How to Reconcile GSTR-2A directly from TallyPrime?

Is reconciliation of GSTR-2A with books of accounts a hectic process? Probably not! Though there are a lot of utilities or software available, the reconciliation can be done from Tally itself.

Before getting into the steps to reconcile GSTR-2A with Tally, it is crucial to know the meaning of GSTR-2A.

What is GSTR-2A?

It is a return that is generated automatically on the GST portal. All the information from GSTR-1 uploaded by the supplier is captured in this return. The most important fact to keep in mind is that it is a purchase-related IT return and not sales-related.

E.g. If A sells goods of Rs 20000 on which GST is leviable at the rate of 12%, the same GST would be reflected in the purchaser’s GSTR-2A when the seller uploads GSTR-1 return. The purchaser can claim input tax credit at the time of sales.

Why is it important to reconcile GSTR-2A with books of accounts?

Reconciliation is done to make sure that inputs are being claimed correctly. Short input taken will result in a loss to the supplier, whereas input claimed in excess will penalize such person. Also, GSTR-2A has to be reconciled with GSTR-3B, which will highlight the differences, if any, between the auto-generated return and the uploaded return.

How to reconcile the mismatch of the Input tax credit in GSTR-2A in Tally itself?

The steps are divided into 2 parts for simplicity.

Part-1 Downloading JSON File.

1. Login to the GST portal using Login id and password. Head over to the Returns dashboard.
2. Then select the financial year for which you want to reconcile. Hit the search button.
3. Click on download GSTR-2A. This is located under the heading “Auto drafted details(For view only)”
4. Click on Generate Json file to download
5. Do note that this would not be downloaded immediately. You need to wait for around 20 minutes for the JSON file to available.
6. Once processing is done, you will find an option to download. Download the JSON file. It will come in a zipped format. The first part is completed.

Part-2 Reconciliation in Tally

1. Head over to Gateway of Tally>Display>Statutory reports>GST>GSTR-2
2. Now select the financial year (same as JSON file) by pressing Alt+F2
3. Press Alt+L to load the file. Provide the file address after which a dialog box will appear. The dialog box will display the message, “File loaded successfully” along with the total number of invoices.
4. The box will also ask you to select Yes or No option. Hit the No option for comparison.
5. The blue letters are for details from the downloaded JSON File. Black is for books of accounts as per tally. Hit Alt+A to view reconciliation status.
6. The status is divided into four respective parts
1. Fully matched: Where the amounts are fully matched, and no discrepancies are found.
2. Partially matched: Where there is an amount mismatch, but the corresponding parties exist in GSTR-2A as well as Tally.
3. Available only in books: Where the parties are found in books only, but not in GSTR-2A. This indicates that the supplier had missed out on the purchaser while filing his return.
4. Available only in the portal: This indicates that some entries might not have been recorded in the books against purchases made. This will call for the rectification of books.
7. You can access the details by heading into each one of the statuses separately by pressing Enter and hitting F1: Detailed.

JSON files are of great utility when GSTR-2A reconciliation is concerned. Alternatively, GSTR-2A can be downloaded in excel format if you want to see the bill-wise details for each month.