The Invoice Management System (IMS) is the dashboard on the GST portal where you accept, reject, or keep pending each invoice your suppliers report, before it flows into your GSTR-2B and becomes claimable input tax credit. As of Aug 2026 IMS is live for all taxpayers, turning ITC from an automatic download into an active monthly decision.
When a supplier files GSTR-1 (or uploads through IFF), each invoice lands in your IMS queue. Accept it and it enters your GSTR-2B; reject it and it stays out; mark it pending and the decision is deferred to a later period — useful when goods haven't arrived yet. Take no action and the invoice is deemed accepted, which is the default most small businesses silently run on.
The working routine: after the supplier filing window, sit with your purchase register and the IMS queue together. Accept what matches, keep pending what's billed but not received, and reject what you don't recognise — wrong-GSTIN entries and fraudulent invoices raised against your number both show up here first. This slots naturally into the same sitting as your GSTR-2B reconciliation before GSTR-3B.
Two mistakes to avoid. Deemed-accepting everything means junk invoices quietly enter your 2B, and unwinding them later is messy. The reverse error — rejecting a genuine invoice over a minor mismatch — kills your own credit for that period and forces the supplier into an amendment cycle. When in doubt, pending is safer than reject.
Act on it
Reviewed to the law in force in FY 2026-27. General information, not advice — confirm the position for your facts before acting.