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 Number (IRN). This is why the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) has introduced the feature of the bulk generation of e-invoices.
Let us look at this feature more closely:
Latest Update as on 30th July 2020
- 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.
- e-Invoicing system shall apply to those taxpayers with annual turnover exceeding Rs 500 crore instead of Rs 100 crore.
- Special Economic Zones (SEZ) units shall also be exempted from issuing e-invoices.
Update as on 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 the insurance, banking, financial institutions, NBFCs, GTA, and passenger transportation service, etc.
What is the e-invoice bulk generation facility?
Bulk generation facility is provided by the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) where multiple invoices can be uploaded at once. It is an offline mode to generate e-invoices by exporting invoice data from the billing system/accounting software or ERP of the taxpayer. The IRP would accept a bulk request for uploading the JSON of the invoices. This facility can be used in two ways:
- Generation of JSON file directly from the taxpayer’s automated system
- Using bulk generation tool (excel based) as available on the e-invoice portal
Pre-requisites for using bulk generation utility
The taxpayer needs to have the EINV bulk convertor installed in his system. It 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.
Steps to upload e-invoice JSON and generate IRN
After downloading the aforementioned utility, follow these steps:
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 now be generated containing 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.
FAQs on Bulk Generation of e-Invoices
- What is the benefit of using bulk generation facility?
Bulk generation facility can help in generation of multiple IRNs at a time and also helps 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.
