GST Invoice Management System (IMS): accept, reject or keep pending

The Invoice Management System (IMS) is a facility on the GST portal, live since October 2024, where you act on the invoices and notes your suppliers report. For each record you can accept, reject or keep it pending. Your actions decide what goes into your GSTR-2B, and so how much input tax credit (ITC) you can claim in GSTR-3B. Every regular taxpayer who buys from registered suppliers has an IMS. Acting on it is optional, because records you leave alone are deemed accepted, as of November 2026.

How IMS works

1. Your supplier reports an invoice, debit note or credit note in GSTR-1, IFF or GSTR-1A.
2. The record appears in your IMS.
3. You accept it, reject it, keep it pending, or leave it.
4. On the 14th of the following month, GSTR-2B is generated from these actions. Records with no action count as accepted.
5. If you change actions after the 14th, you can recompute GSTR-2B before you file GSTR-3B for that period.

IMS covers most supplier records: B2B invoices, debit notes, credit notes and their amendments. Some records, such as invoices on which you pay tax under reverse charge, stay outside IMS as of November 2026. Check the portal for changes.

The three actions

Action	Effect on GSTR-2B and ITC	Use it when
Accept	Counts in GSTR-2B; ITC available	The document is correct and the goods or services have arrived
Reject	Left out of GSTR-2B; no ITC	It is not your purchase, the details are wrong, or it is a duplicate
Pending	Held out of GSTR-2B until you decide	The goods are in transit, or you are checking the details
No action	Deemed accepted when GSTR-2B is generated	You agree with the record and see no need to act

A pending record cannot wait for ever. It must be decided within the time allowed for claiming ITC on it.

The supplier can see your action. A rejection tells them to correct or reissue the document, so a short call before you reject saves a month of back and forth.

A month with IMS: October 2026

Date	What happens
October to 13 November 2026	Suppliers report October documents in GSTR-1 or IFF; they appear in your IMS as they come. Review and act
14 November 2026	Your October GSTR-2B is generated from your actions
14 to 20 November 2026	Change actions if needed, recompute GSTR-2B, then file GSTR-3B by 20 November

A supplier who reports after the cut-off appears in a later month’s GSTR-2B.

Credit notes need care

When a supplier issues a credit note, accepting it reduces your ITC and reduces the supplier’s tax. If you reject it, the supplier does not get that reduction. Agree the credit note with the supplier before you act on it. The handling of credit notes in IMS has been adjusted since launch, so check the latest advisory before rejecting or holding one.

IMS and your purchase books

IMS shows what suppliers have reported; your purchase vouchers in TallyPrime show what you actually bought. The two should agree:

• A record in IMS with a matching voucher in your books can be accepted.
• A record in IMS with no voucher may be a missed entry, a purchase made by a branch, or an invoice raised on your GSTIN by mistake. Find out which before you act.
• A voucher in your books with no IMS record usually means the supplier has not reported it yet, or reported it under another GSTIN. You cannot claim that credit until it appears.

Who should handle IMS

In most small businesses the accountant handles IMS, because the work is matching records against the books. The owner should still see two things each month: the credit at risk from suppliers who have not filed, and any records rejected, with the reasons. If a CA files your returns, agree who acts in IMS, so that two people do not take conflicting actions on the same record.

A practical workflow for a small business

Example: a hardware wholesaler in Nagpur receives about 150 purchase bills a month from 40 suppliers. The accountant follows five steps:

1. Every week, compare new IMS records with the purchase vouchers in the books.
2. Accept records that match. Leaving them would have the same effect, but an explicit accept is easier to review later.
3. Reject records that are not yours, after a call to the supplier, and note the reason.
4. Keep pending records for goods that have not arrived, and clear them when the goods come in.
5. Before the 14th, decide the pending records that belong to this month. After the 14th, recompute if anything changed, then file GSTR-3B.

Keep the notes. If a tax officer later asks why a credit was not claimed, or why a record was rejected, the reason is on file.

Mistakes to avoid

• Accepting everything without looking. Accepting a fake invoice means claiming ITC you may have to reverse with interest.
• Rejecting over small differences. A rupee of rounding is rarely a reason to reject; talk to the supplier first.
• Leaving records pending for months. Pending credit is credit you are not using, and time limits apply.
• Rejecting credit notes to keep ITC. The supplier and the department can both see it.

For the next step after IMS, read GSTR-3B explained.

How Auditer helps

Auditer shows every IMS section next to the purchase vouchers from your TallyPrime books, so you can see what matches before you decide. If the Owner chooses under Settings to decide in Auditer, you can accept, reject or keep records pending there and the actions are saved on the GST portal; otherwise IMS is shown read-only. Suppliers who have not filed, and the ITC at risk, appear alongside, with a button to remind the supplier. See GST compliance.

This article is general information, not tax advice. GST rules change; check the GST portal or your tax professional before acting.