Direct Invoice
DIRECT INVOICE​
The Direct Invoice screen is used to record supplier bills that do not come from a Purchase Order or a GRN — for example consultancy charges, professional fees, rent, and other expense billing.
Because a direct invoice is stored with the invoice type DIRECT alongside your other supplier invoices, a confirmed direct invoice can be paid from GRN Invoice Payment and exported to Tally exactly like a GRN invoice.
To go back to the Search screen, click Direct Invoice next to Welcome at the top-right corner of the page.
1.1 Access Direct Invoice​
Access Direct Invoice - Step-by-Step
Step 1: Reach the Direct Invoice Screen
From the main side menu, click on "Accounts", then go to "Operations", and finally select "Direct Invoice". This will open the Direct Invoice Search page.
The Direct Invoice menu item is visible only to users who have been granted access to this screen. If you cannot see it, contact the IT Team.
Access Rights
What you can do on this screen depends on the access granted to you:
| Access | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Direct Invoice – Create | Shows the Add Direct Invoice button and the Draft button. |
| Direct Invoice Approve – Create | Shows the Confirm button. |
| Export GRN Invoice for Tally – Read (or Admin) | Shows the Export Status filter, the Export Status and Tally Export Selector columns, and the Tally export buttons on the search page. |
A user with only the Create access can save drafts but cannot confirm them. A user with only the Approve access can confirm an invoice but cannot save it as a draft.
1.2 Search Direct Invoice​
Search a Direct Invoice - Step-by-Step
Step 1: Start Searching
On the Direct Invoice Search page, you can search using the following filters:
- Supplier: [Dropdown] (Optional) Select a supplier. Leave it blank to include all suppliers.
- Invoice Number: [Text Field] (Optional) Enter the invoice number to look for a specific invoice. The value is converted to uppercase (up to 16 characters).
- Status: [Dropdown] (Optional) Select Draft or Confirmed. By default, this field is set to All.
- From Date: [Date Field] (Mandatory) Select the starting invoice date for the range. It defaults to the first day of the current financial year.
- To Date: [Date Field] (Mandatory) Select the ending invoice date for the range. It defaults to today's date.
- Export Status: [Dropdown] (Mandatory) Shown only to users with Tally export access. Filter by Exported or Not Exported. By default, this field is set to All.
- From Date and To Date are mandatory. The Search button stays disabled until both are filled.
- The From Date cannot be later than the To Date, and the date range cannot be longer than 12 months. If it is, the message "Invoice From Date cannot be earlier than 12 months from the Invoice To Date." is shown and the search is not run.
- All other filters are optional and can be used alone or in any combination.
Step 2: Search and Clear Actions
- Click Search to fetch the direct invoices that match the selected filters.
- Click Clear to reset the filters, the selected supplier, and the loaded results. The dates are reset to their defaults (first day of the current financial year to today).
Step 3: See the Results
After clicking Search, matching records are displayed in a table with:
- S.No
- View/Edit
- Invoice Number
- Supplier
- Invoice Date
- Category
- Grand Total — calculated as
Taxable + Tax + TCS Amount − TDS Amount(see section 1.7). - Status — shows DRAFT or CONFIRMED as a status label.
- Export Status — shows Exported or Not Exported. Visible only to users with Tally export access.
- Tally Export Selector — a checkbox to select the invoice for Tally export. Visible only to users with Tally export access.
Additional display:
- The total number of matching records is shown above the table as Results (n).
- A Search filter box above the table lets you narrow the loaded results by invoice number, supplier, category, or status without running the search again.
- If no records match, the message "No direct invoice records to display." is shown.
Result-level actions:
- View/Edit: Opens the selected direct invoice in edit mode.
Your search filters and results are kept when you open an invoice or click Add Direct Invoice. When you come back to the search page, the previous results are shown again without re-running the search.
After you save a draft or confirm an invoice, the search page opens pre-filled with that invoice's Supplier and Invoice Number and shows the saved record straight away — regardless of its invoice date.
Step 4: Export for Tally
Users with Tally export access can export confirmed direct invoices to Tally from the results table:
- Tick the Tally Export Selector checkbox for each invoice you want to export. The number of selected invoices is shown as Selected Invoice Numbers above the table.
- Check All: Selects every invoice currently shown in the table (respecting the Search filter box), skipping those that cannot be exported.
- Uncheck All: Clears the selection and refreshes the results.
