GST registrations: your company's GSTINs

A GST Registration records one GSTIN that your own company holds. Every GST return, the GSTIN-wise ledger and the registration details printed on invoices start from it. A business with one PAN usually holds one GSTIN per state, so you create one registration per GSTIN. Then you link each branch to the registration it trades under. Documents and journal lines raised at that branch are tagged with the registration. The monthly GSTR-1, GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B records, or GSTR-6 for an Input Service Distributor, are created for each registration.

Overview

A registration is a small master record: the GSTIN, the state it belongs to, the company that holds it and a few switches. It drives a lot downstream:

• Branches copy it. When you pick a registration on a branch, the branch takes its GSTIN and its state (as Source of Supply). Source of Supply decides whether a sale from that branch is within the state or outside it.
• Tax and ledger records are tagged with it. When invoices, bills and notes are processed, the tax transactions behind the returns record your registration. So do e-way bills and the journal lines posted to the general ledger. This lets you report GSTIN-wise.
• Returns are created for it. Provisioning creates a Draft return record for each registration and month. Regular registrations get GSTR-1, GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B, plus one GSTR-9 for the financial year. An Input Service Distributor gets GSTR-6 only.
• GSTN sessions belong to it. When xMatix talks to GSTN through your GSP integration, the session is opened against this registration with its GSTN portal username.

Customers' and suppliers' GSTINs do not go here. They belong on the account or its contact addresses.

When to use it

• When you set up xMatix for a company registered for GST in India: create one registration for each GSTIN.
• When the company registers in a new state, or registers a separate Input Service Distributor GSTIN.
• When a registration is cancelled or surrendered: clear Is Active so it stops getting new returns.
• At the start of a month, if you want that month's return records before the scheduled job creates them.

How xMatix handles it

Which registration a document belongs to. When an invoice, bill, credit note or journal needs your own GSTIN, xMatix reads it from the document's branch's GST Registration. A branch that names a registration always wins. If the branch has none, or the document has no branch, xMatix uses the company's default registration. If there is no default either, the document carries no registration of your own.

The default flag is not on the standard forms or list views. If your company works from a single location without branches, check with your administrator how the default registration was set. Otherwise, create a branch and link the registration to it.

What is copied to a branch, and when. A branch copies the registration's GSTIN and State Name when you save the branch after choosing or changing its GST Registration. If the branch's Partner Account is empty, it also takes the registration's Partner Account. If you later edit the registration, branches keep the values they copied. Open each linked branch and pick the registration again to refresh them.

Legal Name follows the company. Legal Name is calculated: it is always the name of the Partner Account, and it is empty when no Partner Account is set. Anything typed into it is replaced when you save. The printed invoice shows the registration's GSTIN, Legal Name and State Name.

Is Active decides who gets returns. The scheduled job and the period's Provision GST Returns action only create returns for registrations that have Is Active on and a GSTIN. The GST console only lists active registrations that have a GSTIN. Turning a registration off does not change branches that point at it: documents from those branches are still tagged with it.

Enable ISD switches the return set. A registration with Enable ISD on is an Input Service Distributor. It gets a GSTR-6 each month and no GSTR-1, GSTR-2B, GSTR-3B or GSTR-9. Each regular registration that is active, has a GSTIN and shares the ISD's PAN can receive distributed credit. See GSTR-6. xMatix reads the PAN from inside the GSTIN (characters 3 to 12), not from the PAN field.

Prerequisites

• You can open the Finance Setup app and your security profile can create GST Registration records (see Permissions).
• The company that holds the GSTIN exists as an account, so you can choose it as Partner Account. See Tenants, companies and organizations.
• You have the GSTIN, PAN, state and state code exactly as they appear on the registration certificate.
• To pull, save or file returns through xMatix, you also need the GSTN portal username for this GSTIN and a GSP integration set up by your administrator (see Configuration).

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the GST registrations list

Open the Finance Setup app and, under Company Structure, open GST Registrations. Three views are available:

• All GSTRegistration — Name, Partner Account, GSTIN, Legal Name, State Code, State Name, PAN, Created By, Created and Modified Date.
• All GST Registrations — Name, State Code, GSTIN, PAN and Is Active.
• GST Registrations Search — the same columns as All GST Registrations, shared with every user.

