Two hours of sorting disappear
A CA no longer opens a filing engagement by assembling raw invoices and a rough expense list into shape — that structuring work is already done before the actual review begins.
Coming soonBookkeeping Preparation Assistant
Prepare a GST return-ready summary
The owner's CA receives a clean, pre-organized summary of the period's sales, purchases, and tax liability instead of raw transaction dumps to sort through before filing.
Works with
What it does
How Khata handles this
Khata compiles the period's invoices and expenses into the structures needed for GSTR-1 (outward supplies) and GSTR-3B (summary return), formatted for the CA to review, adjust, and file directly on the GST portal. The summary is exportable and shareable but is never itself transmitted to the GST Network.
A trader's CA used to receive a folder of scanned invoices and a rough expense list every month and spend the first two hours of any GST filing simply sorting raw transactions into the shape GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B actually need, before any real review work could even begin properly. That sorting time was billed, and it was time the CA would rather have spent checking figures than assembling them from scratch each time.
GSTR summary preparation compiles a period's invoices and expenses into the structures GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B need, formatted for the CA to review, adjust, and file directly on the GST portal. The summary is exportable and shareable in the format a CA actually needs — but it is never itself transmitted to the GST Network. Preparing the numbers and filing the return are kept as two distinct, clearly separated acts, always.
Where prepare a gst return-ready summary happens
Khata runs this directly on the platforms your customers already use — no separate app for them to install.
- QuickBooks
- Xero
- Google Sheets
- Zoho
How it works
Step by step
- 01
Period's transactions compile automatically
At period close, the automatic compiler pulls the period's confirmed invoices and expenses directly from the ledger and organises them into the outward-supply and tax-liability structures GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B are specifically built around, ready for the next step.
- 02
Summary formats for CA review
The compiled figures render as a clear summary showing sales, purchases, and tax liability for the period, laid out so the CA can review and spot anything that needs adjusting before relying on it for anything final.
- 03
Export in the CA's preferred format
The summary exports as CSV, JSON, or PDF, ready to share with the CA or the CA's own filing software, without needing to be re-typed or reformatted from scratch on their end at all, ever.
- 04
CA files on the GST portal
Once the CA has reviewed and, where needed, adjusted the figures, they log into the GST portal themselves and file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B using their own credentials — Khata itself never performs this filing step on anyone's behalf.
Why it matters
What you get out of it
Review time, not assembly time
The CA's billed hours go toward actually checking figures and catching issues, rather than the mechanical task of sorting transactions into categories from scratch first.
A clean handoff, right format
The summary exports exactly as the CA's own workflow needs it, replacing a folder of scanned invoices with something already structured for their filing software.
The detail
What to know before you rely on it
This capability exists at the exact boundary between preparation and filing, and it's built to keep that boundary visible. Khata compiles the numbers GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B require — outward supplies, tax liability, period totals — into a clean summary, but it is never itself transmitted to the GST Network from within Khata. There is deliberately no direct GSTN or IRP filing integration; the only path to a filed return runs through a human logging into the government portal, and the CA is that human in essentially every relationship this serves.
The risk this capability is most careful about is a business mistaking "ready" for "filed." A clean, well-formatted summary can look finished, and a business owner glancing at it could reasonably assume the return has already gone in. The UI actively prevents that confusion through clear labelling — a summary is always shown as prepared, pending the CA's review and filing action, never as a completed filing. Treating a prepared summary as filed has real consequences if a deadline passes.
The summary's accuracy is also entirely downstream of everything that fed the ledger before it arrived here. GST rate and HSN classification errors in the underlying invoices — a wrong code never corrected, say — flow straight through into the compiled summary, because the compiler organises what's already in the books rather than verifying it. This is exactly why a CA's review before filing isn't a formality; it's the point at which classification and rate errors upstream actually get caught, before they become a filed figure with the department.
Industry use cases
Where this earns its keep
12 industries where Khata applies this directly.
Khata organizes spare-parts purchase bills and service-invoice GST data into a return-ready summary, so a dealer or garage owner's CA can file GSTR-1/3B without re-keying from paper bills.
A car service center owner photographs a stack of spare-parts supplier invoices at month-end, Khata extracts the HSN codes and tax amounts from each, and the owner's CA opens the shared workspace to review the compiled purchase summary before filing.
See the automotive playbookKhata prepares TDS worksheets on vendor and contractor payments alongside the GST purchase-matching report, so a distributor's CA has both compliance threads ready in one place each month.
A wholesale distributor pays several transport contractors during the month, and Khata flags which payments likely crossed the TDS threshold for Section 194C, compiling a worksheet the CA reviews before determining the actual deduction and filing.
See the b2b sales playbookKhata tracks product inventory purchases and retail sales together so a salon-and-retail combo business has a correct closing stock valuation feeding into its draft P&L.
A beauty product retailer sells both services and boxed skincare products, and Khata separates the two revenue streams in the ledger while calculating a consistent closing valuation for the unsold stock ahead of the CA's year-end review.
See the beauty and cosmetics playbookKhata organizes subscription and course-fee receipts alongside vendor payments to instructors, preparing a clean revenue and expense summary for a CA to review each quarter.
An online tutoring business receives course-fee payments through multiple gateways during the month, and Khata reconciles each gateway payout against recorded receivables so the CA sees one consolidated income summary instead of three separate statements.
See the education playbookKhata captures client invoices and business expenses in one simple ledger so an independent consultant has GST and income records organized without hiring a full-time bookkeeper.
