Invoicing- Aster Billing

Invoicing

To create all types of sales or purchase invoices, view all created invoices and bulk import the invoices refer the guides mentioned below:

1. All Invoice Settings

 – Adding Company Logo

 – Adding Invoice Prefix and Adding Invoice Start Series

 – Add Terms and Conditions

 – Add Custom Fields

 – Add Bank Details

2. All Contact Settings

 – Create Contacts

 – Create Contact Master

 – View All Contacts

 – How to Bulk Import Contacts

 – Collect GSTIN Information

 – Adding New Contacts

3. Item Master

 – Create Items

 – Create Item Master

 – View All Items

 – How to Bulk Import Items

4. Sales Invoice Generation

 – Normal Invoice

 – Export Invoices

 – Invoices for Reverse Charge

 – Invoices for TCS

 – Invoices for Freight/Transportation Companies

 – Invoices for Customers with Different Billing and Shipping Address (Place of Supply)

 – Creating Bill of Supply

 – Creating Advance Receipts

 – Creating Credit/Debit Notes

 – Create Delivery Challans

a) Job Work Challan

b) Challan for Supply on Approval

c) Other Cases

5. Purchase Invoice Generation

 – Record Purchase Invoices

6. View Invoices

 – View All Invoices

 – View All Bills of Supply

 – View All Credit/Debit Notes

 – View All Advance Payments

 – View All Challans

7. Bulk Import Invoices

 – Bulk Import All Invoices

 – Bulk Import Credit and Debit Notes

8. Printing Invoices

'Tax Year' Aster Billing

WHAT IS A 'Tax Year'

A tax year refers to the 12-month period covered by a particular tax return. The Internal Revenue Service allows some flexibility in determining the start and end dates of a tax year, and it is not necessarily the same period as a fiscal year.BREAKING DOWN 'Tax Year'A tax year is an annual accounting period used by a taxpaying individual or firm for tax purposes. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows most businesses to use either a calendar year or the firm’s fiscal year as its tax year. Exceptions to this are firms that are required to use the calendar year ending December 31 as their tax year. These include sole proprietorships and single-member LLCs. These firms are required to end their tax year on December 31 because they generally pay taxes as an extension of their single owner.

Whatever method is used to define a tax year, the IRS requires that all firms end their tax year on a quarterly basis, so all tax years should end on March 31, June 30, September 30 or December 31. The IRS identifies firms with non-calendar year tax years by their selected tax year end date. The IRS discourages businesses from changing their treatment of the tax year except in the first or last year of a business. Written IRS approval is required to do so.

Individual Taxpayers’ Federal Tax Year

Individuals generally use a December 31 tax year, with an annual return due on April 15 of the following year. When the 16th Amendment was passed in 1913, granting taxation authority to the federal government, Congress designated February 1 as tax filing day. This date was moved progressively backward to where it is today, on April 15. Some commentators have suspected that this has allowed the government to hold onto taxpayers’ money longer. Whatever the case, the movement from February to March to April has coincided with an increase in the pool of eligible taxpayers. When the 16th Amendment was passed, a small number of very wealthy individuals was expected to pay federal tax. The pool of taxpayers has grown significantly since then

.State Tax Years

Every state handles taxation independent of the federal system, but most that do impose income taxes use April 15 as their required filing date. Virginia is one exception, with a filing deadline of May 1. Several states that do not charge income taxes impose taxes on other revenue, such as stock dividends. New Hampshire, which has no income or sales tax, compensates by charging a relatively high property tax. New Hampshire property tax rates are set annually in November, and the property tax year runs from March 21 to April 1 for all property owners

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Aster billing

GST-Concept and Status-Aster Billing

The uniform system of taxation, which, with a few exceptions of no great consequence, takes place in all the different parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, leaves the interior commerce of the country, the inland and coasting trade, almost entirely free. The inland trade is almost perfectly free, and the greater part of goods may be carried from one end of the kingdom to the other, without requiring any permit or let-pass, without being subject to question, visit, or examination from the revenue officers. ……This freedom of interior commerce, the effect of uniformity of the system of taxation, is perhaps one of the principal causes of the prosperity of Great Britain; every great country being necessarily the best and most extensive market for the greater part of the productions of its own industry. If the same freedom, in consequence of the same uniformity, could be extended to Ireland and the plantations, both the grandeur of the state and the prosperity of every part of the empire, would probably be still greater than at present”
 Adam Smith in ‘Wealth of Nations’
Whether it was uniformity of taxation and consequent free interior trade orpossession of ‘the jewel in the crown’ at the root of prosperity of Britain isdebatable, nonetheless the words of father of modern economics on the benefitsof uniformity of system of taxation cannot be taken too lightly. Beforeimplementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST), Indian taxation system was afarrago of central, state and local area levies. By subsuming more than a score oftaxes under GST, road to a harmonized system of indirect tax has been pavedmaking India an economic union.