Step 2 — Create a registration

1. Click New.
2. Enter a Name, for example the state and purpose ("Maharashtra – head office"). The name must be unique.
3. Enter the GSTIN (15 characters) and the PAN (10 characters). xMatix checks the format of both when you save.
4. Tick Is Active.
5. In Partner Account, choose your own company, the one that holds this GSTIN. Do not choose a customer or supplier.
6. Enter State Name and State Code. Type the state name exactly as it appears in the state list on branches and addresses, because branches copy it into Source of Supply. The state code is the two-digit code that starts the GSTIN.
7. Leave Legal Name empty. It is filled from the Partner Account when you save.
8. Click Save.

The registration opens on its record page. The header shows GSTIN, Partner Account, State Code and State Name, with Edit, Delete and Provision GST Returns.

Step 3 — Complete the details on the record page

The Details tab holds two fields that are not on the New form:

• Enable ISD — turn it on only if this GSTIN is registered as an Input Service Distributor.
• GSTN Username — the username you sign in to the GST portal with for this GSTIN. GSTN identifies an OTP request by this username, so you cannot pull, save or file through xMatix without it.

Click a field to change it in place, or click Edit to change the New-form fields in a dialog.

OTP and App Key (Base64) also appear on the Details tab. They belong to the GSTN sign-in and are written by it. Do not type into them.

Step 4 — Link branches to the registration

Open each branch that trades under this GSTIN. On GST Details, choose the GST Registration and save. The branch now shows the registration's GSTIN and its state as Source of Supply.

Back on the registration, the Branches tab lists every branch linked to it. The list has no buttons; click a branch's name to open it.

Step 5 — Provision this month's returns

Return records are normally created by the scheduled Provision GST returns job. To create them now for one registration, open it and click Provision GST Returns. xMatix:

• creates the current month's GST fiscal period, as Open, if it does not exist yet. The current month is taken in India Standard Time;
• for a regular registration, creates Draft GSTR-1, GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B records for that month. It also creates the GSTR-9 for the financial year, the first time;
• for an ISD registration, creates a Draft GSTR-6 for that month.

Running it again creates nothing new: xMatix skips any return that already exists for the GSTIN and period. This button works on the current month only. To provision an earlier month, or every registration at once, use Provision GST Returns on that month's GST fiscal period. See The GST console.

Step 6 — Sign in to GSTN for this registration

The GSTN session is started from the return dialogs, not from the registration. On a GSTR-1 or GSTR-2B record, open Pull from GSTIN (or another GSTN action). Click Send OTP, type the six-digit code GSTN sends, and confirm. A session lasts about 6 hours. Once it is live, xMatix also asks GSTN for the GSTIN's open-period GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B. For an ISD registration, it asks for GSTR-6A instead. See GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B.

Step 7 — Deactivate a registration you no longer file under

When a GSTIN is cancelled, open the registration, click Edit, clear Is Active and save. It no longer appears in the GST console and gets no new returns from the scheduled job or a period's provisioning. Its existing returns, documents and ledger entries are kept. Re-point any branches that still use it to the right registration.

Prefer deactivating to deleting. Delete removes the registration, but it does not clear the branches, returns or documents that point at it.

Fields

New and Edit form

Record page (Details tab)

Business rules

• Format checks. On every save, a GSTIN that is filled in must match the GSTIN pattern, and a PAN must match the PAN pattern. Both are checked in upper case.
• Uniqueness. Name and GSTIN must each be unique across your organization.
• Legal Name is recalculated from the Partner Account on every save.
• Branch copy. A branch copies GSTIN and State Name, and fills an empty Partner Account, only when the branch is saved with a new or changed registration. Clearing the branch's registration leaves the copied values.
• Own registration on documents. The branch's registration comes first. If there is none, the company's default active registration is used. If there is no default, none is used.
• Provisioning is idempotent. Each return is created once per GSTIN and period, and GSTR-9 once per GSTIN and financial year. The record's Provision GST Returns does not check Is Active; the scheduled job and the period action do.
• Changing Enable ISD affects only returns created afterwards. Returns already provisioned for the month stay as they are.
• Changing the GSTIN of a registration that already has returns is not followed through. Existing returns keep the old GSTIN, and the next provisioning creates new returns under the new GSTIN. Create a new registration instead.
• GSTN sign-in. An OTP can be requested only with a well-formed GSTIN and a GSTN Username. A second request is refused while one is in progress, and while a session is live unless you choose to re-authenticate. The code must be 6 digits and entered within about 10 minutes.

