Every option below claims to “reconcile GSTR-2B”, and the feature lists look alike. What differs is where the work happens, where your data goes, what you must do by hand each month, and how much the output explains. This guide sorts the field into kinds rather than brands, so you can judge any product you meet, including ours.
What every option has to do
Whatever the type, four jobs are non-negotiable, and each comes from a rule you already live with.
- Compare your purchase register with GSTR-2B, invoice by invoice. ITC can be claimed only if the supplier furnished the invoice in GSTR-1 and the details were communicated to you in GSTR-2B (Section 16(2)(aa)), and since 1 January 2022 Rule 36(4) allows no provisional credit beyond what GSTR-2B shows. A tool that only compares monthly totals cannot tell you which invoice to chase.
- Be built around GSTR-2B, not GSTR-2A. From FY 2023-24 even Table 8A of GSTR-9 is auto-filled from GSTR-2B. If a product still asks you to match against 2A, it is checking a statement your claim no longer rests on.
- Treat IMS Pending separately. Records kept Pending in IMS are not part of that period's GSTR-2B, but you can change the action and recompute before filing GSTR-3B. An invoice missing because of your own IMS action needs a different fix from one the supplier never filed.
- Help you stay inside 2B. If ITC claimed in GSTR-3B exceeds GSTR-2B beyond the notified limit you receive a DRC-01C intimation and must file Part B. The software's real job is to show you the gap before you file.
The four kinds, honestly compared
1. Reconciliation inside your ERP or accounting software
The data is already there, so there is no export step. It is the least effort when it works. The trade-offs: the matching rules are the vendor's and often cannot be changed, it serves only that one product, and results can be thin (a status per invoice with no reason). If your books write invoice numbers differently from the portal, check whether it lets you review near-matches. Our guides on exporting from Zoho Books, Busy, Tally Prime and Marg are for the day the built-in feature is not enough.
2. GSP or ASP tools, desktop or cloud
These come from GST Suvidha Providers and application service providers. Many are built to pull GSTR-2B for you after you authorise them, and to run many clients or GSTINs from one screen; check whether the product you are looking at does. That is a real saving for a practice. The costs are setup, a pricing basis you should read carefully (per GSTIN, per return, per user, or a flat fee), and the fact that your purchase data and your portal authorisation sit with the vendor. Ask where data is stored, what access is granted and how you revoke it.
3. Excel templates and macros
Total control and no vendor, at the price of maintenance. Exact-match lookups fail when INV/26/041 in your books is INV-26-041 on the portal, and macro workbooks depend on you trusting the file and keeping the column layout fixed. Reconciling GSTR-2B in Excel shows the approach and its limits; the invoice number guide explains the failure most templates share.
4. Browser-based tools
You open a page, give it the GSTR-2B and your register, and it does the matching in the page. Nothing to install and it works from any ERP export. What it cannot do: log in to the portal for you, read your live IMS dashboard, or file anything. You download both files each month. The question that matters is whether the files are uploaded; see why that matters for client data.
| Kind | Where your data goes | Effort each month | Strongest when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERP module | Stays inside your ERP | Low | One ERP, standard numbering | Fixed rules, thin explanations |
| GSP or ASP tool | Vendor's servers, portal authorisation | Low after setup | Many clients or GSTINs | Data handling, pricing basis |
| Excel template | Your computer | High | Few invoices, one person | Breaks on number formats |
| Browser tool | Depends on the tool; ask | Medium (two downloads) | Mixed ERPs, quick checks | No portal link, manual downloads |
Which one fits your business
| Your situation | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One GSTIN, up to about 100 purchase invoices a month | Excel template or browser tool | Volume is small enough to review every difference by eye |
| One GSTIN, a few hundred invoices, many small suppliers | ERP module if it explains each difference, otherwise a browser tool | Invoice-number variety is where hand matching fails |
| Several GSTINs and branch transfers | ERP module or GSP/ASP tool with consolidation | Each GSTIN has its own 2B; see multi-GSTIN reconciliation |
| Practice with 20 to 50 clients on different software | A browser tool plus a client tracker, or a GSP/ASP tool if you accept its data terms | You cannot standardise your clients' ERPs; see reconciliation for CA firms |
| Company with in-house IT wanting automation | ERP integration or GSP/ASP tool | Only these can run without a monthly download |
These bands are our rule of thumb, not a legal or industry threshold. Choose the smallest option that still shows a reason for every difference.
