How to generate an e-invoice

An e-invoice is a sales invoice that has been registered with the government's invoice registration portal. The portal gives it a unique number — the IRN — and a signed QR code, which you print on the bill. Takkada does that registration for you from a saved invoice, and keeps the result on the invoice for you to print and share.

This guide is about what the app does. Whether your business has to register its invoices at all, and from which date, is a matter of law, not of this software. Takkada does not decide that for you and this page does not tell you the answer. Ask your accountant or check the official portal.

Before you start

• The e-invoice and e-way bill feature has to be on for your business. If it is not, the buttons are not on the invoice at all.
• You need your own login for the government e-invoicing portal. Takkada does not issue those and cannot create one for you. The screen shows "Need help getting your credentials?" with "View e-Invoicing Guide" if you do not have them yet.
• The invoice must already be saved. You cannot register a bill that does not exist.
• The buyer's GST details have to be right on the invoice. The portal checks them, and rejects the invoice if they are wrong.
• Nothing here is reversible in the ordinary sense. A registered invoice can be cancelled on the portal, but only within the portal's own window and only with a reason.

Generate the e-invoice

1. Open the saved sales invoice.
2. Tap "E-Invoice".
3. The screen "Generate E-Invoice" opens with "Enter your GST portal credentials to generate e-invoice".
4. Enter your "Username" and "Password" for the portal. Tick "Save credentials securely for future use" if you do not want to type them every time; next time the screen offers "Use securely saved username and password" instead.
5. Tap Generate E-Invoice and wait. Do not close the screen while it works.
6. On success you get "E-invoice generated successfully" and go back to the invoice, which now carries its IRN.

If you leave a field empty you get "Please enter username and password" and nothing is sent.

Read the result

Open the compliance details from the invoice to see "E-Invoice Details":

• "Invoice Reference Number (IRN)" — the unique reference the portal gave this invoice. This is the thing that proves it was registered.
• "Ack No." and "Ack Date" — the portal's acknowledgement number and the moment it accepted the invoice.
• "Signed QR Code" — the block your printed bill must carry. The screen says it plainly: "This QR code is digitally signed by the GST portal and should be printed on the invoice."
• "Copy QR Data" puts the signed data on your clipboard if you need it elsewhere.

The invoice PDF Takkada produces carries these for you, so in ordinary use you do not have to copy anything by hand.

Retrying and the Tally wait

Not every unsuccessful attempt is a failure.

• The portal rejected it. You get the portal's own reason back. Read it: it usually names the field that is wrong, most often something about the buyer's GSTIN or address. Fix the invoice, then generate again.
• The button is visible but will not press, with the words "Waiting for Tally to record this invoice" underneath. Nothing is wrong. Some businesses are set up so an invoice must reach their Tally before it can be registered. It resolves by itself once the sync catches up; the invoice may also carry a "Pending Tally" tag while it waits. Wait a minute and try again.
• It says "Failed to generate e-invoice" with something vague. Check that you are online, then check the credentials, then read the message again — a long message from the portal is usually about the invoice, not your login.

An invoice that already carries an IRN is never offered another one. The button disappears rather than sitting there disabled, because a second registration for the same bill is not a thing you want.

Cancel the GST document

Cancelling the registration is not the same as cancelling the invoice.

1. Open the invoice.
2. Tap "Cancel GST doc".
3. The sheet is headed "Cancel GST document" and states "The invoice stays in your books and is NOT cancelled."
4. Use "Select a reason" to pick why, and add "Remarks" if you want to explain.
5. Tap "Cancel document" to send the cancellation — it reads "Cancel both documents" when the invoice carries an e-way bill as well. "Keep documents" backs out and changes nothing on the portal.

On success you get "GST document cancelled. The invoice was not cancelled." — which is exactly what happened. Your books are unchanged. If the invoice also had an e-way bill, both are offered together.

The portal has its own time limit for cancelling a registration. Takkada passes your request on; it cannot extend that window.

When it does not look right

There is no e-invoice button on the invoice. Either the feature is not on for your business, or the invoice already has an IRN. Check the compliance details before assuming the first.

You cannot cancel the invoice itself. Once an invoice carries a GST document, the app says "Invoices with e-invoice or e-way bill cannot be cancelled here." Cancel the GST document first, or issue a credit note instead. Several fields — due date, voucher number, payment status — lock for the same reason.

The portal keeps rejecting the same invoice. Read the message rather than retrying. If it names the buyer, fix the party's GST details and generate again. Retrying an unchanged invoice gets the same answer.

The e-invoice worked but the invoice looks wrong in Tally. Registering with the portal and syncing to Tally are two different journeys. A successful IRN is not evidence that Tally has the invoice. See the Tally sync guide.