Bulk Generation of e-Invoices on IRP – Pre-requisites, Steps, FAQS

The e-Invoicing system has been introduced to improve machine readability at the source document level itself – the invoice. The sheer number of invoices raised by large businesses can be staggering and tedious for the taxpayer to generate Invoice Reference Numbers (IRN) for each one separately. This is why the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) has introduced the feature of a bulk generation facility for e-invoices.

Latest Update

30th June 2021
The CBIC has issued a notification seeking to waive the penalty imposed on non-compliance of dynamic QR code provisions for B2C invoices between 1st December 2020 and 30th September 2021.

1st June 2021
CBIC has notified vide Central Tax Notification no.23 dated 1st June 2021 that the e-invoicing system shall not apply to a government department and local authority.

30th March 2021
The CBIC has issued a notification seeking to waive the penalty imposed on non-compliance of dynamic QR code provisions for B2C invoices between 1st December 2020 and 30th June 2021, provided the said person complies with the provisions of the said notification from 1st July 2021.

8th March 2021
The CBIC has notified that e-Invoicing will be applicable from 1st April 2021 for businesses with an aggregate turnover of more than Rs.50 crores (in any financial year from FY 2017-18 onwards).

29th November 2020
The CBIC issued a notification seeking to waive the penalty imposed on non-compliance of dynamic QR code provisions for B2C invoices between 1st December 2020 and 31st March 2021, provided the eligible registered person complies with these provisions from 1st April 2021.

10th November 2020
The taxpayers having an aggregate turnover exceeding Rs.100 crore should implement e-invoicing from 1st January 2021.

1st October 2020
The applicable taxpayers have been given a grace period of 30 days for generating an Invoice Reference Number (IRN). However, this grace period is valid for the invoices issued between 1st October 2020 to 31st October 2020.

30th September 2020
Now, the aggregate turnover should be checked from FY 2017-18 till FY 2019-20, for checking the applicability of e-invoicing. Also, the date of implementation of the dynamic QR Code for B2C invoices has been extended until 1st December 2020.

30th July 2020
1. A new refined format of e-invoice has been notified by CBIC adding 20 new fields and removing 13 fields. Certain fields have undergone changes in character length as well.
2. e-Invoicing system shall apply to those taxpayers with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 500 crore instead of Rs 100 crore.
3. Special Economic Zones (SEZ) units shall also be exempted from issuing e-invoices.

23rd March 2020
The implementation of e-invoicing and the QR code has been deferred to 1st October 2020.
Exemption from e-Invoicing and QR code has been granted to sectors such as insurance, banking, financial institutions, NBFCs, GTA, passenger transportation service and movie tickets.

What is the e-invoice bulk generation facility?

The bulk generation facility is provided by the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) where multiple invoices can be uploaded at once. It is an offline excel-based tool to generate e-invoices by exporting invoice data from the billing system/accounting software or ERP of the taxpayer. The IRP would then accept a bulk request for uploading the JSON file of these invoices. After authentication, the IRP will generate a unique Invoice reference number (IRN) and Quick Response (QR) code for each e-invoice and digitally sign the e-invoice.

Pre-requisites for using bulk generation utility

The taxpayer needs to have the EINV bulk convertor installed in his system. This is an excel-based offline utility which helps convert multiple invoices entered in the excel sheet into a single JSON file for bulk upload. In order to download this tool, visit the trial e-invoice portal. Go to Help > Tools > Bulk Generation Tools. Select the tool which is most appropriate.

Formats available for bulk e-invoice JSON generation

The JSON preparation tool comes in 4 formats. These formats have been built as per the requirements of different classes of taxpayers and transactions. The user needs to download the one which is most appropriate for his business.

Format A

Format A contains a single worksheet for invoice and items details to be entered. The user can prepare the JSON file for uploading a large number of e-invoices by a single upload to the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP).

1. Businesses who have 1 or 2 items in their invoices can use this format.
2. This format is advisable for invoices with B2B transactions.
3. Details of payment and reference cannot be entered in Format A.