Filing GST Returns for Your Business- ASTER BILLING

As GST will roll out on July 1, 2017, every business will have to file monthly GST returns as part of its GST compliance. Even if there is no activity carried out in business, the business has to still file the returns. Let us check out the various returns to be filed by businesses and their respective due dates. The return has to be e-filed and no paper returns will be acceptable in the GST regime. The table below explains various returns and their due dates which must be filed by businesses under the GST regime.

Return	For	To be filed by
GSTR 1	Outward supplies made by taxpayer (Sales)	10th of the next month
GSTR 2	Inward supplies received by a taxpayer (Purchases)	15th of the next month
GSTR 3	Monthly return	20th of the next month
GSTR 4	Quarterly return for Composite Taxpayer	18th of the month next to quarter
GSTR 5	Return for Non-Resident Foreign Taxpayer	Last day of registration
GSTR 6	Return for Input Service Distributor (ISD)	15th of the next month
GSTR 7	Return for Tax Deducted at Source	10th of the next month
GSTR 8	Return for e-commerce operator	10th of the next month
GSTR 9	Annual Return	By 31st December of next financial year

Monthly GST Returns Filing

Regular taxpayers would have to file GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 (monthly returns). Taxpayers with multiple registrations within a state would have to file GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 for each of the GST registrations obtained separately. All the monthly returns have to be filed online through a common portal managed by the Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN).

Annual GST Return Filing

Each business will have to file an annual return, known as GSTR 9. This will be on top of the monthly returns and is to be filed by 31st December of the next financial year.

Composite Taxpayer and GST Filing

Composite taxpayers will have to file GSTR 4, which will be filed quarterly. The composite tax will be a flat rate of tax, which a business pays based on their turnover in a specific period. They will not be able to take input credits for their purchases. Taxpayers eligible for the composite scheme can opt against the composite scheme and file monthly returns and thereby claim input tax credits on their purchases/supplies as well. Annual return (GSTR-8) will be filed by all normal / regular taxpayers. It will be based on financial records. A compounding taxpayer will also need to file a simple annual return. With GST, though the taxes are getting simplified which is a good for all businesses, there may be an increased burden of compliances on businesses as they have to file a total of 37 returns in year (3 x monthly returns for 12 months; and one return annually) Related Articles: GST Compliance Rating and Why It is Important for You, Composition of Tax Levy Scheme for Small Business in GST, GST Impact on IT and Consultancy Services

Partnership Aster Billing

Partnership

A Partnership Firm is a popular form of business constitution for businesses that are owned, managed and controlled by an Association of People for profit. Partnership firms are relatively easy to start are is prevalent amongst small and medium sized businesses in the unorganized sectors. With the introduction of Limited Liability Partnerships in India, Partnership Firms are fast losing their prevalence due to the added advantages offered by a Limited Liability Partnership.

There are two types of Partnership firms, registered and un-registered Partnership firm. It is not compulsory to register a Partnership firm; however, it is advisable to register a Partnership firm due to the added advantages. Partnership firms are created by drafting a Partnership deed amongst the Partners and IndiaFilings can help start a registered or un-registered Partnership firm in India.

