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Freedom251 › Blog › GST

How to Use the GST Invoice Management System (IMS) to Accept, Reject, or Keep Invoices Pending

By Freedom251 Team · · 10 min read

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The GST Invoice Management System (IMS) lets a recipient review supplier invoices and records reported in GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, or the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF), then choose Accept, Reject, or Pending. Your choice affects what appears in GSTR-2B and whether input tax credit (ITC) auto-populates in GSTR-3B. Doing nothing is not the same as rejecting or deferring an invoice: GSTN treats a no-action record as deemed accepted when the relevant GSTR-2B is generated.

Use IMS only after matching the supplier, invoice details, tax amounts and purchase with your own books. Portal acceptance does not by itself prove that the credit is legally eligible under every GST condition.

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What the GST IMS does

IMS is a facility on the GST Portal for recipients to respond to records saved or filed by suppliers in GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or IFF. It provides a recipient-side control before return preparation: you can confirm a correct purchase, reject an erroneous or unrelated document, or hold a record for further review when the Pending option is available.

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The facility launched on 1 October 2024, and recipient actions became available from 14 October 2024, according to GSTN’s FAQ. Those are launch milestones; portal labels and tax rules can change, so follow the labels displayed in your account.

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A supplier’s saved record can appear in IMS for review. It is included in GSTR-2B computation only after the supplier files the relevant return or statement. IMS therefore does not replace supplier filing, your purchase register, or the legal tests for ITC.

Before selecting an action

Prepare your records before opening the dashboard. For each line item, compare:

  • Supplier legal name and GSTIN.
  • Invoice, debit-note or credit-note number and date.
  • Taxable value, tax rate and each IGST, CGST and SGST or UTGST amount.
  • Whether the goods or services were actually received.
  • Purchase-order, delivery, receipt and payment records where relevant.
  • Whether the document belongs to your GSTIN and reporting period.
  • Whether the purchase is blocked, restricted or otherwise ineligible under GST law.
  • Whether the same invoice has already been claimed, to prevent duplicate ITC.

Keep evidence of discrepancies. A rejection should be based on a real mismatch, non-receipt, duplicate, wrong recipient or other transaction problem, not on a desire to change the supplier’s tax position.

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Open IMS and review supplier records

  1. Sign in to the GST Portal with the recipient’s credentials.
  2. Open Dashboard > Services > Returns > Invoice Management System (IMS) Dashboard.
  3. Choose the relevant period and review the records displayed for your GSTIN.
  4. Open an individual record and inspect the supplier, document type, invoice number, date, values and tax components against your books.
  5. At line-item level, select the radio button for Accept, Reject or Pending, then save.
  6. For records that need the same treatment, select multiple entries and apply one common action to the selection, then save.

Save each decision carefully. A record can be visible in IMS before the supplier files it, but GSTR-2B computation uses the record after supplier filing.

What each IMS action means

Action Effect in GSTR-2B Effect in GSTR-3B When it fits
Accept Moves the record to the “ITC Available” section of the relevant GSTR-2B. Eligible tax can auto-populate for reporting in GSTR-3B. The purchase and document are correct, received and potentially eligible after your legal checks.
Reject Moves the record to the rejected section. The related ITC does not auto-populate. The record is wrong, duplicated, does not belong to you, or does not represent the transaction in your books.
Pending Excluded from the current GSTR-2B. Excluded from the current GSTR-3B. More verification is needed and the document is one for which GSTN permits Pending.
No action GSTN treats it as deemed accepted when GSTR-2B is generated. It can therefore flow as accepted rather than remaining safely deferred. Do not use silence as a rejection or an indefinite hold.

Accepting an invoice

When to select Accept

Accept when the supplier, document and transaction agree with your records and you have completed your own ITC eligibility review. Acceptance places the record in the ITC Available portion of GSTR-2B, and eligible tax can auto-populate in GSTR-3B.

“ITC Available” is a portal classification, not a blanket legal approval. GST Portal guidance on GSTR-2B cautions that not every credit shown in the statement is eligible under every provision of GST law. Check receipt of goods or services, business use, blocked-credit rules, tax-period requirements and any other conditions that apply to your case.

