible ITC |
Close the books after filing
Open the period lock
Go to Accounts → Setup → Period lock. Each firm has its own card, saying how far its books are closed.
Choose the last day the return covered
The date starts on the last day of last month. You can't close the books beyond today.
Close them
Select Close books up to this date.
From then on, nothing can be dated on or before that day in that firm's books: not an invoice, a receipt, a credit note, an expense, a payout, a transfer or a journal. That way the filed return and the books can't drift apart. Anyone who tries is told the firm's books are closed up to that date, after the GST return for that period was filed.
Cancelling a document from a closed period still works: its reversal is posted today instead of on the original date, so the filed return is not reopened by a correction.
Only Accounts (Billing) and Administrators can close the books or select Reopen, which removes the lock altogether. The Accountant (read-only) can see how far each firm's books are closed, but can't change it.
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