GST Registration - Eligibility, Process and Expert Help Aster Billing

GST is the biggest tax reform in India, tremendously improving ease of doing business and increasing the taxpayer base in India by bringing in millions of small businesses in India. By abolishing and subsuming multiple taxes into a single system, tax complexities would be reduced while tax base is increased substantially. Under the new GST regime, all entities involved in buying or selling goods or providing services or both are required to register for GST. Entities without GST registration would not be allowed to collect GST from a customer or claim input tax credit of GST paid or could be penalised. Further, registration under GST is mandatory once an entity crosses the minimum threshold turnover of starts a new business that is expected to cross the prescribed turnover.As per the GST Council, entities in special category states with an annual turnover of Rs.10 lakhs and above would be required to register under GST. All other entities in rest of India would be required to register for GST if annual turnover exceeds Rs.20 lakhs. There are also various other criteria's, that could make an entity liable for obtaining GST registration - irrespective of annual sales turnover. Entities required to register for GST as per regulations must file for GST application within 30 days from the date on which the entity became liable for registration under GST.IndiaFilings is the leading business services platform in India, offering a variety of services like income tax filing, GST return filing, private limited company registration, trademark filing and more. IndiaFilings can help you obtain GST registration in India and maintain GST compliance through a proprietary GST accounting software. The average time taken to obtain GST Certificate is about 5 - 10 working days, subject to government processing time and client document submission. Get a free consultation on GST and GST return filing by scheduling an appointment with an IndiaFilings Advisor.

How can I track return status that I have submitted after logging to the GST Portal? Aster Billing

On submission of the return, you will be given an Application Reference Number (ARN). You can track status of your application by tracking this ARN. To track return status, perform the following steps:

1. Access the https://www.gst.gov.in/ URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2. Login to the GST Portal with valid credentials.

3. Click the Services > Returns> Track Return Status command.

In Case of ARN:

a) In the ARN field, enter the ARN received on your e-mail address when you submitted the return.

b) Click the SEARCH button.

The Application status is displayed.

  

In Case of Return Filing Period:

a) Select the Submission Period of the return using the calendar.

b) Click the SEARCH button.

The Application status is displayed.

In Case of Status:

a) Select the Status of the return from the drop-down list.

b) Click the SEARCH button.

The Application status is displayed.

7 Techniques for Creating Recurring Billing for Any Product or Service -Aster Billing

7 Techniques for Creating Recurring Billing for Any Product or Service 

Aster Billing

The Economist with this bit of news: "80% of companies are seeing a change in how their customers want to access and pay for good and services and 50% of these same companies are changing their pricing models as a result." The old model of shipping units and increasing sales is giving way to the new model of gaining subscribers and fighting churn.

Recurring billing is a business technique whereby you charge your customers on a "periodic basis for an ongoing product or service." For a long time, recurring billing was the purview of cell phone providers, cable companies, or SaaS businesses. Now, recurring billing is a technique that has gone mainstream. Whether you're buying underwear, coffee, music, or makeup, you can do so on a recurring payment basis.

The question is--can you create recurring billing for your product or service?

I'm here to tell you it's most likely possible. Here's why.

1. Most people need more than one of something on more than one occasion.

Let me unpack this one for you.

How many times in the next year will you purchase snacks? copy paper? deodorant? lip balm? batteries?

Many of the things that we buy, we do so on a repeated basis. Purchasing these items takes time, effort, remembering, fuel, and general inconvenience.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could automate the process? Losing nothing more than a few dollars on your credit card bill, you could have your snacks at your doorstep, your copy paper on order, your deodorant replenishment on its way, that lip balm in your mailbox, and the batteries in the mail.

That's the simple logic behind recurring billing. If you sell something that an individual will purchase more than once in year's time, you're ready for recurring billing.

2. Upgrade your variety if you can't necessarily improve the quantity.

Some goods are not depletable. Snacks get consumed. Copy paper, used. Deodorant, low. Lip balm, gone.

But how do you "use up" a book? Or a music album? Or a shirt?

That's where the power of variety comes into play. If people aren't using up your product, maybe they're getting tired of it.

Cliche though it may be, "Variety's the very spice of life // That gives it all its flavor," as William Cowper wrote.

People like variety. People pay for variety. If you can't send someone the same object over and over again, perhaps you can send them a variety of similar objects. A fiction lover wants to read more than one New York Times bestseller. A music head will gladly purchase another hip hop album.

3. Make recurring billing standard.

The strategic recurring billing merchants know what they're doing. Instead of providing an option for recurring billing, they are making it standard.

Customers don't do well with choices. Whether through confusion, paralysis, or understandable laziness, choosing between two good things is a hard thing.

That's why you have to help your customer make the choice. And the best choice for both of you is recurring billing.

Today, if you want to buy razors from the Dollar Shave Club, you can't make a one-off purchase. No. Instead, you become a member. But what about if you "don't shave so often?" as the purchase page itself suggests. They have an option, but it's still recurring: "That's cool. You can get blades delivered every other month." Recurring is the only way.

