What are Pending Invoices in the IMS Dashboard?

Invoice management is a hassle for many business owners, especially when there are errors or mismatches between your records and those of your suppliers. That's where the Invoice Management System (IMS) becomes super helpful. It helps you see and take action on invoices from suppliers and get accurate GSTR-2B. In this short guide, let's learn how to check pending invoices in IMS and manage them to stay on top of your GST compliance. 

What are Pending Invoices in the IMS dashboard?

In simple terms, pending invoices in the IMS represent invoices that have been uploaded by the supplier, but as a recipient, you have marked them as pending because you don't want to take any action at the moment. Such invoices will not be reflected in your GST returns (GSTR-2B or GSTR-3B).

How can You View Pending Invoices in IMS?

First, log in to your IMS dashboard.

You can see a tab to check inward supplies. This section directs you to click on the "VIEW" button to check imports and inward supplies reported by your supplier in IFF/GSTR-1/1A/5/6. 

As soon as you enter the inward supplies section, you will be navigated to a page full of records (invoices) distributed under the following three tabs: 

• All other ITC
• Inward supplies from ISD
• Import of goods 

Each of these sections will contain the following types of records: 

• B2B invoices and their amendments 
• B2B debit notes and their amendments 
• B2B credit notes and their amendments 
• E-commerce invoices and their amendments 

The IMS dashboard shows the number of accepted, rejected, and pending invoices for each record, as shown in the image above. 

Alternatively, the IMS dashboard has a filter option at the top right corner of the screen. It allows you to filter all pending invoices with just one click. 

However, please note that you can check all the pending invoices from the dashboard at any time but not later than the limits prescribed by Section 16 (4) of the CGST Act, 2017.  

How Should You Manage Pending Invoices in IMS?

Pending records will only reflect under GSTR 2B and GSTR 3B once you take action. Instead, they will get carried forward to the next tax period without affecting GSTR-2B and 3B. They will continue to appear in the IMS until the official cut-off date, as mentioned in Section 16 (4) of the CGST Act, 2017. 

Once you have access to your pending invoices, you can take the following actions: 

• Accept 
• Reject 
• No action 

Once you accept any pending invoice, it will be reflected under the 'ITC Available' section of the respective GSTR-2B and auto-populated in GSTR-3B. 

Similarly, if you reject a pending invoice, it will appear under the 'ITC Rejected' section of respective GSTR 2B and will not be populated in GSTR 3B. 

However, it is important to keep in mind that you can not take any pending actions under the following scenarios: 

• Original credit note 
• Upward amendments of credit notes
• Downward amendments of credit notes 

Example of Pending Invoice in IMS

A clothing manufacturer ordered 500 meters of fabric from a textile supplier. The supplier delivered the fabric in batches of 100 meters each and raised an invoice for the full order. However, while the supply was complete, the manufacturer noticed that the supplier still needed to include the delivery charges in the invoice. Since delivery charges are subject to 18% GST, the manufacturer flagged the invoice in the IMS as pending and requested the supplier to include the delivery charges and amend the invoice in GSTR-1. The manufacturer marked the invoice as "Pending" until the revised version was uploaded.

Related Articles:
What is Rejected Invoices in IMS Dashboard?
Exemptions under Invoice Management System (IMS)
FAQs on Invoice Management System (IMS) in GST
Future of GST Compliance with Invoice Management System (IMS)