Key takeaways
What this article covers, in order:
- Where does IMS sit in the monthly cycle?
- What do the four actions really mean?
- Is "pending" allowed for everything?
- Why are credit notes the tricky part?
- What doesn't appear in IMS at all?
- A month with IMS: Deepa's bakery supplies business
Here's a situation that used to be impossible to stop. A supplier you stopped buying from in Mar 2026 keeps uploading invoices against your GSTIN, and they quietly show up in your GSTR-2B as credit you never earned. The Invoice Management System (IMS) is the GST portal's answer to that. It's a dashboard where every invoice, debit note and credit note your suppliers report against you lands first, and you can accept, reject, or keep it pending. Whatever you accept, plus anything you leave untouched (that counts as deemed accepted), goes into your GSTR-2B, which is generated around the 14th.
IMS has been live since 14 Oct 2024. It's one of those changes that's easy to ignore and expensive to ignore.
Where does IMS sit in the monthly cycle?
Your supplier files GSTR-1 (or IFF, or GSTR-1A). Each B2B invoice, debit note and credit note they report against your GSTIN appears in your IMS. Imports of goods show up too.
You act on them through the month.
Around the 14th the portal generates a draft GSTR-2B from those actions. Your GSTR-3B ITC in Table 4 is then pre-filled from GSTR-2B.
If you change an action after the 14th, you can recompute GSTR-2B from the IMS dashboard before filing GSTR-3B. Once GSTR-3B is filed, the actions for that period are frozen.
Think of IMS as the inbox and GSTR-2B as the statement that gets printed from it.
What do the four actions really mean?
| Action | What happens in GSTR-2B | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Accept | Included; ITC available | The invoice is genuine, correct, and you've received the goods or service |
| Reject | Excluded | Not your purchase, wrong GSTIN, duplicate, wrong value or tax |
| Pending | Excluded for now, carried forward | Goods not yet received, or you're still checking the details |
| No action | Treated as deemed accepted; included | Only safe when you've actually checked it |
You can't accept part of an invoice. If the value is wrong, reject it and ask the supplier to amend through GSTR-1A or their next GSTR-1. When they do, the corrected record shows up in your IMS again.
The catch with "no action"
Deemed acceptance is convenient. It's also how a wrong or duplicate invoice slips into your ITC. If that credit is later found to be ineligible, you pay it back with interest. So "I didn't open IMS this month" isn't neutral. It's the same as clicking Accept on everything.
Is "pending" allowed for everything?
No, and the rules tightened from the Oct 2025 tax period.
For most invoices, pending holds the record back and carries it forward in IMS until you act, but there are limits. You can't keep an invoice pending forever if the Section 16(4) time limit to claim the credit is running out. And for credit notes (and downward amendments), pending can be held for only one tax period: one month if you file monthly, one quarter under QRMP. After that it's treated as accepted.
You can also add remarks when you reject or keep something pending. Suppliers can see those remarks, which is handy, because "rejected: rate should be 5% not 18%" saves a phone call.
Why are credit notes the tricky part?
When your supplier issues you a credit note, accepting it in IMS means you agree to reduce your ITC by that amount. Your GSTR-3B will reflect the reversal.
If you reject it, the supplier's reduction in tax doesn't simply go through, so they'll come back to you. And from Oct 2025 onwards, where you declare that you're reversing only part of the ITC (or none) against a credit note, a remark is mandatory.
So with credit notes, check three things before accepting: did you actually agree to this discount or return, is the amount right, and have you already reversed the ITC some other way? Accepting a credit note you'd already adjusted means reversing twice.
What doesn't appear in IMS at all?
A few things stay outside it, so don't go looking:
- Reverse charge purchases (self-invoices and RCM invoices go through other tables)
- Credit that's ineligible because the Section 16(4) time limit has passed
- Certain other records the portal routes separately; the IMS FAQs on the GST portal list them
Your RCM purchases still have to be handled in GSTR-3B Table 3.1(d) and claimed in Table 4. IMS simply isn't involved.
A month with IMS: Deepa's bakery supplies business
Deepa runs a bakery supplies wholesale business in Kochi, filing monthly. Illustrative numbers for Nov 2026.
By 12 Dec 2026 her IMS shows 64 records from suppliers. She goes through them over tea on the 12th.
58 invoices match her purchase bills exactly. She accepts them in bulk.
3 invoices are from a flour mill for a consignment that's still in transit. She keeps them pending, so the ITC moves to the month the stock actually arrives.
2 invoices are from a packaging supplier she has never bought from. Someone has typed her GSTIN by mistake. She rejects both with the remark "not our purchase, please check GSTIN".
1 credit note for ₹8,500 from a cocoa supplier, for a damaged batch she returned. She checks it against her debit note, it matches, and she accepts it.
Her GSTR-2B on the 14th now shows only what she can actually prove. Her GSTR-3B ITC lines up with it, and there's nothing for a DRC-01C to pick up later. Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty.
A practical IMS routine
- [ ] Around the 10th to the 13th, open IMS after most suppliers have filed GSTR-1
- [ ] Match each record against your purchase bills
- [ ] Accept what matches and what you've received
- [ ] Keep pending what's in transit or under query, keeping the time limits in mind
- [ ] Reject what isn't yours or is wrong, with a short remark
- [ ] Check credit notes against your own records before accepting
- [ ] If you act after the 14th, recompute GSTR-2B before filing GSTR-3B
- [ ] Message suppliers about anything you rejected
If you run QRMP, the same logic applies on a quarterly GSTR-2B cycle. If you're unsure about a particular rejection that involves a large amount or a dispute with a supplier, get your CA's view before you act.
Honest annoyances
IMS isn't perfect. The dashboard can be slow around the 11th to the 14th when everyone logs in. Bulk actions help, but you'll still want your purchase register open in another window. And because suppliers file at different times, records keep trickling in after you've done your review. That's why the recompute option exists: use it.
There's also talk of GSTR-3B ITC being locked to GSTR-2B more tightly in future. Nothing changes the basic advice, but check the GST portal's news section for the current position each quarter.
How HelloBooks helps
HelloBooks keeps your purchase bills with supplier GSTINs, invoice numbers and tax amounts, and the Free plan includes GSTR-2B reconciliation with ITC tracking. That gives you a clean list of matched, missing and mismatched invoices to take into your IMS review, so accept and reject decisions are based on your books rather than memory. Then you file GSTR-3B directly to the GST portal from inside HelloBooks for one GSTIN. See the GSTR-2B reconciliation page and the GSTR-3B filing page.
FAQs
Is acting on IMS mandatory?
No. If you do nothing, records are deemed accepted. But that means accepting everything unchecked, which carries real risk.
Can I change my action after accepting an invoice?
Yes, until you file GSTR-3B for that period. If you change actions after the 14th, recompute GSTR-2B before filing. After filing, actions for that period are frozen.
What happens to the supplier when I reject an invoice?
They can see the rejection (and your remark) and can correct the record through GSTR-1A or a later GSTR-1. The corrected record then shows up in your IMS again.
How long can I keep a credit note pending?
Only one tax period: one month for monthly filers, one quarter under QRMP. After that it's treated as accepted.
Do QRMP filers use IMS?
Yes. The same actions apply, with GSTR-2B generated for the quarter.
IMS rewards the business owner who looks. Fifteen minutes a month is all it takes.
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