- Export For Tally: Downloads the selected invoices as a file named
DirectInvoice-<date>_<time>.csv. The Tally format (with or without product) is taken from the Tally Template set in Organisation Details.
- An invoice in DRAFT status cannot be exported — its checkbox is disabled with the tooltip "Cannot export while in draft status".
- If any selected invoice has already been exported, a popup lists the already-exported invoice numbers along with the selected count. Confirm the popup to export them again, or close it to cancel.
- If any selected invoice has a line item without a valid GST value, a popup lists the affected invoices and the file is not generated. Correct the GST rates on those invoices and try again.
- If no invoice is selected, the message "no invoice Numbers Selected" is shown.
1.3 Add Direct Invoice​
Add a Direct Invoice - Step-by-Step
Step 1: Open the Add Screen
On the top right of the Direct Invoice Search page, click the "Add Direct Invoice" button. The screen opens with the heading New Direct Invoice and the status DRAFT shown at the top right.
Step 2: Fill in the Header Details
- Supplier: [Dropdown] (Mandatory) Select the supplier who raised the invoice. Selecting a supplier loads that supplier's billing addresses, payment terms, and TDS/TCS sections.
If you change the supplier, the Supplier Billing Address, Payment Terms, Due Days, Due Date, and TDS/TCS values are cleared so that they can be resolved again for the new supplier. The invoice number is also re-checked for duplicates against the new supplier.
- Supplier Billing Address: [Dropdown] (Mandatory) Select the supplier's billing address. This address decides which GST fields apply to the line items (see Step 3). Only the supplier's active billing addresses are listed. If the supplier has only one active billing address, it is selected automatically.
Supplier and Billing Address are locked once line items are added. Because they decide how every line is taxed, you cannot change or remove the Supplier or the Supplier Billing Address while the invoice has any expense line items. The hint "Remove all line items to change the supplier or billing address." is shown under the field. Delete all line items first if you need to change either of them.
- Invoice Number: [Text Field] (Mandatory) Enter the supplier's invoice number (up to 16 characters). The value is converted to uppercase, and the system checks for duplicates against the same supplier when you move out of the field.
If the same invoice number already exists for that supplier — on another Direct Invoice or on a GRN Invoice — a "Duplicate invoice number for this supplier." message is shown below the field, along with the warning "An invoice with this number already exists for this supplier in the current financial year." The Draft and Confirm buttons stay disabled until the number is corrected.
- Invoice Date: [Date Field] (Mandatory) Select the invoice date. It defaults to today's date. Changing this date refreshes the list of valid payment terms and TDS/TCS sections, and recalculates the due date.
- Payment Terms: [Dropdown] (Optional) Select the payment term agreed with the supplier. Each option is shown with its due days, for example
Net 30 (30 days). See Payment Terms and Due Date below. - Due Days: [Number Field] (Mandatory) Displays the due days of the selected payment term. This field becomes read-only once a payment term is applied. If no payment term is selected, you can enter the due days manually — between 0 and 999. A value outside this range is corrected automatically as you type.
- Due Date: [Date Field] (Mandatory) [Auto-Calculated] Displays the due date calculated as Invoice Date + Due Days. This field is read-only.
- Category: [Dropdown] (Mandatory) Select the P&L head that the expense should be booked against.
- Account Ledger: [Dropdown] (Mandatory) Select the account ledger for the expense. Only the ledgers configured for the Purchase voucher type are listed.
If any values need to be added to the Category or Account Ledger dropdowns, please contact the IT Team to add them.
- Applied TDS/TCS: [Dropdown] (Optional) Select Not Applicable, TDS, or TCS. See section 1.6 for how the system suggests a value.
- TDS/TCS Section: [Dropdown] (Mandatory when TDS or TCS is applied) Displayed only when Applied TDS/TCS is set to TDS or TCS. Lists the supplier's TDS/TCS sections that are valid on the invoice date, with their percentages (for example,
194J - 10%). If it is left empty, the message "TDS/TCS Section is required when Applied TDS/TCS is selected." is shown. - Remarks: [Text Field] (Optional) Enter additional details or comments for the invoice (up to 250 characters).
Payment Terms and Due Date
Payment terms work the same way as in Supplier PO:
- The dropdown lists only the supplier's terms that are valid on the invoice date — that is, the invoice date falls on or after the term's effective date and on or before its expiry date (a term with no expiry date is always valid after it becomes effective).
