Why daily habits matter more than month-end work
Many shop owners think of GST as a month-end job. They collect bills, hand them over to the accountant and hope everything matches. Most GST trouble starts much earlier, at the counter, with wrong rates on items, missing purchase bills or handwritten bills that do not match the records.
This checklist covers what to do daily, weekly and monthly so your GST work is quick and correct. Your accountant or CA should still guide you on filing rules for your registration type.
Set up your items correctly once
Each item you sell has a GST rate, and many also need an HSN code. Getting this right at the start saves you from fixing hundreds of bills later.
- Confirm the GST rate for each item with your accountant
- Note the HSN code for each item or category
- Check whether your prices include GST or are before tax
- Mark items that are exempt so they are not taxed by mistake
- Update the rate when the government changes it
Daily checklist
- Make a bill for every sale, including small ones
- Avoid handwritten bills that will not appear in your records
- Check that cancelled or returned bills are recorded properly
- Keep your daily cash and bill totals matched
Weekly checklist
- Enter all supplier purchase bills received that week
- Check that the supplier's GST number is on each purchase bill
- Match purchase quantities with goods actually received
- File physical bills in one folder by date
Monthly checklist
At month end, pull the sales and purchase summaries and share them with your accountant. If you have kept up with the daily and weekly steps, this should take minutes rather than days.
- Sales summary by GST rate
- Purchase summary with supplier GST details
- HSN-wise summary if your accountant needs it
- List of returns and credit notes
- Any purchase bill still missing from a supplier
Common GST mistakes in small shops
The most frequent problem is a wrong rate set on an item, which then repeats on every bill for months. The second is purchase bills that never get entered, so input credit is missed. The third is mixing personal purchases with shop purchases.
- Wrong GST rate on a popular item
- Purchase bills lost before they are entered
- Billing some sales and not others
- Not recording returns
- Waiting until the last day to start month-end work
Keep good records for the future
Keep sales and purchase records organised by month. If your accountant or a tax officer asks a question about an old period, you should be able to find the bills and summaries without searching through boxes.
Returns, exchanges and credit notes
Returns are where many small shops lose track. A customer brings back a damaged packet, the owner gives a new one or refunds cash, and nothing is recorded. The sale stays on the books and the stock count is now wrong. Record every return against the original bill, and if a supplier takes goods back, make sure you get a credit note and enter it.
Keep a small register or a separate section in your software for returns. At month end, your accountant will ask about them, and you should be able to answer from records rather than memory.
Who should do what
In a family-run shop, it helps to decide who owns GST work. One person enters purchase bills every week. One person checks the monthly summary before it goes to the accountant. When everyone assumes someone else is doing it, bills pile up and month end becomes a rush. A fixed day and a fixed person solve most of this.
Keep cash and digital payments straight
More customers now pay by UPI or card than before. Make sure each bill records how it was paid, and check at day end that digital receipts in your bank match the bills marked as digital. Mismatches here confuse both your cash count and your accounts, and your accountant will ask about them later.
How Bhandarika helps
Bhandarika applies the GST rate set on each item every time you bill, and purchase entries record supplier GST as goods come in. GST reports are then prepared from the bills and purchases you already made, ready to export for your accountant.
Because billing and purchases are in one system, your stock and GST numbers come from the same records. To see the reports on your own items, ask for a demo on WhatsApp at +91 95116 38160.
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