Example

A company registered in two states sets up its GSTINs in a new xMatix organization.

1. The finance lead opens Finance Setup → Company Structure → GST Registrations and clicks New. They enter Name Maharashtra – head office, GSTIN 27ABCDE1234F1Z5, PAN ABCDE1234F, tick Is Active, choose the company account as Partner Account, and enter State Name Maharashtra and State Code 27. After saving, Legal Name shows the company's name.
2. They create a second registration, Karnataka – depot, with GSTIN 29ABCDE1234F1Z1 and State Code 29.
3. On the head-office registration's Details tab, they enter the GSTN Username the tax team uses for that GSTIN, and do the same for the depot.
4. They open the Pune branch, choose GST Registration Maharashtra – head office and save. The branch shows GSTIN 27ABCDE1234F1Z5 and Source of Supply Maharashtra. They do the same for the Bengaluru depot.
5. On each registration they click Provision GST Returns. The GST console now shows Draft GSTR-1, GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B cards for the month for both GSTINs, and a GSTR-9 card for the year.
6. An invoice raised at the Bengaluru depot is tagged with the Karnataka registration and appears in that GSTIN's GSTR-1.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox:

1. Create a registration with GSTIN 27ABCDE1234F1Z5, a Partner Account, State Name and State Code, and save it. Note what Legal Name shows.
2. Try to create a second registration with GSTIN 27ABCDE1234F. Note the message.
3. Link a branch to the first registration and save the branch.
4. Click Provision GST Returns on the registration twice.

Expected result: Legal Name equals the Partner Account's name. The short GSTIN is refused as not a valid 15-character GSTIN. The branch shows the registration's GSTIN and state, and the registration's Branches tab lists the branch. The first provisioning creates the month's GST fiscal period (if missing) and the Draft returns; the second creates nothing.

Quick reference

• One registration per GSTIN your own company holds; parties' GSTINs go on accounts.
• Finance Setup → Company Structure → GST Registrations.
• Partner Account is your own company; Legal Name is copied from it.
• Spell State Name as in the state list — branches copy it into Source of Supply.
• Enable ISD and GSTN Username are on the record page, not the New form.
• Branches copy the registration only when the branch is saved with it.
• Is Active off = no new returns from the job and no console card.
• Provision GST Returns on the registration = current month only; safe to repeat.
• Don't change a GSTIN that has returns; create a new registration.

Permissions

Access follows the user's security profile.

• See, create, edit and delete follow the profile's entity permission on GST Registration. The standard System Admin, Standard User, Sales Manager and Sales Executive profiles ship with full access.
• Finance Setup app: granted to System Admin, Standard User and Sales Manager. A user without it does not see the GST Registrations menu entry.
• Provision GST Returns needs the action grant. System Admin and Standard User have it; Sales Manager and Sales Executive do not, so they cannot run it.
• Request GSTN OTP and Submit OTP (used by the GSTN sign-in panel) are granted to System Admin and Standard User.

Registrations decide which GSTIN every return and document files under. Consider limiting create, edit and delete to finance administrators under Setup → Access Control → Profiles → Entity Permissions, and keep read access for everyone who opens the GST console or branches.

