Small shop first GST month, which date matters

First GST month I treated like a new shop sign. Pretty. Then dates started. I wrote 11 and 20 on the wall calendar with a red pen. Customer thought it was a sale. It was not a sale.

New GSTIN feels like a certificate. It is a monthly job if you are regular. Composition is a different dance. I dont mix them.

I sit in Jaipur and help small counters. Phone voice. Paper slip. Then portal. If you want typical windows in one screen, open GST due date finder on PayByDate. Type monthly or QRMP. Read the dates. Then open gst.gov.in. This is an estimate. Confirm on the official portal.

Which date I circle in month one

For a regular monthly filer I circle two.

Around 11th of next month. GSTR-1. The list of sales. Invoices. Credit notes. I think of it as the register I should have written daily.

Around 20th of next month. GSTR-3B. The money page. Tax payable. ITC you claim. Cash ledger if you need to pay.

People ask me which one matters more. Both. Buyer shouts if 1 is late. Department meter runs if 3B is late.

I almost treated 11th as soft in another shop. Portal does not. That story is here: GSTR-1 last date this month.

If first month sale is zero because you just got the certificate and stock did not move, you still file nil. Nil is not a holiday. See Nil GST return, do I still file.

If they put you on QRMP, dont follow my 11 and 20 like a slogan. IFF in some months. Quarter GSTR-1. Read QRMP IFF and GSTR-1.

Composition dealer is not this monthly pair. Different due. See Composition dealer due dates vs regular.

What I collect before I even open the portal

Invoice book. Even if it is a WhatsApp folder. Number series. Cancelled bills. HSN if the table asks.

Purchase bills if you want ITC. First month people forget purchases. They only remember sales. Then 3B looks fatter than it should.

Bank if any UPI settlement looks odd. Cash memo if you still write those.

GSTIN of top buyers. B2B is where your buyer waits for their ITC.

I keep a slip. Month. Total taxable. Invoice count. Tax you think you owe. Then I check the bill split if customer paid a GST-inclusive figure. Counter split I do here: GST 18 percent already in the bill.

Phone charged. Password in shop diary. Not on a sticker facing the street.

I file 1 first when I can. 3B later. Dont wait for cash ledger to finish 1. 1 is the list. 3B is the money. Empty ledger story: Cash ledger empty, challan first or return first.

First month mistakes that cost more than the fee

Using last shop’s invoice JSON. I have seen a cousin copy. Wrong GSTIN on buyer side. Amend later. Relationship cools.

Charging GST before registration date and then fighting the month. Talk to someone who can see your certificate date. I dont fix that on a voice note.

Skipping e-invoice if you already crossed that world. Small shop often is not there. If you are, portal and notebook must match.

Waiting for CA for a 4 invoice month. CA is busy near 20th. Four invoices you can enter.

Believing a forward “first return is free delay”. I dont trust forwards after 9 pm.

Portal hang on last date. Screenshot helps. Filing still needed. See Portal hang on last date.

If 3B already slipped a week, dont only cry about 1. Read GSTR-3B late by 8 days and run GST late fee estimator. Same line after rupee. This is an estimate. Confirm on the official portal.

How I plan the week so first month does not eat the shop

I dont file on the last evening if I can avoid. Shop is busy. Jio dies. Kids want dinner.

I pick a morning. Tuesday after 11th week I already did 1. Then I keep a gap before 20th. Working days between 11 and 20 are few if you skip Sundays. I count them here: Working days calculator. Same count story: Working days between two GST dates.

School holiday week plus GST week is a bad mix. I file before picnic. See School holiday week and GST due.

I keep one person who can sit at counter while I sit with phone. First month I did both. I entered a wrong taxable because a customer asked for a bigger bag mid-click.

If payment fails, I dont file twice like a game. See GSTR-1 payment failed. For 3B tax number I use GSTR-3B tax payable as a check. Portal wins.

Rajasthan shop on phone is normal for me. Paper first. Then screen. See Rajasthan shop GSTR-3B on phone.

What I tell the owner after month one is filed

You did not finish GST. You started a habit.

Next month same two circles. If turnover talk later pushes you to QRMP or out of it, we read the finder again. I dont lock one style for three years.

Keep invoices daily. First month pile is how 11th becomes 2 am.

Late fee on 1 and 3B follows a typical per day pattern. Nil cheaper. Regular higher. Cap talk I dont swear on a blog. Estimator is guess.

Stories from first month that still sit in my head

Paint shop in Sanganer got GSTIN on the 28th. They thought first return is next next month. I said look at the effective date on the certificate. That month still exists even if it is three days. Three days can have a bill. Three days can be nil. Either way you file.

A fancy store on MI Road printed invoices with GST from day one but forgot HSN. Portal asked. They sat at 10 night googling codes. I now write HSN on the slip in week one. Even two codes. Better than a hunt.

Kirana near Raja Park mixed composition talk with regular 3B because a neighbour is composition. Neighbour has a different GSTIN style. I make them say the word on the certificate. Regular or composition. Then I circle dates.

I also see people pay professional tax or EPF and think GST is the same 15th. Salary dates are a different pile. EPF window I keep here: EPF payment date for last month salary. Dont put EPF money and GST money in one panic envelope.

If a bill already has 18 percent in the total, split it before you type taxable. Wrong taxable in month one becomes a habit. Habit becomes amend.

I keep a small box under the counter. Month one papers only. Certificate print. First invoice. First purchase. Challan if any. Next month I start a new box. Mixing months is how 11th becomes a fight.

What I write on the calendar after the red 11 and 20

I add a pencil 9. That is my file-1-if-I-can day. I add a pencil 18. That is my 3B morning. Red is last date mood. Pencil is how I sleep.

I add “ledger check” on 17th. Empty cash ledger on 19th evening is a bad film. I dont want that film in month one.

If school holiday lands on that week, picnic goes after file. I already said it. I say it again because I still fail this when kids shout.

I tell the owner one last time. Month one is not a ceremony. It is a rehearsal for every month after. If rehearsal is clean, September 2026 search for last date will not scare you the same way.

I am not GSTN. PayByDate is a helper. Official gst.gov.in wins. If they move 11th to 13th on a Friday, I look at portal, not my red pen.

Write the two dates. File the list. Pay the money. Then take the sale sign joke off the calendar.