What is the GST accounting Software?
GST accounting software or GST Software is accounting software that manages taxation related to GST Filing. A Good GST-compliant accounting software is a right fit business application for your business. Worried that you might be filing wrong tax returns and the taxman might come knocking on your door!
Fortunately for you, GST-compliant accounting software will do all that work for you. It requires a one-time set-up configuration and after that invoice generation, accounting and compliance become a breeze. It allows you to focus on your business without having to worry about this mundane stuff.
Here are some of the features of a good GST accounting software in India for Indian Businesses and Tax compliances.
Features of a good GST Compliant Accounting Software
Why do you need GST accounting software in India or GST Software?
GST accounting software is vital for businesses in countries that have levied the GST taxation system. And India is one of the countries to launch its GST taxation system in 2017
Therefore GST accounting software in India is vital and used to manage all the compliances for your business?
If you are tired of generating manual invoices or calculating taxes manually or facing challenges while filing GST returns. GST accounting software in India is all that you need.
1) GST Accounting Software Quick Setup
A good GST accounting software or GST software requires a one-time configuration for all GST compliances.
And today online accounting software has simplified this task allowing quick configuration settings.
You can simply apply relevant GST rates to income ledgers/expense ledgers.
And set relevant GST rates to items based on their HSN codes automatically.
Create customers and vendors with their GSTIN / Unregistered / Govt.
2) Automatic GST Application on Transactions
Once you configure the masters, individual entries do not require that much attention. The moment you select a customer and items then the applicable GST amounts based on the GST rates for those items and the place of supply for the customer shall automatically appear. Hence you do not have to require a highly trained accountant to do these entries
Even while doing entries for vendors, if GST ledgers automatically appear, it acts as a cross-reference to check if the vendor has raised the invoice accurately or not. All good GST software offer options for Manual as well as Automatic GST configuration.
3) Make Tax Filing Seamless with GST Accounting Software
Given that all the transactions are recorded on the software itself; it makes GST filing absolutely seamless.
This filing could happen directly by connecting to the GST portal itself or the software could generate the excel that can be uploaded via the GST offline utility provided. The GST offline utility is the more popular choice amongst companies and Chartered Accountants.
Additionally, it is prudent to just check balances of sales vs. GST amounts once to ensure that there have been no erroneous entries at your end. With good GST compliant software, you can file returns in minutes without requiring any preparation of excel files and formats for uploads.
So when you file all your returns, the software does everything for you on time with no hassle.
4) Send GST compliant invoices with GST Accounting Software
A lot of companies have their own unique invoice formats and most software does not cater to that customization. Hence this leads to companies preparing invoices in excel or word formats and re-entering that entry into the accounting software.
This is very risky.
Firstly In case, there is a change in the invoice and the user makes the change only in word/excel but forgets to make that change in the accounting software. Then your GST return shall be erroneous.
Secondly, keeping the invoice module separate also leads to the risk of forgetting to input an invoice totally or repeating invoice numbers which would never happen if you were using the software.
Additionally, you also run the risk of charging wrong tax rates or wrong GST details since the entire process of creation of the invoice is manual.
Hence in such a situation, you must select software that can allow you to customize the invoice formats exactly as per your need with all the relevant fields captured.
This will really help you maintain the sanctity of your data and keep your invoicing and reporting in real-time. The software shall guide you whether the customer is registered or not, tax rates of income ledgers, items, HSN codes, etc.
5) Matching of GSTR 2 Data from GST Software and Portal
This is another critical but underdeveloped feature in most GST-compliant software. When you receive an invoice from a vendor and make a payment to him, it is the vendor’s responsibility to deposit the tax component of the invoice with the GST authorities quoting your GSTIN. If this is not done, you may be denied credit for the same later on.
A Good GST-compliant software should allow you to download the GSTR-2A from the portal and automatically match the entries against the input entries that exist in the software. Doing it manually is an unnecessary waste of time and can lead to errors. Additionally, if the volume of entries is high, then manual reconciliation is not really an option.
6) Advance Receipts, Credit/Debit Notes, RCM, Foreign Sales
Accounting for these is somewhat tricky and the user needs to have prior knowledge while accounting for them. Alternatively, you choose good accounting software that allows you to configure this so that accounting for it becomes easy and automatic. There is a lot of GST accounting software in India or GST software to choose from depending upon the size of your business, prices, and features required by you to make taxation easier for you.
Choose the one that suits you keeping the above features in mind as no matter how big or small your business is.
Having the convenience of good accounting software goes a long way in ensuring peace of mind and allows you to focus on your core business. Accounting cash flow refers to the amount of cash a company generates from normal business operations over a specific period of time. A good business has its base built upon a strong financial structure. The most important aspect of this is monitoring cash flows, receivables, and payables. Hence choosing the right accounting software is critical.