Configuration

• Registrations — Finance Setup → Company Structure → GST Registrations. One per GSTIN, with Is Active, Enable ISD and GSTN Username kept current.
• Branches — Branches, GST Details tab. Link every branch to its registration; this is what tags documents and journal lines.
• Scheduled provisioning — the Provision GST returns job (category Finance) creates the current month's returns for every active registration. Schedule it under Setup → Platform Operations → Monitoring → Jobs. It can also be run by hand from a schedule there with Run now, and accepts a month and year to provision another month.
• GST fiscal periods — each return hangs off a monthly GST fiscal period, which provisioning creates as Open when missing. A period's own Provision GST Returns covers every active registration for that month. See The GST console.
• GSP integration — pulling, saving and filing through GSTN need an integration app with your GSP connection (Setup → Process Studio → Integrations). Its sign-in flows run when a registration's GSTN sign-in status changes. See the Configuration sections of GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B.
• ISD recipients — for an ISD registration, set up the recipient turnover records described in GSTR-6.
• Single-location organizations — when the Branch field is hidden for your organization, documents have no branch to take the registration from, and fall back to the company's default registration. That flag is not on the standard forms.

Common problems

"GSTIN '…' is not a valid 15-character GSTIN."

The GSTIN does not match the format: two digits, five letters, four digits, a letter, a letter or digit, the letter Z, and a final letter or digit. Check it against the certificate; spaces and a missing character are the usual cause.

"PAN '…' is not a valid 10-character PAN."

The PAN must be five letters, four digits and a letter. Correct it or leave it empty.

"GSTIN '…' already exists" or "Name '…' already exists"

Another registration in your organization already uses that GSTIN or name. Search the list (including inactive registrations) and update the existing one instead.

A branch still shows the old GSTIN after I corrected the registration

Branches copy the registration only when the branch is saved with a new or changed registration. Open the branch, pick the registration again (or pick another and back), and save.

The registration does not appear in the GST console

The console lists only registrations with Is Active on and a GSTIN. Edit the registration and tick Is Active.

The month's returns were not created for one GSTIN

The scheduled job and the period action skip inactive registrations. Tick Is Active and provision again — it creates only what is missing. An ISD registration gets GSTR-6 only, so no GSTR-1, 2B or 3B is expected.

"Set the GSTN portal username on this registration before requesting an OTP"

Open the registration and fill GSTN Username on the Details tab, then start the sign-in again from the return dialog.

"An OTP request is already in progress for …"

A code was requested in the last few minutes. Use the code you received, or wait — the block clears about 10 minutes after the request (90 seconds after a code was submitted).

"… already has a live GSP session until …"

GSTN allows one session per username and has no sign-out, so a new OTP would end the session someone may be using. Use the existing session. Start a new one (Re-authenticate, where the panel offers it) only if you mean to replace it.

"That OTP has expired" or "The OTP must be exactly 6 digits."

GSTN codes last about 10 minutes. Request a new code and enter all six digits.

Common questions

Do I need a registration for every branch?

No. You need one registration per GSTIN. Several branches in the same state usually share one GSTIN, so they all point at the same registration. Its Branches tab lists them. Create another registration only when the company holds another GSTIN, typically in another state, or a separate Input Service Distributor GSTIN. Each branch can point at one registration only.

Where do my customers' GSTINs go?

On the customer's account, in GSTIN and GST Registration Type. If a customer is registered at several sites, also add them on its contact addresses. A GST Registration record is only for GSTINs your own company holds: xMatix files your returns under it. If you added a customer's GSTIN here by mistake and left it active, xMatix would create GST return records for it every month.

Why can't I type a Legal Name?

Legal Name is calculated from the Partner Account. It always shows the name of the company that holds the GSTIN, and it is empty when no Partner Account is set. Anything you type is replaced when you save. To change what is printed on invoices, correct the company account's name. Then save the registration again so that Legal Name picks up the new name.

What happens if I turn on Enable ISD for an existing registration?

From the next provisioning onwards, the registration gets a GSTR-6 each month and no GSTR-1, GSTR-2B, GSTR-3B or GSTR-9. Returns already created for the current month or year stay as they are. Review them before you delete any. An Input Service Distributor usually holds a separate GSTIN of its own. If yours does, create a new registration for it rather than switching an operating one.

Related topics

• The GST console
• Branches
• GSTR-1, GSTR-2B, GSTR-3B, GSTR-6
• Annual returns
• Journals
• GST Registration entity reference
• Tax Center