Other businesses, eager as ever about recurring billing, have implemented similar strategies. No testing. Only joining.

4. If your product doesn't recur, then sell service.

What about products that don't recur? If variety, explained above, doesn't work, then what about service?

Take a move from the SaaS playbook. You see, SaaS is both software and service. You can't separate the two. If you sell a product, is there someway that you can add service, and thereby improve the likelihood of recurring billing?

Try it. You sold an HVAC system. Now, sell a protection plan, maintenance plan, warranty plan, or cleaning plan. You sold a roof. Sell a gutter cleaning plan. You sold a set of knives. Sell a sharpening plan. You sold clothing? Sell a dry-clean and replacement plan.

Just because the good is durable doesn't mean you can't have a recurring plan. If you can't sell more stuff, then sell more service.

5. Provide recurring billing for products of the customer's choice.

This option is brilliant because it blends aspects of human psychology with good business sense. Here's the plan in three bullet points:

• The customer signs up for your product.
• You send them stuff.
• The next month, you send them a box of more stuff. They can keep what they want, and send the rest back.

They pay a continuation fee regardless of what they choose (even if they choose nothing), and they pay additional fees for the items they choose to keep.

Does this model really work? Absolutely. Businesses like the Trunk Club are already racking it up with hand-selected styles that help guys look good. Other business are doing a similar brisk business with parallel approaches. It works for household goods, children's toys, toiletries, and clothes.

6. Create a subscription service for a lot of different items.

People like surprises. They like gifts. They like to get stuff--different types of stuff.

So let's deliver some stuff to them, shall we? It's not too late to get in on the subscription box game. Companies like Birchbox put together a box of stuff and send it off every month.

It's the equivalent of strolling through the mall and buying a few odds and ends, except you don't stroll, and you don't actually shop. You just get it in the mail.

What goes in the box each month? It's anyone's guess. In this way, such companies are selling the element of surprise and delight. And it's recurring.

7. Create recurring billing by providing gradual upgrades.

Instead of just giving your customers the same thing over and over again, you can improve the level of quality. Earlier in this article, I mentioned variety, but that's only the start. Can you also improve the quality?

This technique is marvelous for, say, SaaS where you can improve the size, speed, storage, or features of a particular software. But it also works for other goods. How about furniture? In two years, can you replace a faux leather sofa with a leather sofa, based on a certain level of recurring billing? The idea may be far-fetched, but it's not out of reach.

Conclusion

Admittedly, not every business will be able to implement recurring billing. I'm pretty sure, however, that a lot of businesses can. I challenge you to find a way.

FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B Aster Billing

Extension of Due Dates for filing of FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B in certain

It has been observed that the number of taxpayers who have filed FORM GSTR-3B is substantially higher than the number of taxpayers who have furnished FORM GSTR-1. Non-furnishing of FORM GSTR-1 is liable to late fee and penalty as per the provisions of the GST law. In order to encourage taxpayers to furnish FORM GSTR-1, a one-time scheme to waive off late fee payable for delayed furnishing of FORM GSTR-1 for the period from July, 2017 to September, 2018 till 31.10.2018 has been launched.

In this regard, the due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-1 for the period from July, 2017 to September, 2018 has been extended till 31st October, 2018 for all registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs 1.5 crores including the registered persons in Kerala, or whose principal place of business is in Kodagu (Karnataka) and Mahe (Puducherry). For taxpayers having aggregate turnover up to Rs 1.5 crores, the due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-1 for the quarters from July, 2017 to September, 2018 has been extended till 31st October, 2018. Notification Nos. 43 and 44/2018 – Central Tax dated 10th September, 2018 have been issued in this regard. For registered persons having aggregate turnover up to Rs 1.5 crores in Kerala, or whose principal place of business is in Kodagu (Karnataka) and Mahe (Puducherry), the due date for furnishing FORM GSTR-1 for the quarter July, 2018 to September, 2018 would continue to remain as 15th November, 2018 as notified vide notification No. 38/2018-Central Tax dated 24th August, 2018.

