How do I reconcile GSTR-2B against my purchase register step by step?

Pull the draft GSTR-2B once it's generated — for monthly filers, the GST portal generates it on the 14th of the following month — and compare it invoice by invoice against your purchase register for the same period. Match on invoice date, invoice number, taxable amount, tax amount, document value and return period, then work through whatever doesn't line up. The result is a set of documents split into exact matches, suggested (near) matches, real mismatches, and items present on only one side.

When GSTR-2B is available

The GST portal's own tutorial states that for monthly recipients, GSTR-2B "will be generated for each month on the 14th day of the succeeding month" — for example, the statement for July is generated and made available on 14th August. For quarterly recipients it's generated on the 14th of the month after the quarter ends.

The data cut-off behind that statement is fixed too: for monthly GSTR-1/IFF filers it covers supplier filings from 00:00 hours on the 12th of the relevant month to 23:59 hours on the 11th of the following month. Whatever a supplier files inside that window lands in your next open GSTR-2B — an invoice dated earlier only appears once the supplier actually files it, regardless of the invoice's own date.

Steps to reconcile

Once the period's GSTR-2B is available, the reconciliation itself is a straightforward invoice-level match against your books.

Download or fetch the draft GSTR-2B for the GSTIN and period you're reconciling.
Pull the purchase register for the same period from your books.
Match each document on invoice date, invoice number, taxable amount, tax amount, document value and return period.
Run an "exact match" pass first to clear everything that agrees on all fields.
Work the remainder: near-matches with a small field difference, genuine mismatches, and documents present in only one of the two records.

How matches get classified

A step-by-step reconciliation guide describes five outcome categories once the match runs: Exact Match (all the compared fields agree), Suggested Match (documents that look like the same invoice but differ on a minor field), Mismatch (a real difference in the matched fields), Missing in PR (present in GSTR-2B but not booked yet), and Missing in 2B (booked in your purchase register but not yet in the portal statement — often because the supplier hasn't filed).

How Charter AI does this

Charter AI parses a GSTR-2B or GSTR-2A JSON or Excel export and runs it against the client's purchase-side books automatically, classifying every document as matched, manually matched, partial, not in books, or not in portal, with ITC totals broken down by bucket. The mismatch review screen lets you mark a match, create a draft purchase voucher straight from a portal row, or ignore one with a note — Charter AI does not file the return.

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FAQs

What counts as an exact match?

A document where invoice date, invoice number, taxable amount, tax amount, document value and return period all agree between GSTR-2B and your purchase register.

Why is a purchase I've booked missing from GSTR-2B?

Most often the supplier simply hasn't filed their GSTR-1 or IFF for the period yet — it will appear in a later GSTR-2B once they do, since the statement is built from whatever suppliers had filed by the cut-off date, not from your invoice date.

Do I need to reconcile every month before I file?

Reconciling against GSTR-2B before filing GSTR-3B is what lets you claim only the ITC the statement supports, and catch a supplier's filing gap while there's still time to follow up.

Related guides

Sources checked

Last reviewed 2026-09-23

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