A great business idea can fizzle out without proper financial systems. In today’s day and age, the flow of information on a real-time basis is essential and cloud accounting software goes a long way in ensuring this.
7) Improves Cashflows
Choosing a good online GST accounting software package to regulate cash flows is basically outsourcing your cash flow management to an online service. All accounting software will give you basic reports about the health of your business. However, a good GST accounting software is one that automates invoicing and sets reminders for your clients to pay their invoices. It also sends you intuitive and comprehensive reports about your business performance at scheduled intervals automatically.
8) GST Accounting Software & Mobile App
GST Accounting software app lets you keep complete control of your business accounting software.
Managing your accounting through apps is easier than it sounds. Also, it enables you to monitor things at ease no matter where you are. You can issue an invoice from your mobile itself and in case of a query or doubt about a certain transaction. You can open the app on your phone anytime anywhere and check for the details on it without needing to rush to your office or calling your accounts manager. Whether you are traveling for work or on holiday, data is available with just a few clicks on the phone.
9) Monitoring Branch Performance
Getting information about collections at each of your locations, having follow-ups with debtors is very important. In a multi-location set-up, it is natural for management to focus more on the location they operate out of, however, that sometimes is counterproductive and leads to wrong decision making. You can this via an online real-time accounting system that gives accurate on-time information to the management. Communication between branches improves and helps management plan better.
10) Being Pro-active vs Re-active
This is one of the biggest issues faced by companies. They react to certain incidents rather than take measures to ensure that results are favorable. The reason is that information does not travel fast enough. And they receive information typically after the incident is over or it’s too late to do anything about it. If you are not dependent on anyone for viewing and analyzing information then you can take proactive measures to turn everything into an opportunity.
11) Creating a Budget
This is supposedly the most important part of the financing of a business. A budget is the road map to all cash inflow and outflow. It estimates the revenue generation as a result of all decisions to be taken in the stipulated time. Without a budget, the manager would have no control or information about the performance of the firm. Also, there is no control over whether the goals are being achieved or the targets are being completed.
This is where online budgeting of cash flows performs a magical role. A good online budget keeps a track of accounting cash flow and ongoing performance and shows data statistically in charts and diagrams which are easy to understand.
And it is all possible with the help of accounting software that supports the real-time visibility of a business. It shows the deviation from the set goals and allows for a change in the budget where improvement can be made. They also allow for comparisons to previous quarters or years to help understand the business in the long run.
Look for online accounting packages
Most renowned packages help connect a lot of devices for the same account. So your data is accessible and manageable everywhere you go.
GST Software Highlights
GST Software in terms of SaaS or Web-Based Accounting is one of the trending topics in accounting today.
Especially after the GST Implementation in India, businesses have been actively looking for Advance Solutions to manage their day-to-day accounting and GST compliances.
Majorly, because GST has made accounting crucial and regular activity for all businesses.
From quarterly return filing to filing returns on a monthly basis, software for GST has risen above in popularity and trend
India is now moving towards a world where one needs to have his accounts at one fingertip.
And GST software backed by modern tools for accounting is the need for today’s business.
Be it in terms of data transparency, detailed disclosures, or tax payments.
To bring the Modern Business Culture or what we can call a Transparent Business Culture we need Advance Accounting Solutions to support our businesses.
Though advanced accounting can have various parameters depending on the scale or scope of business let’s first highlight the basics which every business in India will need.
Defining an Advanced GST Software – The RealBooks
GST stands for Goods and Service Tax and it is applicable to both products and services.
The rate of the tax determines the amount of GST that is either paid or collected during purchase and sales in any business.
VAT was discarded with the inception of GST in July 2017 in India,
Therefore the tax structure pertaining to business has changed and that is where the GST software was introduced.
GST Software is accounting software that calculates the rate of GST automatically for any given rate.
And this helps enterprises to feed their expenses purchase and sales effectively into the system.
Apart from that, the most important role is tax compliance.
Therefore GST software also solves the problem of filing GST and Tax Returns with the help of available GST reports on time.
Why Choose RealBooks GST Software?
A GST-compliant software is necessary to ensure ease of GST-related compliance.
You configure everything at the master level so that while making entries, the junior staff do not make any mistakes.
So that you do not create any wrong invoices or miss out on any input credits that you may be eligible for.
Simply put, you configure it right once and then it shall be a breeze to maintain accounts in a GST compliant manner and to generate all returns.
Whether you are running a small, big, or very large business organization.
GST-friendly software helps you run your business with ease.
All business organizations need to submit their GST returns at regular intervals so it is vital for enterprises to use GST software.
RealBooks is one such software that has best-in-class GST features.
