GSTR-2B reconciliation: a five-point month-end checklist

Most ITC leakage is not dramatic. It accumulates: an invoice not yet uploaded by a vendor, a payment made but not booked, a credit note nobody matched. By the time it surfaces in an annual reconciliation, the remedy is a follow-up exercise in archaeology.

The fix is a short monthly habit. One, download GSTR-2B and match it to your purchase register. Two, list every invoice missing from 2B and chase the vendor before the ITC window closes. Three, confirm that payments and books agree — credit claimed only on invoices actually settled within the prescribed period.

Four, reconcile credit notes and amendments so your 3B reflects reality, not optimism. Five, file on time; late filing by your vendor is a vendor problem until it becomes your cash-flow problem.

Fifteen minutes a month, honestly kept, is cheaper than any notice. If the gap between 2B and your books keeps widening, that is not a reconciliation issue — it is a vendor-management issue wearing a reconciliation costume.