- If only one valid term exists, it is selected automatically.
- Selecting a term fills Due Days with the term's due days, makes Due Days read-only, and calculates the Due Date.
- When you change the Invoice Date, the list is refreshed. The selected term is kept if it is still valid for the new date; if it is no longer valid, it is cleared and Due Days becomes editable again.
- When editing a saved invoice, its saved payment term is always kept in the list, even if it is no longer valid, and the saved Due Days and Due Date are retained.
Step 3: GST Fields
The GST fields shown on the line items depend on the selected Supplier Billing Address compared with your organisation's billing address:
| Supplier billing address | GST fields shown on line items |
|---|---|
| Same country, same state | CGST % and SGST % |
| Same country, different state | IGST % |
| Different country (export) | No GST fields |
The GST rates are optional. Any value between 0 and 100 is accepted — a rate of 0 can be used for exempt or nil-rated expenses.
Step 4: Add the Expense Line Items
In the Add Expense Line Item section, enter:
- Description: [Text Field] (Mandatory) Enter what the line item is for (up to 100 characters).
- HS Code: [Text Field] (Optional) Enter the HSN/SAC code for the expense. Only digits are allowed, up to 10 characters.
- Taxable Amount: [Number Field] (Mandatory) Enter the taxable value of the line item. It must be greater than zero and can be up to 99,999,999.99.
- CGST % and SGST %: [Number Field] (Optional) Shown for an intra-state supplier. Enter the applicable GST rates (0–100).
- IGST %: [Number Field] (Optional) Shown for an inter-state supplier. Enter the applicable GST rate (0–100).
Then use the buttons below the form:
- Add Line Item: Adds the line item to the Expense Line Item(s) table.
- Clear: Clears the line item entry form.
You must select a Supplier and a Supplier Billing Address before adding line items, so that the correct GST fields can be shown. Until both are selected, the message "Select a supplier and billing address first to enable GST calculation and line item entry." is displayed and the Add Line Item button is disabled.
If a line cannot be added, one of the following warnings is shown:
| Warning | Reason |
|---|---|
| Taxable Amount must be greater than zero. | The taxable amount is 0 or empty. |
| GST rate(s) must be between 0 and 100. | A CGST, SGST, or IGST rate is outside the allowed range. |
| Please complete the line item fields. | The description is missing or another line field is invalid. |
The Expense Line Item(s) table displays each added line with:
- S.No
- Edit — loads the line back into the entry form; the section heading changes to Edit Expense Line Item and the button reads Update Line Item.
- Delete — removes the line from the invoice.
- Description
- HS Code
- Taxable
- CGST % and SGST % (intra-state) or IGST % (inter-state)
- Tax [Auto-Calculated]
- Line Total [Auto-Calculated]
If no line has been added, the table shows "No line items added."
Step 5: Review the Amount Summary
Below the line items table, the following values are calculated automatically:
- Taxable: Total taxable value of all line items.
- Tax: Total GST of all line items.
- Less: TDS (x%): Shown only when TDS is applied.
- Add: TCS (x%): Shown only when TCS is applied.
- Grand Total: The final payable amount.
See section 1.7 for the formulas used.
Step 6: Draft, Confirm, or Back
At the bottom of the page, the following actions are available:
- Draft: Saves the invoice in DRAFT status so that you can complete it later. On success, the message "Draft saved." is shown.
- Confirm: Finalises the invoice in CONFIRMED status, making it available for payment and Tally export. On success, the message "Invoice confirmed." is shown.
- Back: Returns to the search page without saving the changes.
After a successful save, you are returned to the search page with the saved invoice shown (see section 1.2).
The Draft and Confirm buttons are disabled while any mandatory header field is empty or invalid, or while the invoice number is a duplicate.
Checks made before saving
When you click Draft or Confirm, the system checks the following in order, and stops at the first one that fails:
- Payment check — for an existing invoice, whether a payment has been recorded against it in the meantime (see section 1.5).
- Status check — a CONFIRMED invoice cannot be saved back to draft: "A confirmed invoice cannot be saved back to draft."
- Mandatory fields — "Please complete all required fields."
- At least one line item — "Please add at least one expense line item."
- Duplicate invoice number — "An invoice with this number already exists for this supplier in the current financial year."
- TDS/TCS limits (Confirm only) — if the limits require TDS/TCS but none is applied, a confirmation popup is shown (see section 1.6).