It is a cloud host that is very easily configurable and generates GST returns in the exact format required to file returns.
In a nutshell, you can rest assured you are GST compliant with RealBooks.
Advanced GST Accounting Software Features in RealBooks
The trend for GST Accounting Software in India has changed a lot with the advancement of technology in recent years.
And Advanced accounting solutions and GST software are becoming a part of the survival process for businesses today.
Therefore let us see what are those transformation that is taking place in current development.
a) Cloud-Based
Cloud is the need of the hour. Usually, data were stored on Hard Disks or Servers prone to physical damage. But now, Data is the core of every business. Businesses today cannot afford to lose data and also need anytime access to it. This is where Cloud comes into the picture and GST software vendors started moving to the cloud.
Realbooks is one such best example of accounting softwareinthe family of cloud-based accounting. The cloud drives the business anytime, anywhere access to data and information. And at the same time, it makes the storage secure, free of physical damages.
b) Customizable GST Software
With the growing market and business needs customized accounting solutions are what entrepreneurs are looking for. Because businesses need a tailor-made solution for solving their specific issues and this is what makes an attractive offering for them. We recently published a case study talking about a specific issue of branch accounting. And how RealBooks helped the client overcome it.
c) Collaboration
Teams have grown both in numbers and locations for most businesses. With faster expansions, most businesses are hunting for solutions that allow their teams from various locations to work simultaneously. And the cloud allows you to do that. With accounting software like RealBooks, you can collaborate with teams, share files, and information on a real-time basis.
d) GST Software Reporting
Quick decisions require reports anytime, anywhere. One of the biggest advantages of using a modern accounting solution is that it gives a detailed analysis of the business in real-time. This means that decision-makers always have the required information. Delays due to lack of information are rarely leading to faster decision-making.
The above-discussed features are something in which every business is looking for its accounting.
One such Cloud-Based Software is RealBooks. Being Cloud-Based, easy customization and collaboration and detailed reporting is available in RealBooks. And that is where RealBooks is used by small businesses to multinationals.
Why use RealBooks GST Software that is user-friendly?
Are you tired of reading about configuring your business GST-wise? Or the numerous GST-friendly software is confusing you?
Here are our comprehensive know-hows on GST:
What is GST?
GST stands for Good and Services Tax. GST is a value-added tax that is levied on goods and services sold for domestic consumption. And it replaces the earlier Service Tax and Sales Tax as one consolidated tax.
The biggest benefits are as follows:
- Businesses can get input credit for this.
- Earlier service-oriented businesses did not get input credit for goods.
- And also the product-oriented businesses did not get input credit for services consumed.
- GST allows you to take input credits even on asset purchases
- You file unified returns – which can be done easily
- Tax evasion is difficult and hence businesses need to collect and deposit taxes regularly
The Top GST Accounting Software Trends in 2021
The accounting industry is in the midst of changes as it struggles to cope with the fallout of the global financial crisis. The crisis made a major impact on several businesses all over the world, causing them to reexamine their business processes and strategies. We’ve come a long way from manual bookkeeping to automation and cloud accounting.
Most people are also outsourcing their accounting needs in order to completely focus on the task at hand and generating new business.
Let’s take a moment to talk about the top 5 accounting trends in 2021:
1. Accounting Online
Cloud technologies have evolved rapidly in recent years, making them an essential part of several industries. Thus the accounting industry has caught up. The 21st-century accounting industry demands the use of cloud software.
These applications run on servers and, thereby, the process has become more efficient and has made accounting information more accessible to authorized organizations
2. Data Analytics
Information is the key to making financial decisions. Advancements in data centers, database techniques, and software, have ushered in the age of big data and the mining of data to aid management decisions. The information generated by accounting has always been a crucial component of business decision-making. Focus on data analysis of the underlying accounting and financial information is becoming one of the key accounting trends in 2017/2018.
3. Automation
Automation is another of the trends in the accounting industry. Like all other industries, accounting can benefit from the implementation of automation. This is advantageous for the organization as the Automation of certain accounting tasks allows the time saved. And dedicated to resolving the accounting issues, which can be quite serious and be challenging at times.
4. Social Media Strategy
Social media is becoming so popular these days that it is one of the most influential marketing tools of the present time. Most businesses use social media to create a presence for their business online and reach a wider audience. Be that as it may, social media usage by these firms is advantageous for their clients as well. Their clients gain the ability to gather information about the various firms. This enhances the clarity about the services of the accounting firm.
5. Outsourcing
One of the widely used trends in accounting is Outsourcing. It helps overcome the barrier of office walls. Outsourcing accounting services can help businesses cut down costs. And also reduce the risk of fraud and provide access to the services of dedicated professionals in the field. Thus it obtains the high scalability of the business. The security factor is much higher.