GST invoice rejected on KFIN or CAMS: what each error means

A rejection inside the window is a small problem. The same rejection found on the 15th costs you a month. Here is what each one actually means and the quickest way out of it.

If you are reading this on the 14th, deal with the amount mismatch first. It is the most common cause and the slowest to fix by hand.

The six causes, most common first

What you see	What it means	The fix
Amount mismatch	Your taxable value or tax differs from the registrar's own computed figure, often by a rupee, from rounding during manual entry.	Do not retype the amounts. Carry the registrar's own figures through from the file it gave you.
Wrong tax split	CGST and SGST used where IGST applies, or the reverse. The total is 18% either way, but the split has to match the place of supply.	Place of supply follows the fund house's registration, not your location. Check it per fund house, not once for the batch.
Invoice number problem	A repeated number, a gap in the series, or a serial longer than 16 characters.	Keep one unbroken series for the financial year across both registrars, for example MFD/2627/0011.
Template or file name error	A column filled in the wrong place, or a PDF whose file name does not match the row that refers to it.	Use the Excel template downloaded from that registrar for that month, and keep the file names the registrar expects.
Wrong month	A CAMS set filed against the trail month, or a KFIN set filed against the payment month.	KFIN goes by the trail month, CAMS by the payment month. Read the period on the file each time.
Clawback treated as brokerage	A negative row entered as an ordinary invoice line, so the month overstates what the fund house actually paid.	Raise a credit note against the original invoice instead. See clawbacks and credit notes.

Two errors that are not really rejections

You uploaded the wrong registrar's file. The KFIN and CAMS packages have different structures, so the wrong one simply will not match anything. Nothing is damaged. Pick the right registrar and upload again.

A fund house is missing entirely. This is almost never a month with no brokerage. It is usually an ARN mapping issue at the fund house, and it takes days to resolve, which is why it needs finding before the window opens rather than during it.

Accepted, but the money has not arrived

Acceptance and payment are different events. The registrars release the GST portion against accepted invoices by the end of the month, and the brokerage and the GST often arrive separately and on different dates. If one fund house pays less than it should, it is very hard to see in a bank statement. You have to check fund house by fund house against what you invoiced.

Most of these never happen if nothing is retyped. {BRAND} takes the unsigned invoice ZIP and the Excel template you downloaded from the registrar and carries the registrar's own figures through untouched, signing and numbering every invoice and filling the template in the format that registrar expects. Every batch is checked before it is packaged, so an incorrect set is not produced in the first place. See it run on your own file.

Find the problem on the 7th, not the 15th

Upload your registrar file and see real signed invoices for your own fund houses, checked before they are packaged. No signup, no card.

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Common questions

Why was my GST invoice rejected on KFIN or CAMS?

The usual causes are a figure that does not match the registrar's own file, a tax split that does not match the place of supply, a serial number that repeats or breaks the series, a file name or template column that does not follow the registrar's format, or a set filed against the wrong month.

The amount is off by one rupee. Does that matter?

Yes. The registrar compares your invoice against its own computed figure, and a rounding difference of a rupee is a mismatch. This is why retyping the amounts by hand causes so many rejections. Carry the registrar's numbers through unchanged.

I uploaded a KFIN file to CAMS by mistake. What happens?

Nothing is damaged. The two registrars use different file structures, so the wrong one simply will not match. Select the right registrar and upload again.

My invoice was accepted but the GST has not arrived.

The registrars release the GST portion against accepted invoices by the end of the month, and brokerage and GST often arrive separately and on different dates. Check fund house by fund house rather than only looking at the bank statement total, because one short payment is very easy to miss in a running balance.

A fund house is missing from my file altogether.

That is usually an ARN mapping issue at the fund house rather than a month with no brokerage. It takes days to resolve, so it needs to be found before the window opens, not on the 14th.

Can I fix and re-upload inside the same window?

Yes, as long as you are still inside the window. That is the argument for uploading on the 7th rather than the 14th: a rejection you find on the 7th is a small problem, the same rejection found on the 15th is a month's delay.