Content authored by practitioners with experience at Amazon India, Intuit QuickBooks, and the Tata Group. Meet the team →
A buyer books a purchase invoice and expects the credit in this month's GSTR-3B, without knowing which steps the supplier and the portal must complete first.
Supplier reports in GSTR-1 or IFF; the invoice appears in the buyer's IMS; the buyer accepts, rejects or keeps it pending; GSTR-2B is generated on the 14th; the buyer claims in GSTR-3B Table 4.
A purchase register with supplier GSTIN, invoice number, date and tax; a monthly IMS review before the 14th; a GSTR-2B download and match after the 14th.
Each purchase invoice tagged with its stage, so the buyer knows which credit is claimable this month and which is waiting on the supplier.
Your supplier reports the invoice in GSTR-1 (or in the Invoice Furnishing Facility, IFF, if they file quarterly). The portal shows it to you in the Invoice Management System (IMS), where you can accept, reject or keep it pending. On the 14th of the next month, the portal builds your GSTR-2B from those invoices, and you claim the credit in GSTR-3B Table 4. Several of those steps are done by the supplier, not you.
Worked example: one ₹1,18,000 invoice
A Kolkata trader buys office furniture on 8 August from a supplier in the same state.
- Taxable value: ₹1,00,000
- GST at 18%: ₹18,000 (₹9,000 CGST plus ₹9,000 SGST)
- Invoice total: ₹1,18,000
Here is the trip:
| Stage | Who acts | Where it shows | Deadline | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Invoice raised | Supplier | Supplier’s books | 8 August | Wrong buyer GSTIN |
| 2. Reported in GSTR-1 | Supplier | Supplier’s GSTR-1 for August | 11 September (monthly filer) | Supplier files late |
| 3. Shown in IMS | Portal, then buyer | Buyer’s IMS | Before GSTR-2B is generated | Buyer rejects by mistake |
| 4. GSTR-2B generated | Portal | Buyer’s GSTR-2B for August | 14 September | Invoice missing if stage 2 was late |
| 5. Credit claimed | Buyer | Buyer’s GSTR-3B Table 4 for August | 20 September | Claimed without checking 2B |
| 6. Tax paid by supplier | Supplier | Supplier’s GSTR-3B for August | 20 September | Supplier files GSTR-1 but not GSTR-3B |
If everything runs on time, the trader claims ₹18,000 in the August GSTR-3B filed by 20 September.
What does the supplier have to do before you can see anything?
Two things. First, put your correct GSTIN on the invoice. Second, report it in GSTR-1 by the 11th (monthly) or through IFF by the 13th (quarterly filers, for the first two months of a quarter). If the supplier is a quarterly filer and skips IFF, your invoice reaches you only after their quarterly GSTR-1, which can delay your credit by up to two months.
Nothing you do on your side can make the invoice appear sooner. That is why buyers call suppliers around the 10th.
What does IMS change?
IMS has been live on the GST portal since October 2024. For each supplier invoice it shows you, you can:
- Accept: it goes into your GSTR-2B as eligible credit.
- Reject: it stays out of GSTR-2B; the supplier sees the rejection.
- Keep pending: it is held back, to be decided in a later month.
If you take no action, the invoice is deemed accepted when GSTR-2B is generated. So IMS is a chance to stop a wrong invoice, not a step you must complete for every invoice.
Why does the supplier’s own GSTR-3B payment matter to your credit?
GSTR-1 tells the portal about the invoice. GSTR-3B is where the supplier actually pays the ₹18,000 to the government. Under Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act, 2017, your credit depends on that payment. If the supplier keeps filing GSTR-1 but never files GSTR-3B, the department can later ask you to reverse the credit with interest at 18% a year. You cannot see the supplier’s payment directly, but the filing table on Search Taxpayer shows whether their GSTR-3B is filed.
What to read next
Next, the two returns in the middle of this chain: the difference between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. For the buyer-side detail, see what GSTR-2B is and IMS reconciliation, then the monthly match itself in GSTR-2B vs purchase register reconciliation.
GST inward matching (GSTR-2B, ITC, IMS) is on the TransactIG roadmap. See the GST reconciliation page.