Invoice Date

[Guest]

One of my client follows this procedure to raise export invoices. Bill raised by a department on the request from despatch division in godown. The bill will be raised but the goods will not reach the customs for shipment. The party will not cancel such bills and will raise the bill again at a later date. This leads to the problem like Invoice No.: 20 will be dated 22/04/2010 and Invoice No.: 30 will be dated 11/04/2010.

They said we cant cancel all those invoices, because this happen often i.e 50% probability. Please advice

[Surender Gupta]

The assessee must correct its system else he may invite trouble sometime. Otherwise, make use of columns date of invoice and date of dispatch effectively to control the situation.

AI Summary

Invoice sequencing irregularities: use invoice date and dispatch date controls to prevent mismatched export invoices. Invoice sequencing and record accuracy are at issue where invoices are raised before goods reach customs and are not cancelled, producing non sequential invoice dating. The recommended remedy is systemic correction: require and use separate date of invoice and date of dispatch fields to validate or defer invoice recognition until dispatch is confirmed, preserving accurate export documentation and reducing compliance risk.