Is Free GST Software Safe? 12 Data Security Questions to Ask
Worried about putting your GSTIN, invoices and bank data into free GST software? Ask these 12 security and privacy questions before you sign up for any vendor.
Expert guides, product updates, and industry trends from HelloBooks — the AI bookkeeping software for small and midsize businesses, ecommerce sellers, startups, and accounting firms. Articles cover automated transaction categorization, bank reconciliation, invoicing, expense management, GST and US sales tax compliance, financial reporting, and migrating from QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, or Tally.
New posts are published weekly. Topics are written by chartered accountants, bookkeepers, and the HelloBooks product team — grounded in real client data from over 11,000 US banks via Plaid, the guided QuickBooks USA migration (a one-time company-file import that completes in a single pass), and the HelloBooks mobile, web, and desktop apps. While the article list loads, you can browse popular topics below.
Technology
How AI is reshaping bookkeeping — automated categorization, document extraction, and what changing tax technology means for small business.
Accounting
Double-entry fundamentals, P&L vs balance sheet, cash vs accrual, depreciation, and the day-to-day mechanics of keeping books that reconcile.
Automation
Bank feeds, rules, recurring invoices and reconciliation workflows — the parts of the month-end close that no longer need a human.
Bookkeeping
Practical guides for bookkeepers and owners: vendor records, bills and approvals, expense capture, and audit-ready record keeping.
Finance
Cash flow, working capital, receivables and payables — reading the numbers a small business actually runs on.
GST compliance
GSTR filings, input tax credit, e-invoicing and e-way bills for Indian businesses, written against the current rules.
HelloBooks publishes practical articles for business owners and the accountants who serve them. Each post is written to be immediately useful: when to use cash vs accrual accounting, how to reconcile bank statements in one click, how AI categorization compares to manual data entry, what changes when you switch from QuickBooks to HelloBooks, and how to file GST, sales tax, VAT, and 1099 forms straight from your books.
Articles also cover industry-specific accounting — for retail, manufacturing, construction, restaurants, healthcare, SaaS, ecommerce / Amazon sellers, non-profits, professional services, and accounting firms managing multiple clients. Every post is tagged by category, sub-category, and geography (India, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, and UAE) so you can filter to exactly what applies to your business.
Expert guides, product updates, and industry trends.
Worried about putting your GSTIN, invoices and bank data into free GST software? Ask these 12 security and privacy questions before you sign up for any vendor.
Picking free GST filing software in India? Use this 15-point checklist to test filing, GSTR-2B reconciliation, limits, users and exit options before you commit.
What GST's Invoice Management System (IMS) is, how accept, reject, pending and deemed acceptance shape GSTR-2B, and a simple monthly IMS routine.
Why GST mismatch notices like DRC-01B and DRC-01C arrive, how to reply within 7 days, what ASMT-10 means, and a monthly routine to prevent mismatches.
Filed GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B with an error? GST returns can't be revised, but most mistakes can be fixed. Here's the right route for each type of error in 2026.
How to report reverse charge (RCM) in GSTR-3B Table 3.1(d), pay it in cash, claim the ITC in Table 4A, and self-invoice unregistered suppliers on time.
When to issue a GST credit or debit note, where it goes in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, how IMS affects it, the time limits, and when an amendment is the better fix.
Where to report B2B, B2C Large and B2C Small sales in GSTR-1, the ₹1 lakh B2CL limit, how credit notes differ for each, and the mistakes that cost buyers ITC.
How to report HSN and SAC codes in GSTR-1 Table 12: 4 vs 6 digits, the separate B2B and B2C tabs, the dropdown rule, UQC, and fixing summary mismatches.