Albert Einstein famously said:
“The hardest thing to understand in the world is income tax.”
The Goods & Services Tax or GST is expected to be a growth stimulant for India’s economy. It has eliminated indirect and cascading taxes and provided a single tax regime for the entire country.
The GST regime, however, has also presented unique challenges to small and medium-sized business owners, accounting teams, and tax consultants.
Known as an unforgiving tax, the GST system does not have provisions for modifications or amendments once the returns are filed. This means that accountants, tax consultants or Chartered Accountants must make sure that their initial filing of returns is verified and cross-checked with the vendors or partners for each transaction.
Accounting teams are burdened with increased administrative responsibilities for monthly or quarterly GST filing. Since invoice-level details are required for every transaction, this becomes a cumbersome and time-consuming process. For SMEs, adapting to the new online interface and digitizing the accounting procedures is not an easy task. Mismatches between the various GSTR forms and reconciliation of data between the seller and the supplier to claim full ITC is a further burden.
It is evident that the GST has imposed administrative, technical and compliance burdens on the taxpayer, and more specifically on accounting professionals.
RPA is the answer
The GST system is designed to compel businesses to digitize their tax records and minimize fraud. First-time-right is the best way to achieve compliance.
Automation becomes a key strategy to achieve this compliance. RPA (robotic process automation) enables automatic handling of high-volume, repetitive tasks in the GST filing process.
Sapours develops GST Filing Bot in partnership with Automation Anywhere
The GST filing bot is programmed to carry out pre-defined GST filing tasks. It is also programmed to log into the GST portal, upload files and log out after completing the steps.
Determination of Revenue: The bot sources revenue details from Sales General Ledger from the ERP and/or accounting systems and prepares the master file.
Internal cross-check and reconciliation:
It automatically reformats and fills data into templates supplied by the Government of India.
Finally, the bot uploads the data in the correct format and specifications into the GST portal www.gst.gov.in.
Here is a screenshot showing the data analysis dashboard for the BOT Insight feature:
Advantages of using the GST Filing Bot
The filing bot is a great way to get voluminous tasks like data preparation, formatting and reconciliation completed rapidly and accurately.
- It eliminates manual intervention in the filing process to a great extent and therefore reduces the element of risk of human error.
- It improves efficiency as the bot works 24×7, does not require breaks or leave. and can complete tasks to meet strict deadlines. The bot can complete in 1 hour which would take over 9 hours for a human resource.
- The bot expertly handles reconciliation of GSTR2A and 3B before submission, which is a cumbersome process if done manually.
- It automates the reconciliation of invoices and reduces the volume of adjustment entries.
- The bot has the ability to adapt automatically to changes in the GST Act, and its detailed rules and regulations.
- Finally, using the bot helps avoid late payment fees and penalties for incorrect or mismatched returns.
The Sapours GST Filing Bot is a completely encrypted solution that brings peace of mind to businesses and their owners. The bot provides great assistance in minimizing the risk of data leaks or data loss and maintains the integrity of data. It helps in protecting data from unauthorized access and data corruption through entire its life cycle. Moreover, it allows CFOs who are committed to digital transformation initiatives to use automation for repetitive tasks and release their workforce for more value-added work.
The Sapours GST Filing Bot is available on the Automation Anywhere Bot Store.