Instructions for GST India

[Amish]

On Tuesday 06 February 2018 05:37 PM, Deva - wrote:
> I can concur with Amish’s setup for GST India, but with a few minor observations.
>
> I have a similar setup, though not as elaborate as Amish’s. This is largely due to the fact that I don’t claim GST input tax credit for purchases (my tax credits are negligible compared to what I pay as GST). Also, I have to deal with only 1 tax rate of 18%, but that does involve setting up of 3 tax tables like Amish pointed out - CGST @ 9%, SGST @ 9% and IGST @ 18%.
Thanks and yes - you are lucky to have just one tax rate!! :)
> My few observations -
>
> a. Not sure if you need 2 A/R accounts. Since these accounts are not directly used in reports, just having one should do (sub-accounts for GST and NonGST can be merged into the parent).
These are required for verifying total in GSTR 1 return. Also GSTR 1 
asks for total AR (sale) plus AR of (sale to) Interstate Non-GST 
dealers. Hence atleast in my case they are required.
> b. You may find it more helpful by actually putting the tax rate in the tax account name itself. For instance, "Liabilities:Sales:GST:IGST @ 18%” as the account name, instead of "Liabilities:Sales:GST:IGST”. While this will not make a difference if you are using Tax Invoice report, it will show up nicely in case of a Printable Report or Fancy Invoice report because the tax line will read IGST @ 18% (instead of just IGST).
I generate printable invoice in Libreoffice Calc (Linux's Excel). But 
yes your idea is nice.

> c. I haven’t segregated the NonGST vs. GST (registered vs. unregistered dealers), though I can see the benefit given GST reporting requirements. However, I think with the new transaction report that was posted on this list sometime back (by Doug, I think), one can easily generate summaries based on descriptions in the transaction registers. So if you are diligent about tagging your transactions with proper notes/memos, etc. then you can always generate summaries based on those with the new transaction report to meet the GST reporting requirements.
Adding notes / memos require additional care. One spelling mistake and 
your transaction will not show up in report.
>
> I think if you are dealing with large volumes of GST related transactions, Amish’s setup is the way to go, though it may seem a bit tedious to set it up in the beginning. My GST invoices are to the tune of about 100 invoices a year, so I have cut down on my account hierarchy to keep it simple.
Yes my setup can be scaled down but depends on the individual's choice 
and requirement.
> And yes, it can certainly go on the wiki for those looking for help. I wish I had something like that to guide me when I was doing the same, but with trial and error, I got to what I wanted.
>
> I am sure all of us continue to remain indebted to GnuCash to help keep our financial matters in order despite the chaotic rollout of GST that India witnessed not so long ago.
Indeed chaotic! And yes Gnucash saved me from purchasing expensive software.
> Cheers,
> Deva

Amish