Acceptance checklist

  • Confirm the supplier GSTIN and legal entity.
  • Match the invoice number and date to the original document.
  • Verify taxable value and tax amounts against your purchase register.
  • Confirm receipt and business use.
  • Check that the credit has not already been claimed elsewhere.
  • Retain the invoice and supporting records for audit and reconciliation.

Rejecting an invoice

When rejection is appropriate

Reject a record that is erroneous, duplicated, addressed to another GSTIN, unsupported by an actual purchase, or otherwise inconsistent with your records. Rejection puts it in the rejected section of GSTR-2B and stops the related ITC from auto-populating in GSTR-3B.

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Tell the supplier what is wrong and request correction through the proper return route. The supplier can edit a saved record before filing. After filing, correction may require amendment or addition through GSTR-1A or a subsequent GSTR-1 or IFF, as applicable.

Do not reject solely for a tax outcome

Credit-note decisions require particular care. GSTN’s revised advisory explains that rejecting specified original or amended credit-note records can increase the supplier’s GSTR-3B liability in a later period. Make the decision from the underlying transaction and document, not from a plan to obtain a preferred result in either party’s return.

Keeping an invoice Pending

What Pending does

Pending removes the record from the current GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B while leaving it in IMS for later action. It is useful when you are waiting for a purchase confirmation, corrected document, goods receipt, internal approval or supplier clarification.

Pending is not indefinite. The record remains subject to the statutory time limit in Section 16(4) of the CGST Act. GSTN says a record that crosses that time limit is removed from IMS. Track the deadline in your reconciliation process rather than assuming a pending record can be revived at any time.

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Cases where Pending is unavailable

GSTN identifies situations in which the Pending action cannot be selected:

  • An original credit note.
  • An upward amendment of a credit note.
  • A downward amendment of a credit note where the original credit note was rejected.
  • A downward amendment of an invoice or debit note where the original was accepted and the related GSTR-3B was filed.

If Pending is not offered, choose the action that reflects the document and transaction after reviewing the applicable correction route.

Why “No Action” is risky

A record left untouched is not held outside the return. GSTN treats no action as deemed acceptance when GSTR-2B is generated. That means a record you intended to investigate later can move into the accepted treatment and potentially flow to GSTR-3B.

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Use an explicit action. Accept a verified record, reject an erroneous one, or select Pending where the record and the rules permit it. Maintain an internal list of unresolved invoices so that staff do not rely on an unreviewed dashboard state.

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GSTR-2B timing and the 14th-day cycle

Under the workflow described by GSTN, the monthly draft GSTR-2B is generated on the 14th day of the subsequent month. You can still take or change an IMS action after that generation and before filing the corresponding GSTR-3B.

If you change an action after the 14th, GSTN says you must recompute GSTR-2B so the change is reflected before filing GSTR-3B. Recheck the recomputed statement and reconcile it with your books before preparing the return.

Once you file that period’s GSTR-3B, you cannot alter the IMS action for the period. Accepted and rejected records for that period leave the IMS dashboard after filing, so complete the review before submission.

GSTN also states that the previous period’s GSTR-3B must be filed before the next draft GSTR-2B is generated. If the prerequisite return is not filed, the next statement-generation sequence can be affected.

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How IMS interacts with amended records

Original and amended invoice or debit note in different periods

When the original document and its amendment fall in different GSTR-2B periods, act on the original first and file that period’s GSTR-3B before acting on the amendment. This sequence prevents an amendment from being dealt with ahead of the period to which the original belongs.

Original and amendment in the same period

When both records are in the same period, the action on the amended record prevails. However, the original record must first be moved out of Pending. Review the original and amendment together so that the final action reflects the complete document history.

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Amended credit notes

For an amended credit note, GSTN says the action on the amended credit note prevails over the action on the original credit note. Check both records and retain the commercial evidence supporting the final treatment.

What happens when a supplier edits or deletes a saved record

If a supplier edits a saved record before filing, the changed record replaces the earlier version and your previous IMS action resets. Review the replacement record again; do not assume the earlier acceptance or rejection still applies.

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If the supplier deletes a document before filing, the pre-filing document is removed from IMS. If the transaction is still valid, ask the supplier to report it through the correct return or amendment mechanism and monitor the replacement record.