Format B

Format B contains two worksheets for invoice and items details to be entered separately.

1. This format is advisable for the businesses having several items in their invoices.
2. As the item details are entered in two different worksheets, the user needs to ensure that every item is referenced with the document number, document type and document date of the invoice.
3. The payment and reference details cannot be entered in Format B.
4. Other information such as details of exports can be entered in the Invoice worksheet itself.
5. If e-way bills need to be generated, then Part-B details can also be entered in the Invoice worksheet.

Format C

Format C contains five worksheets for invoice details, items details, payment details, reference details and additional details to be entered separately.

1. This format is advisable for businesses having many items in the invoices with payment details and reference details etc.
2. As the item details are entered in different worksheets, the user needs to ensure that each item is referenced with the document number, document type and document date of the invoice.
3. Other information such as export details can be entered in the Invoice sheet.
4. If an e-way bill is to be generated, then Part-B details of the w-way can also be entered in the Invoice sheet.

Format D

Format D contains a single worksheet for invoice details, item details, payment details, reference details and additional details to be entered in the same worksheet.

1. This format is advisable for businesses having a large number of items in the invoice, having payment details and reference details etc.
2. Other information such as export details can be entered in the Invoice sheet.
3. If an e-way bill needs to be generated, then Part-B details of the e-way bill can also be entered in the Invoice sheet itself.

Steps to upload e-invoice JSON and generate IRN

After downloading the afore-mentioned utility, follow these steps below:

Step 1: Enter all the basic details as required in the ‘Profile’ sheet.

Step 2: Enter all the details of the invoices in the necessary fields as given in the ‘Invoice’ sheet.

Step 3: Once the invoice details are entered, to ensure that e-invoice schema is followed, validate the details using the ‘Validate’ button.

Step 4: Upon successful validation, click on the ‘Prepare JSON’ button. The JSON file will be generated, which will contain details of the multiple invoices entered.

Step 5: Log in to the e-invoice portal. Go to e-invoice > Bulk upload. Click on ‘Choose file’.

Step 6: Select the JSON file generated earlier and click on upload. Ensure that the size of the JSON file is not more than 2MB. A summary of the contents of the JSON file will be displayed.

Step 7: Click on the ‘Confirm’ button. If there are no errors, each invoice will be assigned a 64-character length Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and the option to download the same in excel format will be available.

The system will then update the invoice details to the e-way bill system. The e-way bill system will create Part-A of the e-way bill using this data.  Only the vehicle number will need to be attached in Part-B of the e-way bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the benefit of using the bulk generation facility?

The bulk generation facility can help in the generation of multiple IRNs at a time and also help in avoiding data entry mistakes like duplication since the data can be copied from the automated system of the taxpayer into the bulk generation tool directly.

What type of formats of the e-invoice bulk generation tool are available? Which one is best suited for me?

The various formats and their features can be summarised from the below table:

Particulars	Format A	Format B	Format C	Format D
Nature	Simple	Simple	Comprehensive	Comprehensive
No. of worksheets	One: Only invoice details	Two: 1) Invoice details   2) Item details	Three:   1) Invoice details   2) Item details   3) Payment and invoice reference details	One: All the details in Format C clubbed into one single sheet
Type of transactions	B2B and B2G	B2B and B2G	B2B, B2G and exports	B2B, B2G and exports

Is it possible to customise the fields in the Bulk Generation tool?

Yes, but only the optional fields can be customised.  

How to resolve ‘Runtime error 13’ error?

The runtime 13 error can be resolved by selecting data from the drop-down list for all the relevant fields. This will ensure that only valid data is entered in those fields.  

How to resolve ‘Invalid Doc Date’ error?

Ensure that the format of the date is DD/MM/YYYY.  

How to resolve ‘Invalid To_GSTIN’ error?

The GSTIN of the recipient/buyer needs to be checked.  

How to resolve ‘Invalid From_GSTIN’ error?

The GSTIN of the supplier/seller needs to be checked.