GSTR-9C Tables 5C and 5I: Unadjusted Advances

GSTR explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

An advance is turnover for GST and a liability in the balance sheet — which is exactly why it needs an adjustment row. But the scope is narrower than most preparers assume: advances on goods have not been taxable since 15 November 2017, and loans and deposits were never advances at all.

Table 5C adds "Unadjusted advances at the end of the financial year" — "Value of all advances for which GST has been paid but the same has not been recognized as revenue in the audited annual financial statement." Table 5I deducts "Unadjusted advances at the beginning of the Financial Year". Both were optional for FY 2017-18 through FY 2021-22, with adjustments permitted in Table 5O.

Why the adjustment exists

"When an advance is received, since the goods and/or services would not have been delivered/rendered, the revenue is not yet earned, whereby this advance would be recorded as a liability (either as a current liability or long-term liability) in the balance sheet."

Three propositions, in the Guide's own sequence:

• "the turnover of the financial year as per the audited financial statement would not include advances received";
• "this amount would have been offered to tax and reflected in annual return under the head Table 4F of FORM GSTR-9";
• "In order to reconcile these two… any unadjusted advances at the end of the financial year shall be added to the turnover of the respective financial year as taken in Table 5A to nullify the effect."

And the opening side: "in connection to unadjusted advances at the beginning of the FY (Table 5I), it is advised to check whether the invoices have been raised against the opening advance balances as on 31st March." In the Guide's rent example, "though there is opening advance (i.e. ₹3,00,000), the tax invoice has been raised against such advances and hence same will not be reported."

5I only captures opening advances still unadjusted at year end — not every opening balance.

What is in scope, and what is not

Include:

Do not include:

The goods position: Notification No. 40/2017-CT dated 13.10.2017 first relieved registered persons below ₹1.5 crore, and Notification No. 66/2017-CT dated 15.11.2017 extended it "to all registered persons without threshold limit… but only in the case of the supply of goods." Hence "this is applicable only for the FY 2017-18 as w.e.f. 15.11.2017, there is no tax on advances received for the supply of goods."

The services position is unchanged. Under section 13(2), time of supply of services is the earlier of invoice or receipt of payment — so "any advances received from customers before the date of supply of service, on receipt of advance, GST have to be discharged."

And "date of receipt of payment" is "the date on which the payment is entered in the books of account of the supplier or the date on which the payment is credited to his bank account, whichever is earlier."

The Guide names the two commonest errors directly: "Considering the total advances irrespective of the fact that it is for exempted supply", and "Considering the total advances irrespective of the fact that it is for supply of goods."

Two valuation rules that catch advances

Per the proviso to rule 50:

• "Whenever the rate of tax cannot be determined during receipt of advance, GST @ 18% has to be charged."
• "Whenever the nature of supply cannot be ascertained, the advance is considered as inter-State supply and IGST has to be paid."

And the advance is treated as inclusive of tax — "The advance received (if exclusive of tax) would be considered as cum-tax."

Both defaults produce reconciling items later. An advance taxed at 18% against goods eventually supplied at 5%, or as IGST against a supply that turns out intra-State, needs correction when the invoice is raised.

Where the numbers come from

In GSTR-1: Table 11A — "Advance amount received in the tax period for which invoice has not been issued"; Table 11B — "Advance amount received in an earlier tax period and adjusted against the supplies shown in this tax period". Net advances = 11A − 11B.

But GSTR-1 is not conclusive. "Information reported in FORM GSTR-1 may not be required to be adopted at face value, whereas registered person has to cross-check the data which is available in the Balance Sheet", and "If the amount does not match with , the registered person should adopt advances received as per books."

In the books, the Guide points to short- and long-term current liabilities, the credit balance of sundry debtors "(In case advance is reported in Sundry Debtor's A/c)", groupings for "income received as advances or advances from customers", documents establishing whether the supply is of goods or services, and the advances register under rule 56(3).

The entry pattern makes the year-end residue visible: on receipt, Bank Dr / Advance from Customer Cr; on filing Table 11A, GST on Advance Dr / GST Liability Cr; on billing, Party Dr / Revenue and IGST Liability Cr; on filing Table 11B, IGST Liability Dr / GST on Advance Cr. "These reversal entries prevalent throughout the year, are reversed usually at the end of every month. Thus, the only entry which is to be given effect for reconciliation… is the unadjusted entries that are lying at the end of the financial year."

One more check: "Amendments made in Table 11 of FORM GSTR-1 in the subsequent financial years" must be picked up.

Key takeaways

• 5C adds closing unadjusted advances; 5I deducts opening ones still unadjusted.
• Only advances on which GST was actually paid and which are not yet revenue belong here.
• Advances on goods ceased to be taxable from 15.11.2017 — Notification No. 66/2017-CT.
• Exempt-service advances, loans and deposits are excluded entirely.
• Rule 50 proviso: 18% where the rate is unknown, IGST where the nature of supply is unknown; the advance is treated as cum-tax.
• GSTR-1 Tables 11A and 11B give net advances, but the books prevail where they differ.
• Look in current liabilities, credit balances in sundry debtors, and the rule 56(3) advances register.
• Amendments to Table 11 of GSTR-1 in later years must be traced.
• Both rows were optional for FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22, reportable in Table 5O instead.

Read next

• GSTR-9C Table 5D: Deemed Supply Under Schedule I
• GSTR-9C Tables 5B and 5H: Unbilled Revenue
• GSTR-9 Table 4: Outward Supplies on Which Tax Is Payable

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on Form GSTR-9C and its instructions, sections 12, 13, 15 and 148 of the CGST Act, 2017, rules 50 and 56(3) of the CGST Rules, 2017 and Notifications No. 40/2017 and 66/2017-Central Tax, as reproduced in the ICAI Technical Guide on GST Reconciliation Statement (Form GSTR-9C).