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Records that do not use the IMS action flow

Not every potential ITC record appears for recipient action in IMS. GSTN excludes the following categories from this workflow:

  • Records from GSTR-5 and GSTR-6.
  • Import records received through ICEGATE.
  • Reverse-charge records.
  • Specified ineligible ITC documents, including certain Section 16(4) and place-of-supply cases.
  • Rule 37A reversal records.

Check the treatment of these items in the relevant statement and return. Their absence from IMS does not mean that normal eligibility, documentation, payment or reconciliation requirements disappear.

QRMP taxpayers and IFF records

A recipient using the Quarterly Return Monthly Payment (QRMP) scheme does not receive a GSTR-2B for the first two months of the quarter. The quarter’s statement is generated on the 14th of the month after the quarter.

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The Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) is an optional facility for eligible quarterly filers to report invoices during the first two months of a quarter. When a supplier files an invoice through IFF, it can flow to the recipient for the applicable IMS and GSTR-2B treatment.

Align your review calendar with the supplier’s filing pattern. An invoice may be visible through IFF in an earlier month, while other quarterly records arrive with the quarter’s statement.

A practical monthly IMS workflow

  1. Collect the source records. Close your purchase register and gather invoices, debit notes, credit notes, goods-receipt evidence and supplier communications.
  2. Download or inspect IMS records. Use the GST Portal path to open the dashboard for the relevant period.
  3. Match each line. Compare GSTIN, document number, date, taxable value and tax with your books.
  4. Classify the issue. Mark the record internally as verified, erroneous, unresolved, amended or outside the IMS flow.
  5. Apply the portal action. Accept verified records, reject genuine errors and use Pending only where available and justified.
  6. Resolve supplier mismatches. Send the supplier the exact correction needed and identify whether it must be made before filing, through GSTR-1A, or in a later GSTR-1 or IFF.
  7. Check the 14th-day generation. After draft GSTR-2B is generated, review any actions changed after generation.
  8. Recompute when necessary. If an action changed after the 14th, recompute GSTR-2B before filing GSTR-3B.
  9. Perform the legal ITC review. Remove or adjust credits that fail statutory conditions even if they appear in an available section.
  10. File and lock the period. Once GSTR-3B is filed, the period’s IMS actions cannot be changed; archive the reconciliation and supporting evidence.

Troubleshooting common situations

The invoice is missing from IMS

Confirm that the supplier has filed the relevant GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or IFF record and used your correct GSTIN. Check whether the document is one of the categories outside IMS, such as an import, reverse-charge record or specified ineligible document. If a supplier only saved the record and has not filed it, it may not yet be included in GSTR-2B computation.

The action changed unexpectedly

Check whether the supplier edited the record before filing. A replacement record resets the previous recipient action. Reopen the record, compare the new values with your books and save the correct action again.

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The record is still in Pending

Review the unresolved issue and the Section 16(4) deadline. Pending excludes the record only from the current statement; it does not extend the statutory time limit. If the document is no longer supportable, reject it or leave it out of the claim according to the facts and applicable rules.

GSTR-2B does not reflect a changed action

If you changed the action after the 14th-day generation, recompute GSTR-2B before filing the corresponding GSTR-3B. Verify the recomputed statement rather than relying on the earlier draft.

The portal shows ITC Available but the credit appears ineligible

Do not treat the label as a legal conclusion. Reconcile the statement with your books and apply all GST eligibility restrictions. GSTR-2B is an auto-drafted, read-only aid for return preparation, not a substitute for the recipient’s statutory review.

Reconciliation controls that prevent errors

  • Use a unique key combining supplier GSTIN, document number and document date.
  • Record the IMS action date, reviewer and reason for rejection or Pending.
  • Reconcile tax totals from GSTR-2B to the purchase register before preparing GSTR-3B.
  • Investigate credits in the statement that have no corresponding invoice or receipt evidence.
  • Check for duplicate claims across periods, amendments and manual entries.
  • Track supplier corrections until the amended record appears and is reviewed.
  • Maintain separate handling for imports, reverse charge, GSTR-5/GSTR-6 records and other items outside IMS.
  • Escalate credit-note cases to the person responsible for supplier liability and customer-credit accounting.

The safest operating principle is simple: make an explicit, evidence-based IMS decision for every actionable record, then reconcile the resulting GSTR-2B to your books before filing GSTR-3B.

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