Guides for running your books in India and the UAE.

Under GST, tax follows the place where a supply is consumed. Comparing the supplier's location with the place of supply tells you the type of tax:

• Same state or union territory → intra-state supply → CGST + SGST (or CGST + UTGST).
• Different states, or a supply to an SEZ or export → inter-state supply → IGST.

For goods, the place of supply is generally where the movement of goods ends for delivery to the recipient. For services, the general rule for a registered recipient is the recipient's location, but there are specific rules for services such as those related to immovable property, events, transport and telecommunication.

Practical tips: keep each customer's GSTIN and billing state accurate, record the shipping state when it differs, and review invoices where the place of supply was overridden.

A tax invoice includes full details: your name, address and TRN; the recipient's name, address and TRN where they are registered; a sequential invoice number and date; a description of each item; the unit price, quantity, rate and VAT amount; and the total payable in AED.

A simplified tax invoice carries fewer details and may generally be issued where the recipient is not VAT-registered, or where the recipient is registered and the consideration does not exceed the threshold set in the regulations.

Practical tips: capture the customer's TRN when you have it, use simplified invoices for walk-in retail sales where permitted, and check current requirements on the FTA website before relying on a threshold.

Your chart of accounts groups every transaction into five families:

• Assets — bank, cash, receivables, stock, fixed assets, input tax.
• Liabilities — payables, loans, output tax payable.
• Equity — capital and retained earnings.
• Income — sales, other income.
• Expenses — purchases, rent, salaries, utilities, bank charges.

Practical tips: start from a standard template, keep separate accounts for each tax head (for example CGST, SGST and IGST input and output in India; input and output VAT in the UAE), avoid creating an account for every small variation, and agree the structure with your accountant before your first month-end.

1. Record all sales invoices, credit notes and receipts for the month.
2. Enter supplier bills, expenses and payments; attach supporting documents.
3. Reconcile every bank and cash account to statements.
4. Review receivables and payables ageing; follow up on overdue items.
5. Check stock movements and investigate unusual variances.
6. Review tax summaries against your sales and purchase registers.
7. Post accruals, prepayments and depreciation if you use them.
8. Review profit and loss and balance sheet for anything unexpected, then lock the period.

Input tax credit lets a registered business set off GST paid on purchases used for business against its output tax, subject to conditions in the law — for example, holding a valid tax invoice and the supplier having reported the supply.

Practical tips: record each supplier's GSTIN accurately, enter bills promptly, flag ineligible credits, and reconcile your purchase register with the auto-drafted statement on the GST portal before filing GSTR-3B.

For businesses above the notified turnover threshold, B2B invoices must be reported to an Invoice Registration Portal, which returns an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and a signed QR code to print on the invoice.

PrismSwift ERP does not connect to the IRP. If your business is required to generate an IRN, do that on the official e-invoice system, then keep your PrismSwift invoice and the portal acknowledgement together in your records. Check the current threshold and rules on the official site.