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Master Data Setup

Applies to: All subscriptions · Invoice Generation · Which modules do I have?

Purpose

Load the reference data documents are built from, and prove its quality before anything depends on it. Master data quality is the strongest single predictor of a smooth go-live.

Audience

The customer's data owner, with the implementation consultant.

Prerequisites

Steps

1. Validate before loading

Validating on receipt costs an hour; validating during user acceptance testing costs a week. Run these checks on the file, before anything is loaded:

Check Fail condition
Registration number format Not 15 characters in the expected pattern
Registration and state consistency The state prefix disagrees with the stated state code
Legal names Do not match the registration record exactly
Classification code lengths Wrong for their family — goods and services differ
Duplicate parties One registration under two party records
Rate effective dates Missing, or starting before their statutory date
Postal codes Wrong length, or inconsistent with the state
Encoding Non-ASCII names mangled

2. Know which of this stage applies to you

This stage is mostly an Invoice Generation stage. How much of it you do depends on your subscription:

Subscription What you load here
e-Invoice and/or e-Way Bill only Organisation, GSTINs and addresses only. Party and item details arrive inside each document from the ERP — there is no customer or item master to populate
Plus Invoice Generation The above, then customer, item, rate and numbering masters
Plus TDS The above, plus TAN and deductor details
Plus Data Privacy The above, plus notices and processing purposes

Reference data — state codes, supply types, HSN and SAC lists, unit codes, transport modes — ships with the platform. You neither collect nor load it.

3. Load in dependency order

Only the rows your subscription needs:

  Organisation, GSTINs, addresses          <- ALL subscriptions
        |
        v
  Customers (with their GSTINs/addresses)  <- Invoice Generation
        |
        v
  Items (with classification codes)        <- Invoice Generation
        |
        v
  Rates (per classification, effective-dated)  <- Invoice Generation
        |
        v
  Numbering series                         <- Invoice Generation
        |
        v
  TAN / deductor details                   <- TDS
  Notices and purposes                     <- Data Privacy

Load a small sample first — twenty records — and verify it fully before loading the rest. A format problem found on twenty rows is an edit; found on twenty thousand it is a reload.

4. Verify what was loaded

Not that the load reported success — that the data is there and correct:

Check Method
Counts match Records loaded equals records supplied, minus deliberate exclusions
Scoping correct Records appear under the intended registration, and only there
Spot-check values Open ten records and compare against the source
Search works Find a record by the terms a user would actually type
Rates resolve A test document picks up the expected rate

The scoping check matters here specifically: data loaded under the wrong registration is invisible to the users who need it and visible to those who should not have it.

5. Verify counterparty registrations

Cancelled counterparty registrations cause government rejections at the worst possible moment. Verify the significant ones before go-live.

Verification results age. A registration verified today can be cancelled next month, so re-check before high-value supplies and periodically thereafter.

6. Establish ongoing ownership

Master data is not a one-time load. Name an owner for:

Responsibility Why
Adding new parties and items It will happen weekly
Maintaining rates with effective dates Rates change; a rate applied a day early is a real defect
Re-verifying counterparty registrations Results age
Removing duplicates They accumulate

Validation

Gate: this stage is complete when all of these pass.

Check Pass condition
Pre-load validation passed Every check in step 1
Counts reconcile Loaded equals supplied
Correctly scoped Under the right registration, visible to the right users
Spot-checks pass Ten records match the source exactly
Rates resolve A test document picks up the expected rate for the expected date
Counterparties verified Significant ones checked and active
A test document builds Using real master data, and passes validation
Ownership assigned A named owner for ongoing maintenance

Rollback

Situation Action
Wrong file loaded Remove the loaded records; correct the source; reload
Loaded under the wrong registration Remove and reload under the correct one. Do not attempt to re-scope in place
Rates loaded with wrong effective dates Correct them before any document uses them — a document already built on a wrong rate is a tax problem, not a data one
Partial load Establish precisely what loaded, using a count that is not itself scope-dependent; then complete or reverse

Master data is reversible while no document depends on it. Once documents are built and registered on it, correcting the master does not correct the documents.

Common mistakes

Mistake Consequence Avoid by
Loading before validating Bulk cleanup, or wrong data in production Validate the file first
Loading everything without a sample A format problem becomes a full reload Load twenty records first
Legal names that do not match registrations Government rejections that look like mapping faults Match character for character
Classification codes with leading zeros stripped Rejections at generation Carry codes as text end to end
Rates without effective dates Wrong rate applied, or none Always supply dates and verify a sample
Not verifying counterparties Rejections on the first real invoice to that customer Verify the significant ones before go-live
Assuming load success means correct data Wrong data, silently Spot-check ten records
No ongoing owner Data decays from go-live onward Assign one now

Troubleshooting

Symptom Cause Action
Load reports success, records not visible Loaded under a different registration, or the user lacks access Check the scope first, then the user's access
Search does not find a record Loaded differently from how users search Spot-check the stored values
Wrong rate on a test document Effective dates, or the item's default Check dates before anything else
Duplicate party records Two source systems, or inconsistent naming Deduplicate on the registration number
Names show wrong characters Encoding mismatch Reload as UTF-8
A test document fails validation on master data The data is incomplete for what documents need Fix the master, not the document