✅ What Accelent actually does
Builds portal-ready GSTR-1/GSTR-3B JSON and Excel working papers from your real sales & purchase data, auto-tracks your GST ledger and ITC, and matches a downloaded GSTR-2B file against your books line by line.
🖐 What you still do on the portal
Upload the generated JSON at gst.gov.in, actually file the return, get the ARN back, and — for e-Invoice — generate the real IRN at einvoice1.gst.gov.in. Accelent never submits anything on your behalf.
Prerequisite — HSN code & GST rate on every item
Everything downstream (GSTR-1's HSN summary, the e-Invoice JSON) is pulled from these two fields, so this has to be right before you file anything.
Open Inventory → Add/Edit Item ui/inventory/inventory_panel.py
Fill in HSN Code (alphanumeric, validated) and GST Rate (%) for every item you sell. These save to the inventory table as hsn_code and gst_rate.
Optional: export a GST/HSN-wise stock summary
Inventory panel has an export button tooltipped "Export a GST / HSN-wise stock summary for return filing" — a quick sanity check before your first filing.
One-time setup — GST Returns → Configuration
Do this once. Sidebar → GST Returns, opens 11 tabs; start on the first.
⚙️ Configuration tab
Enter your Company GSTIN, Company Name, Registration State, and Filing Frequency (Monthly or Quarterly). Click Save. This GSTIN is what every later export and the e-Invoice JSON pulls from — get it right the first time.
What happens automatically, all period long
Nothing to click here — this runs in the background as you use the app normally.
📒 GST Ledger fills itself Automatic
Every sale, purchase, and credit/debit note posts a row to the GST Ledger tab as it happens. You can filter and review it any time, or hit 📄 Export Ledger for a CSV/Excel copy for your own records — this is not a portal upload file, just your working record.
Filing GSTR-1 (outward supplies)
GST Returns → 📈 Reports tab.
(Optional) 📈 Generate GSTR Summary
An on-screen breakdown before you commit to anything — B2B, B2C-Large, B2C-Small and HSN summary, pulled straight from sales_invoices/sales_items.
📊 Export GSTR-1 Excel — review first Real export
A working-paper .xlsx with separate sheets: Summary, B2B (Table 4), B2C-Large (Table 5), B2C-Small (Table 7), HSN Summary (Table 12). Open it, check the numbers look right — this is your last chance before the portal-facing file.
📥 Export GSTR-1 JSON — the file you actually upload Real export
Builds a real GSTR-1-shaped JSON (b2b / b2cs / b2cl / hsn / cdnr / exp / nil sections) matching the GST portal's own offline-tool schema, and saves it via a file dialog.
Upload & file on the GST portal You do this
Go to gst.gov.in → Returns → the Returns Offline Tool → upload that JSON → review → file. Accelent stops at handing you the file.
Filing GSTR-3B (summary return & payment)
Same Reports tab, same rhythm.
📑 Calculate GSTR-3B
Computes outward liability, ITC available, and net payable. If the period is overdue, it automatically adds 18% p.a. interest and the applicable late fee — worth checking before you assume the number shown is what you'd pay on time.
Save → exports GSTR-3B JSON Real export
Same offline-tool-style JSON pattern as GSTR-1 — hand this to the portal's GSTR-3B utility.
File & pay on the portal You do this
Upload, verify the auto-populated figures against your own, pay, and file.
Closing the loop — log the filing back into Accelent
Accelent has no way to know a return was filed unless you tell it.
📊 Returns tab → ➕ Add Return Record
Type in the Period, Type (GSTR-1/3B/9), Due Date, Filed Date, Liability, and Status, plus the ARN the portal gave you after filing. This is bookkeeping only — nothing here talks to the portal.
💰 ITC Register → Claim ITC for Current Period
Marks the period's input tax credit as claimed in your own records once you've actually claimed it in the return.
🔄 Reconciliation tab
A sanity check — compares your books' total period liability against the liability you actually filed, so a mismatch is caught before it compounds next period.
