E-Invoice & E-Waybill

E-invoicing is a government mandate that requires businesses above a specified turnover threshold to register every B2B invoice with the NIC (National Informatics Centre) portal and obtain an Invoice Reference Number (IRN). PayInvoice Next automates this process — when you submit an eligible invoice, the system generates the IRN in the background without any additional steps from you.

How E-Invoice Works in PayInvoice Next

On invoice submission, if the invoice meets the e-invoicing criteria (B2B transaction, company above turnover threshold, supplier/customer with valid GSTIN), the system automatically:

1. Prepares the invoice data in the format required by the NIC portal.
2. Sends the data to the NIC portal via API.
3. Receives the IRN, Acknowledgement Number, signed QR code, and digital signature.
4. Stores all e-invoice data on the invoice record.

This typically takes 2-5 seconds and happens as part of the submission process. If the NIC portal is temporarily unavailable, the system queues the request and retries automatically every 2 minutes until successful.

E-Invoice Fields on the Invoice

After successful IRN generation, the following fields are populated:

Field	Description
IRN	The unique Invoice Reference Number assigned by the NIC portal. This is the legal identifier for the e-invoice.
Acknowledgement No	NIC's acknowledgement number for the registration.
Acknowledgement Date	Timestamp when the NIC portal accepted the invoice.
Signed QR Code	A digitally signed QR code containing invoice details. Appears on the printed invoice.
E-Invoice Status	Current status: Generated, Cancelled, Failed, Pending.

E-Waybill

For invoices involving the movement of goods above the prescribed threshold, an E-Waybill is required. If the E-Waybill is applicable:

1. The system generates the E-Waybill alongside the IRN (or separately if configured).
2. The E-Waybill number, generation date, and validity period are stored on the invoice.
3. The E-Waybill is valid for a period based on the distance of transport.

Field	Description
E-Way Bill No	The unique E-Waybill number.
E-Way Bill Generated On	When the E-Waybill was generated.
E-Way Bill Valid Till	Expiry date/time — goods must reach the destination before this.

Cancellation

If you need to cancel an e-invoice, you must do so within 24 hours of IRN generation (as per government rules). PayInvoice Next handles this through the standard invoice cancellation workflow:

1. Cancel the Purchase Invoice in PayInvoice Next.
2. The system automatically sends a cancellation request to the NIC portal.
3. The IRN status changes to "Cancelled" with the cancellation timestamp.

After 24 hours, the IRN cannot be cancelled through the portal. You must issue a Credit Note instead.

Troubleshooting

IRN generation failed — Check the E-Invoice Remarks field on the invoice for the error message from the NIC portal. Common causes include invalid GSTIN, duplicate invoice number (supplier invoice number must be unique per supplier per financial year), or NIC portal downtime.

E-Invoice status shows "Pending" — The system is waiting for a response from the NIC portal. It retries automatically. If the status remains pending for more than 30 minutes, check your internet connectivity and the NIC portal status.

QR code not appearing on printout — Ensure the print format is configured to include the signed QR code field. Contact your administrator if the QR code section is missing.

Related Pages

• TaxGenie Compliance Overview — Full compliance engine overview
• GST on Purchase Transactions — How GST is calculated
• Purchase Invoice GST — GST fields on the PI form