Further, for those taxpayers who will now be migrating to GST as per the procedure specified in notification No. 31/2018-Central Tax, dated 06.08.2018, the last date for furnishing the details of outward supplies of goods or services or both in FORM GSTR-1 and for filing the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the months of July, 2017 to November, 2018 has been extended till 31.12.2018. Notification Nos. 45, 46 and 47/2018 – Central Tax dated 10th September, 2018 have thus been issued for extension of dates for filing FORM GSTR-3B.

It is hereby clarified that as per the provisions of section 16 (4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the registered person shall not be entitled to take input tax credit in respect of any invoice after the due date of furnishing of the return for the month of September following the end of financial year to which such invoice pertains; or furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier. The taxpayers are thus, advised to furnish their returns on time to ensure that input tax credit does not become time barred.

Gst Billing Software in kerala - aster billing

1. What is a GST Invoice?

An invoice or a bill is a list of goods sent or services provided, along with the amount due for payment.

2. Who should issue GST Invoice?

If you are a GST registered business, you need to provide GST-complaint invoices to your clients for sale of good and/or services.

Your GST registered vendors will provide GST-compliant purchase invoices to you.

3. What are the mandatory fields a GST Invoice should have?

A tax invoice is generally issued to charge the tax and pass on the input tax credit. A GST Invoice must have the following mandatory fields:

1. Invoice number and date
2. Customer name
3. Shipping and billing address
4. Customer and taxpayer’s GSTIN (if registered)**
5. Place of supply
6. HSN code/ SAC code
7. Item details i.e. description, quantity (number), unit (meter, kg etc.), total value
8. Taxable value and discounts
9. Rate and amount of taxes i.e. CGST/ SGST/ IGST
10. Whether GST is payable on reverse charge basis
11. Signature of the supplier

**If the recipient is not registered AND the value is more than Rs. 50,000 then the invoice should carry:

   i. name and address of the recipient,

  ii. address of delivery,

  iii. state name and state code

Here is a sample invoice for your reference:

4. By when should you issue invoices?

The GST Act has defined time limit to issue GST tax invoices, revised bills, debit notes, and credit note.

Following are the due dates for issuing an invoice to customers:

5. How to personalize GST Invoices?

You can personalize your invoice with your company’s logo. The ClearTax BillBook allows you to create and personalize GST Invoice free of cost.

6. What are other types of invoices?

6.A. Bill of Supply

A bill of supply is similar to a GST invoice except for that bill of supply does not contain any tax amount as the seller cannot charge GST to the buyer.

A bill of supply is issued in cases where tax cannot be charged:

• Registered person is selling exempted goods/services,
• Registered person has opted for composition scheme

Invoice-cum-bill of supply

As per Notification No. 45/2017 – Central Tax dated 13th October 2017

If a registered person is supplying taxable as well as exempted goods/ services to an unregistered person, then he can issue a single “invoice-cum-bill of supply” for all such supplies.

6.B. Aggregate Invoice

If the value of multiple invoices is less than Rs. 200 and the buyer are unregistered, the seller can issue an aggregate or bulk invoice for the multiple invoices on a daily basis.

For example, you may have issued 3 invoices in a day of Rs.80, Rs.90 and Rs. 120. In such a case, you can issue a single invoice, totaling to Rs290, to be called an aggregate invoice.

6.C. Debit and credit note

A debit note is issued by the seller when the amount payable by the buyer to seller increases:

1. Tax invoice has a lower taxable value than the amount that should have been charged
2. Tax invoice has a lower tax value than the amount that should have been charged

A credit note is issued by the seller when the value of invoice decreases:

1. Tax invoice has a higher taxable value than the amount that should have been charged
2. Tax invoice has a higher tax value than the amount that should have been charged
3. Buyer refunds the goods to the supplier
4. Services are found to be deficient

7. Can you revise invoices issued before GST?

Yes. You can revise invoices issued before GST. Under the GST regime, all the dealers must apply for provisional registration before getting the permanent registration certificate.

Refer to this image below to understand the protocol of issuing a revised invoice:

This applies to all the invoices issued between the date of implementation of GST and the date your registration certificate has been issued.

As a dealer, you must issue a revised invoice against the invoices already issued. The revised invoice has to be issued within 1 month from the date of issue of the registration certificate.

8. How many copies of Invoices should be issued?

• For goods– 3 copies
• For services– 2 copies

9. GST Invoicing under Special Cases?

In some cases, like banking, passenger transport, etc., the government has provided relaxations on the invoice format issued by the supplier.