GST and khata glossary

The words that come up on a bill, in a return, in a CA's email or in the shop, each in two sentences. No jargon to explain the jargon.

GST: Goods and Services Tax, India's single indirect tax on the supply of goods and services, charged at each stage with credit for tax already paid.
GSTIN: The 15-character Goods and Services Tax Identification Number of a registered business. The first two digits are the state code, the next ten the PAN.
Tax invoice: The GST document a regular registered dealer issues for taxable supplies. It carries GSTIN, HSN/SAC, the tax split, and lets a registered buyer claim input tax credit.
Bill of supply: The document issued by a composition dealer, or by anyone for exempt supplies. No tax is charged on it.
Cash memo: An ordinary bill from a business that is not registered under GST. Not a GST document; no GSTIN, no tax.
HSN code: Harmonised System of Nomenclature, the numeric code that classifies goods and fixes their GST rate. 4, 6 or 8 digits depending on turnover and trade.
SAC code: Services Accounting Code, the six-digit equivalent of HSN for services, starting with 99.
CGST / SGST / IGST: For a sale inside your state the GST rate is split into Central and State GST; for a sale to another state the whole rate is Integrated GST. UTGST replaces SGST in union territories.
Place of supply: The state the supply is treated as made in, usually the buyer's location, which decides whether CGST+SGST or IGST applies.
Input tax credit (ITC): The GST you paid on business purchases, which you can set off against the GST you collected on sales, provided the supplier reported the invoice.
GSTR-1: The monthly or quarterly return of outward supplies: every sale, credit note and debit note, invoice by invoice for B2B. Due on the 11th.
GSTR-3B: The monthly summary return where tax is actually paid: output tax, eligible ITC, net payable. Due on the 20th (22nd/24th for QRMP).
GSTR-2A: A dynamic view of what your suppliers have reported about sales to you. It keeps changing as they file, so it is not the reconciliation base.
GSTR-2B: The static, auto-drafted ITC statement generated on the 14th of the following month. ITC is restricted to what appears here.
GSTR-9: The annual return that consolidates a year of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.
Composition scheme: A simplified scheme for small taxpayers who pay a flat percentage of turnover, cannot collect GST or claim ITC, and file CMP-08 quarterly.
QRMP: Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment: small taxpayers file GSTR-1 and 3B quarterly, pay monthly through PMT-06, and can push B2B invoices monthly through IFF.
Reverse charge (RCM): Cases where the buyer, not the seller, pays the GST to the government, such as certain purchases from unregistered suppliers or specified services.
E-way bill: The electronic document required to move goods above ₹50,000 in value, generated on the e-way bill portal with the vehicle number.
E-invoice / IRN: For businesses above the turnover threshold, invoices are registered with the Invoice Registration Portal and carry an IRN and QR code. AawazAI reads and verifies the IRN QR on a supplier's bill, and can generate the IRN for your own B2B tax invoices once your e-invoice API user is set up.
ARN: Acknowledgement Reference Number, the receipt the GST portal issues when a return or application is successfully submitted.
GSP: GST Suvidha Provider, a licensed intermediary through which software connects to GSTN's APIs.
Credit note: A document that reduces an earlier invoice, for returns, discounts or errors, reversing the tax charged. Reported in GSTR-1 as CDNR (registered buyer) or CDNUR (unregistered).
Udhaar: Credit in everyday Indian business: goods or money given now, to be paid later. Udhaar diya is what you are owed; udhaar liya is what you owe.
Khata: The running account of one customer or supplier: every sale, payment and udhaar entry, and the balance they add up to.
Hisaab-kitaab: The books. Day-to-day accounting of what came in, what went out, and what is owed.
Double-entry: The accounting method where every transaction is recorded in two accounts so that debits always equal credits. AawazAI keeps a double-entry ledger under the khata, and enforces the balance in the database.
Day book: A chronological list of everything that happened on a date: sales, purchases, expenses, receipts, payments.
Trial balance: A list of every account with its debit or credit balance; the totals must match, which is how a ledger proves it is consistent.
Cost of goods sold (COGS): The purchase cost of the items you actually sold in a period, worked out from opening stock, purchases and closing stock. Gross profit is sales minus COGS.