A freelance designer invoices three clients in a month and photographs a handful of software-subscription receipts, and Khata compiles both sides into a period summary the freelancer forwards to their CA before the quarterly GST filing.
See the freelancers and consultants playbookKhata reconciles patient-billing receipts and supplier purchases (medical supplies, equipment) into a clean ledger, respecting that patient PII in billing records needs the same access control as any other financial document.
A physiotherapy clinic owner uploads a batch of supplier invoices for consumables, and Khata extracts amounts and HSN codes while keeping patient names on any attached billing documents restricted to the clinic's own staff and CA, not broadly visible in reports.
See the health and wellness playbookKhata handles multi-branch stock valuation and e-way bill data preparation for a home-decor retailer shipping larger items across state lines.
A furniture retailer with showrooms in two states ships a large order that crosses the e-way bill value threshold, and Khata pre-fills the consignment and HSN details from the invoice so the dispatch team only needs to generate the bill itself on the government portal.
See the home decor and furnishing playbookKhata prepares TDS worksheets for payments to freelance creators and vendors, and organizes retainer-invoice records, for an agency's CA to finalize each month.
A marketing agency pays several freelance video editors as contractors during a campaign, and Khata's TDS worksheet flags the professional-fee payments likely requiring deduction under Section 194J for the CA's review before the agency deducts and deposits tax.
See the marketing agencies playbookKhata consolidates multi-GSTIN books across a real-estate firm's project entities while keeping each project's return-ready summary properly separated for its own filing.
A real-estate broker running two project-specific entities under separate GSTINs views a consolidated cash-position dashboard for planning, while their CA still receives two entirely separate GST summaries, one per GSTIN, for filing.
See the real estate playbookKhata values daily-changing food and beverage stock for the books and reconciles POS settlement receipts against the bank statement each day.
A restaurant owner's UPI and card settlements land in the bank account a day after the sale, and Khata's reconciliation queue matches each day's POS batch total against the corresponding bank credit, flagging any settlement that hasn't landed within the expected window.
See the restaurants and food playbookKhata tracks retail product inventory alongside service revenue and prepares a combined GST summary reflecting both goods and services HSN/SAC codes.
A spa sells packaged skincare products in addition to treatments, and Khata applies the correct HSN code to product line items and the correct SAC code to service line items on the same invoice, keeping the tax split accurate for the CA's review.
See the spas and salons playbookKhata organizes multi-vendor purchase bills (transport, accommodation, package suppliers) and prepares the GSTR-2A/2B purchase-matching report so a travel agent's ITC claims are backed by verified supplier filings.
A travel agency books hotel and transport packages from several vendors for a client tour, and Khata's purchase-matching report shows which of those vendor invoices are already reflected in GSTR-2B, letting the CA hold back ITC claims on the ones that aren't yet visible.
See the travel and tourism playbookMore from Khata
Everything else it handles
Capture receipts by photo or email
A business owner stops losing paper receipts because every bill is captured the moment it's created, from a phone camera, a forwarded email, or a bulk upload.
Learn moreExtract line items from documents
The owner no longer types out every item, date, vendor, and amount from a receipt by hand — Khata reads it and fills the fields.
Learn moreDraft gst-ready sales invoices
The business creates invoices that already carry the correct GSTIN, HSN/SAC code, and tax split so nothing needs re-keying at return time.
Learn moreMaintain the day-to-day ledger
Every sale, purchase, payment, and receipt lands in a proper double-entry ledger instead of a loose spreadsheet or paper khata.
Learn moreKeep a tamper-proof change log
Every edit to the books is permanently recorded with who changed what and when, satisfying the statutory requirement companies already face.
Learn moreAuto-sort expenses into categories
Expenses land in the right category (rent, salaries, supplies, utilities) automatically instead of the owner deciding from scratch every time.
Learn moreQuestions
Straight answers.
Once Khata prepares my GSTR summary, is my return filed?
No. The summary is a prepared, review-ready set of figures for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B — it is never transmitted to the GST Network from within Khata at all. Your CA reviews and, where needed, adjusts the figures, then files the actual return by logging into the GST portal directly with their own credentials. Preparation and filing stay two separate steps.
Can I file GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B directly from Khata?
No — there is deliberately no direct connection from Khata to the GST Network or the Invoice Registration Portal for filing purposes. The summary exports as CSV, JSON, or PDF for your CA to review and use, and the filing itself happens on the government's own GST portal, using the CA's or the business's own login and credentials, never Khata's.
If a GST rate or HSN code was wrong on an invoice, does that show up in the summary?
Yes — the summary compiles whatever is already recorded in your books, so a rate or classification error made earlier at invoice stage flows straight through into the compiled figures rather than being independently checked at this step. This is exactly why your CA's review before filing genuinely matters: it's the point where an upstream classification error actually gets caught in time.
How is a 'GST return-ready summary' different from an actual filed return?
A return-ready summary is Khata's organised version of your period's sales, purchases, and tax liability, laid out in the structure GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B need — it is a preparation, not a submission of any kind. A filed return is the version your CA has reviewed, adjusted where necessary, and actually submitted on the GST portal under their own or the business's credentials; only that counts as filed.
The rest of your stack
It plugs into what you already run.
Khata connects to your tools
No rip-and-replace — prepare a gst return-ready summary works alongside the systems already running your business.
- Razorpay
- Stripe
- Paytm
- PhonePe
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Shopify
- Amazon
Coming soon