Uploading the vendor's invoice copy is not required to save or confirm a direct invoice.
1.4 Edit Direct Invoice​
Edit a Direct Invoice - Step-by-Step
Step 1: Access the Edit Direct Invoice Page
After performing a search, locate the record in the results table and click the View/Edit button next to the direct invoice you wish to edit. The screen opens with the heading Edit Direct Invoice and the current status shown at the top right.
Step 2: Update Details
The saved header details and expense line items are loaded into the screen. Update the fields as required and add, edit, or remove expense line items. The amount summary is recalculated as you make changes.
- The Supplier and Supplier Billing Address are locked while the invoice has line items. To change them, delete all line items first.
- The saved Applied TDS/TCS and TDS/TCS Section values are retained as they are — the system does not re-suggest them. A saved section is still shown even if it has since expired. Change them manually if the invoice requires it.
Step 3: Save or Cancel Changes
- Draft: Saves the updated details and keeps the invoice in DRAFT status. Available only while the invoice is still a draft.
- Confirm: Saves the updated details and moves (or keeps) the invoice in CONFIRMED status.
- Back: Discards any unsaved changes and navigates back to the search page.
1.5 Editing Restrictions​
Confirmed invoices
Once an invoice is CONFIRMED, the Draft button is no longer shown — a confirmed invoice cannot be moved back to draft. A user with approve access can still edit the invoice and click Confirm again to save the changes, as long as no payment has been made against it.
Invoices with a payment
Once a payment has been recorded against the invoice in GRN Invoice Payment — fully or partially — the invoice can no longer be changed:
- The Draft and Confirm buttons are hidden, and only Back is available.
- The message "You Cannot Edit This Direct Invoice Because Payment Was Done." is shown above the buttons.
The payment check is made when the invoice is opened, and again at the moment you click Draft or Confirm. If a payment was recorded from another screen or browser tab while you had the invoice open, the save is blocked with the same message. The server also rejects any update to a direct invoice that already has a payment.
If the system cannot confirm whether a payment exists (for example, due to a network error), editing is blocked to be safe and the message "Existing payments for this invoice could not be verified, so editing is blocked. Please reopen the invoice to retry." is shown. Reopen the invoice to try again.
1.6 TDS/TCS Handling​
Direct Invoice follows the same TDS/TCS rules as GRN Invoice. The sections and limits come from the supplier master.
How the TDS/TCS fields behave
- You can apply either TDS or TCS, but not both. Selecting one automatically clears the other.
- The percentage is always taken from the selected TDS/TCS Section and cannot be typed in directly.
- Only the supplier's sections that are valid on the invoice date (between the section's effective and expiry dates) are listed. If there is only one valid section, it is selected automatically.
- When you switch Applied TDS/TCS to TDS or TCS and no section is selected yet, the supplier's default section is filled in.
- If you pick a section while Applied TDS/TCS is Not Applicable, it is switched to TDS automatically.
- Setting Applied TDS/TCS back to Not Applicable clears the section and the TDS/TCS amounts.
How the system suggests a value
When you select a supplier on a new invoice, the system suggests an Applied TDS/TCS value only when all of the following are true:
- The supplier is marked as TDS/TCS applicable in the supplier master.
- The supplier has a default TDS/TCS section that is valid on the invoice date (based on the section's effective and expiry dates).
- Either of the two limits on that default section has been reached — the Single Bill Limit or the Financial Year Bill Limit.
When the suggestion applies, the default section is selected and TDS is applied unless you have already chosen TCS. If the supplier is not marked as TDS/TCS applicable, Applied TDS/TCS is set to Not Applicable.
- Once you change the Applied TDS/TCS or the TDS/TCS Section yourself, your selection is treated as final — the system will not overwrite or clear it.
- The suggestion is made only when the supplier is selected on a new invoice. It is not re-run when line items are added, and it is never run when editing a saved invoice.
- Because the supplier is selected before any line items are added, the suggestion is normally driven by the Financial Year Bill Limit. The Single Bill Limit is checked against the final taxable value when you click Confirm (see Confirmation check below).
Only the supplier's default TDS/TCS section is used for this check. The limits of the supplier's other sections do not trigger it, although you can still select those sections manually.
