GSTR-2B is the government's statement of the input credit available to you for a period. Your purchase register is your own record of what you bought. Reconciliation is simply comparing the two.
It is the single most useful hour in the GST month, and the most commonly skipped.
The four outcomes
Matched. Invoice in both, same value. Nothing to do.
In 2B, not in your books. Usually a bill that never reached accounts. Find it. This is money you are entitled to and are not claiming.
In your books, not in 2B. The supplier has not filed, or filed against the wrong GSTIN. This is the one that costs you, and the one worth chasing immediately.
In both, different values. Usually a rate or rounding difference. Small, but it is the exact shape of mismatch that generates a notice.
Why monthly matters so much
A supplier contacted in the same month usually corrects it in their next filing. The same supplier contacted at year end often cannot, and you are arguing about a transaction they have forgotten.
Annual reconciliation is not reconciliation. It is an audit of damage already done.
Making it a habit rather than a project
Fix a date. The 14th works well, because GSTR-2B is available and GSTR-3B is not yet due, so anything you find can still be acted on.
Then keep a short list of the suppliers who show up in category three more than once. That list is worth more than the reconciliation itself.
Leave a Comment