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TatvaBooks

e-Invoicing · IRN & QR on the bill

e-Invoice software that flags the bills that qualify — and prepares them right.

Track the ₹5 crore threshold, flag qualifying B2B bills automatically, and prepare the IRN and signed QR on the invoice itself. We'll tell you plainly where live NIC filing stands today.

  • Reviewed July 2026
  • 5 min read
  • CA Anil Agarwal & the TatvaBooks team

What is e-invoicing?

e-Invoicing means registering a B2B tax invoice with the government's Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) before — or as — you issue it. The IRP returns a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a digitally signed QR code, both of which get embedded on the invoice you hand your customer. It isn't a different invoice format; it's an additional validation layer on top of a normal GST invoice, and for businesses it applies to, that validation is what makes the invoice legally recognised for the buyer's input tax credit.

Who must comply

The e-invoicing threshold has been lowered in phases since October 2020, and currently covers businesses with aggregate turnover of ₹5 crore or more in any financial year from 2017-18 onward, for B2B supplies, exports and SEZ supplies. A few categories — SEZ units, banks, insurers, goods transport agencies and others — are exempt. Rules like this move, so verify your specific position against the current notification. Our e-invoicing turnover limit page has the full phase-wise rollout and exemption list.

How TatvaBooks prepares e-invoices

Being straight about where we are matters more than sounding finished. Here's exactly what TatvaBooks does today:

  • Flags qualifying bills — every B2B invoice is checked against the threshold and marked if it needs an e-invoice.
  • Prepares the IRN & QR payload — the invoice data is built into the exact schema the IRP expects, sandbox-tested, and shown on the invoice.
  • Live NIC/IRP filing is on the roadmap — TatvaBooks does not yet push the invoice to the government portal and pull back a live-issued IRN automatically. You currently take the prepared payload through your existing GSP/IRP channel for that final registration step. Closing that gap is a near-term priority, not a someday item.

This is included from the Business plan (₹599/month) upward.

e-Invoice vs a normal GST invoice

Normal GST invoice e-Invoice
Unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) Not generated — the invoice number is whatever your software assigns. A hash-based IRN is registered against the invoice on the government's Invoice Registration Portal (IRP).
Signed QR code Not present, or a plain QR you generate yourself with no government signature. A digitally signed QR carrying key invoice details is embedded on the bill.
Legal validity for ITC Valid as a tax invoice on its own. Required for the buyer's ITC where e-invoicing applies — an invoice without a valid IRN is not treated as a valid tax invoice.
Who it applies to Every GST-registered business raising a tax invoice. B2B, export and SEZ supplies, once your turnover crosses the notified threshold.

Every e-invoice is a GST invoice — HSN, place of supply and CGST/SGST/IGST still have to be correct — with the IRN and QR layered on top. See our invoice format guide for the base layout rules, and our standalone e-invoice guide for the compliance detail behind the rule itself.

Pricing

e-Invoice preparation is part of the Business plan at ₹599/month, alongside inventory, purchase vouchers and up to three users. The Solo plan (₹0, free) covers unlimited GST invoicing without e-invoice preparation — it's built for businesses below the ₹5 crore threshold who don't need it yet. See the complete breakdown on our pricing page, or the base GST billing software that every plan includes.

Frequently asked questions

What is e-invoicing under GST?
e-Invoicing is the process of registering a B2B invoice with the government's Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which returns a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a digitally signed QR code. Both get embedded on the invoice you hand to your customer. It isn't a new invoice format — it's an extra validation step on top of a normal GST invoice, and it's what makes that invoice legally valid for your customer's input tax credit once e-invoicing applies to you.
Who must comply with e-invoicing — what's the turnover limit?
The threshold has been lowered several times since October 2020; as of the current rules, businesses with aggregate turnover of ₹5 crore or more in any financial year from 2017-18 onward must generate e-invoices for B2B supplies, exports and SEZ supplies. Some categories — SEZ units, banks, insurers, GTAs and a few others — are exempt. See our full breakdown, including the phase-wise rollout, on the e-invoicing limit page.
Does TatvaBooks file e-invoices live to the government portal?
Not yet, and we'd rather tell you that plainly than oversell it. Today, TatvaBooks flags every bill that qualifies for e-invoicing and prepares the IRN and signed QR payload on the invoice itself, sandbox-tested against the schema the IRP expects. Live filing directly to the NIC/IRP portal — so the IRN comes back from the government in real time — is on our near-term roadmap. Until then, you take the prepared payload through your existing GSP/IRP channel for the final registration step.
How is e-invoice software different from a normal GST invoice?
A normal GST invoice just needs the right tax, HSN and place of supply. An e-invoice needs all of that, plus a government-issued IRN and a signed QR code — without which, for a business above the threshold, the invoice isn't valid for the buyer's ITC. e-Invoice software specifically means the tool tracks who's covered, flags the right bills, and prepares that IRN/QR data in the schema the portal expects.
What does e-invoice-ready software cost?
e-Invoice preparation (IRN + QR) is included from the Business plan upward, at ₹599/month — along with inventory, purchase vouchers and up to three users. The Solo plan (₹0, free) covers unlimited GST invoicing but not e-invoice preparation, since Solo is aimed at businesses below the turnover threshold. See the full comparison on our pricing page.
What is the informational e-invoice guide, and how is it different from this page?
Our e-invoice guide is a reference article — it explains the rules, the ₹5 crore threshold, the IRN/QR process and compliance steps, independent of any specific software. This page is about how TatvaBooks itself handles e-invoicing as a product. Read the guide first if you want to understand the rules; come here to see how the software applies them.

Read next

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e-Invoicing reference

Billing & GST

The full product

IRN + QR prepared on the bill · Business plan

Get your e-invoicing flagged and prepared correctly.

Sign up for the Business plan and every qualifying bill is flagged, with the IRN and signed QR prepared on the invoice — ready for your GSP/IRP filing step.

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