What each limit is compared against
| Limit | Compared against |
|---|---|
| Single Bill Limit | The Taxable total of this invoice only — the sum of the line items before GST. |
| Financial Year Bill Limit | The supplier's total invoice value for the current financial year. |
The two limits are measured on different bases. The Single Bill Limit is compared against the taxable value excluding GST, while the Financial Year Bill Limit is compared against invoice totals including GST. Crossing just one of the two is enough to make TDS/TCS applicable.
How the financial year total is calculated
The financial year total is worked out by the system. It is not stored and is not shown on the screen.
- The window is taken from the Financial Year Starts month set in Organisation Details. For the standard Indian setting of April, the window runs from 1 April to 31 March.
- The window used is the financial year that contains today's date.
- Which invoices count: every invoice for that supplier whose Invoice Date falls inside the window. This includes both direct invoices and
GRN Invoices, because they are held as one set of supplier invoices — and it includes invoices in every status, drafts included. - Which amount is added up: for each counted invoice,
Taxable Amount + Tax Amount + Other Charges— the invoice value including GST, taken before any TDS/TCS and before any advance deduction. (Direct invoices have no other charges; the other charges come from GRN invoices.)
The window is based on today's date, not the invoice date on the screen. If you back-date an invoice into a previous financial year, the check is still made against the current financial year's total.
If the supplier has no invoices inside the window, the financial year total is treated as 0, so only the Single Bill Limit can trigger TDS/TCS.
For the full rules shared by both invoice screens, see How the Single Bill and Financial Year Limits Are Applied.
Confirmation check
When you click Confirm, the limits are checked again using the invoice's final Taxable total and the supplier's current financial year total. If either limit has been crossed but Applied TDS/TCS is still set to Not Applicable, a confirmation popup appears:
TDS/TCS is applicable for this supplier — the single-bill or annual limit is crossed, but no Applied TDS/TCS is selected. Do you want to proceed without applying TDS/TCS?
- Click Proceed to confirm the invoice without TDS/TCS.
- Close the popup to go back and select the correct TDS/TCS value.
This check runs only on Confirm. A Draft is always saved as work-in-progress without the check. Your Applied TDS/TCS selection is never changed by this check.
1.7 Calculation Operations​
Line Item Tax: The GST rate applied to a line depends on the supplier billing address — CGST % + SGST % for an intra-state supplier, IGST % for an inter-state supplier, and 0 for an export supplier.
Line Tax = (Taxable Amount * GST Rate) / 100
Line Total = Taxable Amount + Line Tax
Taxable: The sum of the taxable amounts of all line items.
Taxable = Sum of all line item Taxable Amounts
Tax: The sum of the tax of all line items.
Tax = Sum of all line item Line Tax values
Net Total: The taxable value plus the tax.
Net Total = Taxable + Tax
TDS Amount: TDS is withheld on the taxable value (excluding GST), using the percentage of the selected TDS section. If TDS is not applied, the value is 0.
TDS Amount = (Taxable * TDS %) / 100
TCS Amount: TCS is charged on the net total (including GST), using the percentage of the selected TCS section. If TCS is not applied, the value is 0.
TCS Amount = (Net Total * TCS %) / 100
Grand Total:
Grand Total = Net Total - TDS Amount + TCS Amount
All calculated values are rounded to two decimal places. The invoice stores the TDS/TCS percentage, not the amount — the amount is recalculated from the percentage wherever it is shown, such as in the search results and in GRN Invoice Payment.
Example
An intra-state invoice with one line of 10,000.00 at 9% CGST + 9% SGST, with TDS section 194J - 10% applied:
| Item | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable | 10,000.00 | |
| Tax | 10,000.00 × 18% | 1,800.00 |
| Net Total | 10,000.00 + 1,800.00 | 11,800.00 |
| Less: TDS (10%) | 10,000.00 × 10% | 1,000.00 |
| Grand Total | 11,800.00 − 1,000.00 | 10,800.00 |
1.8 Paying a Direct Invoice​
A direct invoice does not need any further step to become payable. Once it is in CONFIRMED status, it is listed in GRN Invoice Payment along with the supplier's GRN invoices, and it is paid, tracked, and included in Payment Advice in the same way.
- The Invoice Type column in the Payment Advice edit screen shows which invoices in a payment are direct invoices and which came from a GRN.
- Once a payment is recorded against a direct invoice, the invoice is locked for editing (see section 1.5).
That's it! You've learned how to SEARCH, ADD, VIEW/EDIT, and EXPORT Direct Invoices using the DMeX app. If you need help, contact the support team.