Worked example: the same month at two levels of detail
A trading firm with one GSTIN records purchase ITC of ₹3,42,600 for the month. Its GSTR-2B shows ₹3,05,100 available. A totals-only view says: ₹37,500 short (₹3,42,600 minus ₹3,05,100). Useful as an alarm, useless as a to-do list. An invoice-level view says why:
| Reason | Invoices | ITC | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier has not furnished the invoice in GSTR-1 | 2 | ₹21,600 | Follow up with the supplier; the credit can be taken in a later month if you claim before the Section 16(4) deadline |
| Kept Pending on your IMS dashboard | 3 | ₹9,900 | Accept or reject, then recompute before filing GSTR-3B |
| Tax in 2B lower than in books | 1 | ₹6,000 | Ask the supplier to correct it; GSTR-1A works only within the same tax period, before their GSTR-3B |
| Total gap | 6 | ₹37,500 |
₹21,600 plus ₹9,900 plus ₹6,000 is ₹37,500, the whole gap. Until these are resolved, the safe GSTR-3B claim is the ₹3,05,100 that 2B shows; claiming ₹3,42,600 invites a DRC-01C intimation. That is the test for any software: does it give you the second table, not just the first line?
Where our tool fits
Our tool is the fourth kind. You give it the GSTR-2B (Excel or JSON) and your purchase register (Excel or CSV), confirm which column is which, and it sorts every invoice into matched, value mismatch, in books but missing from 2B, in 2B but not in books, and a bucket that flags likely IMS Pending, each with rupee totals and a CSV export. It also lists duplicates in your books and credit or debit notes. It does not file returns, connect to the GST portal, read your live IMS dashboard or reconcile GSTR-2A, and full two-way credit note matching is not built yet.
See a report on your own files
Try it on one month of your own data and compare the output with the second table above. Your GSTR-2B and purchase register files are read in your browser and never uploaded to any server.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need software to reconcile GSTR-2B?
Not for a handful of invoices a month; a careful Excel sheet is enough. As volume grows, exact-match formulas start failing on invoice number formats and the time per month climbs, which is when a tool starts to pay for itself.
Why should reconciliation software match against GSTR-2B and not GSTR-2A?
The ITC claim is tied to details communicated in GSTR-2B under Section 16(2)(aa) and Rule 36(4). From FY 2023-24 even Table 8A of the annual return GSTR-9 is auto-filled from GSTR-2B. Matching against GSTR-2A checks a statement your claim no longer rests on.
Is the reconciliation feature in my ERP enough?
It can be, if it works invoice by invoice, uses the GSTR-2B for the right period and tells you why each invoice differs. Test it with a few invoices whose numbers are written differently in your books and on the portal.
Guides in this series
- free GST reconciliation software: what to check before trusting a free tool
- GSTR-2B matching tool: how automated matching decides two invoices match
- How to use a GSTR-2B reconciliation tool
- GSTR-2B matching in SAP S/4HANA: ingestion, BAPI reconciliation, and GR/IR clearing
- GST portal offline matching tool or a browser tool: which fits your GSTR-2B check
- GST Reconciliation in Tally ERP 9: step-by-Step Workflow
- GSTR-2B matching in SAP B1: aP invoices and multi-GSTIN extraction
- Is Excel VLOOKUP good enough for GSTR-2B, or do you need a tool
- How to import GSTR-2B into Tally Prime
- GSTR-2B to Tally: how to import and match data
- How to reconcile GSTR-2B with your accounting software
- How to import the GSTR-2B JSON file into Tally
Last checked: 30 Sep 2026. Sources: Notification 39/2021-Central Tax, Notification 40/2021-Central Tax (Rule 36(4)), GSTN IMS FAQ, GSTN advisory on DRC-01C, GSTN GSTR-9 manual, GSTN GSTR-1A FAQ, CBIC circular 237/31/2024 (Section 16(4)).