GSTR-2B Reconciliation (the one real portal-file import)
The only place Accelent reads a government file back in, rather than only producing one.
Download your GSTR-2B from the portal
gst.gov.in → Returns Dashboard → GSTR-2B, download the .xlsx for the period.
🧾 GSTR-2B Reconciliation tab → 📥 Import GSTR-2B (.xlsx) Real matching
Matches its B2B invoices line-by-line against your own purchases table — flags matched, fuzzy-matched, amount mismatches, invoices missing from your books, duplicates, and entries in your books that never showed up in 2B. This is exactly what catches ITC you're entitled to but haven't recorded.
📄 Export CSV
Hand the flagged report to your accountant, or work through it yourself before the ITC claim deadline for the period.
E-Invoice & IRN
Sidebar → E-Invoice. Read this section fully before you rely on it — the IRN part is not automated.
📄 Generate JSON tab
Search and pick the sales invoice you need an IRN for, then ▶ Preview JSON. Builds the real NIC e-Invoice schema v1.1 payload (SellerDtls / BuyerDtls / ItemList / ValDtls, with proper state-code lookups).
📥 Download JSON Real export
Saves the payload to disk. Accelent shows you exactly where it goes next: einvoice1.gst.gov.in → Others → Bulk Generate IRN.
Generate the IRN on the portal (or via a GSP) You do this
Upload the JSON at the e-Invoice portal, or hand it to your GST Suvidha Provider if you use one. You get back a real IRN, an acknowledgement number/date, and a signed QR code — none of which Accelent generates itself.
| Panel / Tab | What it produces | Format | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| GST Returns → Reports | GSTR-1 filing file | .json | ✅ Real |
| GST Returns → Reports | GSTR-1 working paper | .xlsx | ✅ Real |
| GST Returns → Reports | GSTR-3B filing file | .json | ✅ Real |
| GST Returns → Reports | Annual GSTR-9 summary | .json | ✅ Real |
| GST Returns → GSTR-2B Reconciliation | Matched/flagged report | .csv | ✅ Real (import + match) |
| GST Returns → GST Ledger | Your own transaction ledger | .csv/.xlsx | ✅ Real (records, not a filing) |
| E-Invoice → Generate JSON | NIC e-Invoice payload | .json | ✅ Real |
| E-Invoice → IRP Credentials | Live IRN from government API | — | 🖐 Not automated — stub |
| E-Invoice → IRN Log | Record of IRN once issued | — | 🖐 No write-back yet |
E-Invoice & GST Roadmap
Not built yet — closes the gaps this guide flagged above. Grouped by real dependency (later items need the data the earlier ones start capturing), not by date. Nothing here is scheduled; it's the order that makes sense to build in whenever work resumes.
Dedicated IRN / Ack / QR DB fields
The data model already exists — irn_log table, sales_invoices.irn/ack_no/ack_date — but nothing currently writes to it. Foundation for everything below.
IRP JSON response importer
Import the response you get back from the portal/GSP after generating an IRN, auto-filling IRN, Ack No, Ack Date and the signed QR payload. This is the fix for "no way to bring the IRN back in," flagged above.
Pre-flight schema validation
Validate the outgoing e-Invoice JSON against the NIC schema before upload — a missing field or bad HSN gets caught locally instead of as a portal rejection.
Signed QR code on the Accelent PDF
Render the real signed QR code on the printed invoice once it's e-invoiced — depends on Phase 1's IRN/QR data actually being stored first.
Unified E-Way Bill data in the JSON
Fold E-Way Bill details into the same e-Invoice JSON generation — the 🚚 E-Way Bill tab already exists in GST Returns as its own thing; this ties it to IRN generation the way the real portal often combines the two.
Compliance & lifecycle safeguards
In-app warnings for the real regulatory clocks — the IRN cancellation window, and the restriction on generating an IRN for an invoice past a certain age — so a deadline doesn't pass unnoticed.