Who Actually Needs to Generate e-Invoices
E-invoicing isn’t optional once your business crosses the threshold. If your aggregate annual turnover has exceeded ₹5 crore in any financial year since 2017-18, e-invoicing is mandatory for B2B supplies, exports, SEZ supplies, and credit/debit notes — this has been the rule since August 1, 2023. A handful of categories are exempt regardless of turnover: SEZ units, banks, insurers, NBFCs, goods transport agencies, passenger transport services, and multiplex cinema admissions. If you’re unsure whether you’ve crossed the threshold, check your turnover history year by year rather than just the latest figure — one qualifying year is enough to bring you into the mandate permanently.
What Triggers an e-Way Bill
Separately from e-invoicing, an e-way bill is required whenever goods move with a consignment value above ₹50,000. Some states apply a different threshold for purely intra-state movement, so it’s worth checking your specific state’s rule rather than assuming the ₹50,000 figure applies everywhere.
Why Your Accounting Software Version Matters
This trips up more businesses than it should. Tally.ERP 9 cannot generate an IRN (Invoice Reference Number) or an e-way bill directly online — it only supports an offline workaround involving manually exporting a JSON file, uploading it to the government portal, and typing the resulting numbers back into your books by hand. TallyPrime, the newer release, does this automatically: one save on the sales voucher generates the IRN, QR code, and e-way bill number together, with no manual re-entry. If you’re still on ERP 9, treat the offline route as a temporary stop-gap, not a long-term workflow — Tally itself recommends upgrading, since older software versions use deprecated API connections.
Getting Your Records Right Before You Start
Before generating your first e-invoice, it pays to check a few things that commonly cause rejections: your registered address and pincode must match your GST registration exactly, your customers’ GSTINs must be active (not cancelled or suspended), stock items need a correct 6-digit HSN code if your turnover is above ₹5 crore, and transporters need a valid Transporter ID. Most first-time filing failures trace back to one of these fields being slightly off.
Cancellation Has a Strict 24-Hour Window
Both an IRN and an e-way bill can only be cancelled within 24 hours of generation, and only in full — partial cancellation isn’t possible. If you catch an error after that window closes, the fix is a credit note or debit note, not an edit to the original invoice. A cancelled invoice number also can’t be reused in the same financial year; the system will reject it as a duplicate. When cancelling within the window, the e-way bill must be cancelled before the IRN — the portal won’t let you cancel an IRN while an active e-way bill is linked to it.
A Newer Rule for Larger Businesses
Since April 1, 2025, businesses with an aggregate turnover of ₹10 crore or more must report their e-invoices to the government portal within 30 days of the invoice date — after that window, reporting is blocked entirely. If this applies to you, it’s worth building invoicing into a daily habit rather than a month-end batch process, since a backlog can mean invoices simply can’t be reported anymore.
Other Time Limits Worth Knowing
An e-way bill can only be generated against an invoice dated within the last 180 days, and once generated, its validity can be extended up to a maximum of 360 days from the original generation date. Multi-factor authentication has also been mandatory for all portal users since April 2025.
What Happens If You Get It Wrong
Transporting goods without a valid e-way bill (where one was required) can attract a penalty of ₹10,000 or the amount of tax evaded, whichever is higher, along with possible detention of the goods and vehicle. Given the stakes, it’s worth building in a daily check of pending or exception invoices rather than discovering a gap at month-end.
This post is for general informational purposes and does not constitute tax advice. Please consult us directly for guidance specific to your situation.
