GST Invoice Management System (IMS): Accept, Reject or Pending?
GST IMS lets recipients review eligible supplier records before they flow through the ITC process. Understand Accept, Reject, Pending and No Action in practical terms.
The GST Invoice Management System (IMS) adds a recipient-review layer to the input tax credit process.
Instead of discovering every mismatch only after the ITC statement is generated, taxpayers can review eligible supplier records appearing in IMS and take an appropriate action.
What does Accept mean?
Use Accept where the record belongs to the recipient and is appropriate to move through the system for GSTR-2B generation.
Acceptance should not be treated as a substitute for legal ITC review. An invoice can belong to the business and still contain credit that is blocked, temporarily reversible or otherwise ineligible.
What does Reject mean?
Reject is relevant where the record should not be considered for the recipient—for example, where the document does not pertain to the recipient or contains a fundamental error requiring supplier correction.
Rejection should be used carefully because it affects the document's treatment for GSTR-2B. The purchase register and supporting invoice should be checked before rejecting a genuine business credit.
When should a record be kept Pending?
Pending is useful where the recipient is not ready to accept or reject the record and the document type permits the pending action.
Possible situations include a supply under dispute, goods-receipt confirmation still pending or an invoice awaiting internal verification.
A pending record is carried forward in IMS for later action rather than being considered for that month's GSTR-2B in the same way as an accepted record.
What happens with No Action?
IMS also allows the practical outcome of taking No Action. Under the system design, records on which no action is taken are generally treated as deemed accepted for GSTR-2B generation.
This means “doing nothing” should still be a conscious monthly control decision.
How should accounting teams use IMS?
- Reconcile IMS with the purchase register.
- Investigate missing, duplicate or wrong supplier documents.
- Maintain internal remarks for disputed items.
- Do not claim ITC only because a document appears in IMS or GSTR-2B.
- Review credit notes carefully because they can reduce credit.
- Complete the review before finalising GSTR-3B.
IMS should become part of the month-end close
GST review works best when integrated with accounting rather than performed independently at year-end.
At financial statement stage, GST input, output, receivable and payable balances should reconcile with the books. assureOffice Financial Builder can then use the reviewed accounting balances for structured financial statement preparation.
For the next step in the workflow, see GST IMS vs GSTR-2B.
Use IMS as a control tool: match the document to the books, decide the correct action, and separately check legal ITC eligibility.