Monthly Export Compliance Routine for Service Exporters

The easiest way to stay on top of monthly export compliance is to stop treating it as a series of deadlines and run it as a fixed four-week cycle: invoice in week four, file the EDF in week one, match receipts in week two, and review realisation and GST in week three. Each step takes under an hour for most small and mid-sized service exporters, and nothing ever lands on the last day.

Key takeaways

• A fixed weekly rhythm beats chasing individual due dates.
• The EDF for each month is due within 30 days of month-end. Filing it in the first week leaves three weeks of buffer.
• Match every foreign receipt to invoices the week it arrives, and get the FIRA or advice then.
• Review open invoices against the 9-month realisation window every month, not once a year.
• GST returns run on their own dates. Slot them into the same cycle.

The cycle at a glance

The weeks do not have to be exact. What matters is that each task has a home.

Week 4: close the month's invoicing

Most exporters bill at month-end. Use this week to finish it cleanly:

• Raise every export invoice for the month, including one-off work and change requests. Each will be a row on next month's EDF.
• Number invoices in one unbroken series. Gaps and duplicates cause questions in GST and in EDF matching.
• Use the right wording. Under LUT: "Supply meant for export under LUT without payment of IGST".
• Print the correct bank details. The bank where the money lands is the bank that receives the EDF.
• Issue credit notes for any agreed reductions before the month closes, so the EDF reflects the right values.

Our export invoice generator and credit note tool handle the formats.

Week 1: file last month's EDF

The EDF covers all service exports of a month to one or more recipients, and is due within 30 days from month-end. Filing it in the first week is the single best habit you can build.

1. Pull last month's export invoices from your books by invoice date.
2. Fill one EDF: Part 1 (your details, AD code, totals), Part 2B (one row per invoice), Part 4 (declaration).
3. Get the authorised signatory to sign.
4. Submit through your bank's published channel (branch, email or portal; banks set their own).
5. Save the acknowledgement in that month's folder.

Services other than software also have the option of filing on or before the date payment is received. A first-week routine usually satisfies both rules.

Week 2: match the money

Foreign receipts arrive throughout the month, but a weekly matching session keeps them under control.

• List every inward remittance received since the last session.
• Match each to invoices. One payment can cover several invoices; one invoice can be paid in parts.
• Get the FIRA or bank advice and check the remitter, amount, currency and purpose code.
• Explain short payments. Bank charges, client deductions or foreign withholding all need a note.
• Tell your bank which invoices a receipt covers if the bank asks or if it is not obvious.

If a credit is on hold, find out why that week. Our guide to why foreign payments get held lists the usual causes.

Week 3: review realisation and GST

Realisation tracker

For services, full value must be realised within 9 months of the invoice date (12 months for rupee invoices). Keep a tracker with one line per invoice: date, amount, deadline, amount received, balance.

Each month, look for:

• Invoices more than 6 months old and still unpaid. Chase the client now.
• Invoices approaching 9 months. Request an extension from the AD bank, with reasons, before the date passes. Our realisation extension request letter has a format.
• Invoices that will never be paid. Talk to your CA and bank about the right treatment rather than leaving them open.

The ₹10 lakh declaration

For invoices up to ₹10 lakh, the bank may close the EDPMS entry on your declaration that the money has been realised. If your bank accepts quarterly declarations, prepare one in week three of the quarter's last month.

GST

Reconcile export invoices in your GST returns with your invoice register and the EDF. Check the due dates for your returns on the GST portal, since they depend on your filing category. The EDF does not change GST; but the same invoice list feeds both, so reconcile them together.

A worked example: Tidewater Analytics in one month

Tidewater Analytics Pvt Ltd, Coimbatore, has six foreign clients. Here is how its October 2026 cycle runs:

• Week 4 of September: finance raises seven September export invoices worth USD 41,000 and one credit note for USD 1,500.
• 2 October: the September EDF is filed with seven rows, net values reflecting the credit note. Acknowledgement saved.
• 9 October: three receipts matched to five invoices. One receipt is USD 25 short (intermediary charges), noted. FIRAs saved; one wrong purpose code flagged to the bank.
• 16 October: realisation tracker shows one April invoice still unpaid at 6 months. The account manager calls the client, who commits to pay in November. A note is diarised for a possible extension request in December.
• Week 4 of October: October invoices raised, and the cycle repeats.

Total time across the month: about five hours. No deadline was ever closer than three weeks.

Make it stick

• Put the four sessions in the calendar as recurring events.
• Assign an owner for each week's task, with a backup.
• Keep one folder per month containing invoices, EDF, acknowledgement and FIRAs.
• Maintain an EDF register: month, date filed, bank, acknowledgement, number of rows, total.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

When should I file the EDF in a monthly routine?

In the first week after month-end. The deadline is 30 days from the end of the invoice month, so first-week filing gives you three weeks of buffer for corrections or signatory delays.

How often should I check realisation?

Monthly. Services exports must be realised within 9 months of each invoice date, and a monthly review catches slow payers early enough to chase them or request an extension in time.

Do I need to match every payment to an invoice?

Yes, for good records and smooth closure of EDPMS entries. Where one payment covers several invoices, note the split. For invoices above ₹10 lakh, the bank needs payment evidence and matching instructions.

Does the monthly routine change for software exporters?

The rhythm is the same. Software exporters outside an SEZ can file with the AD bank or STPI, and should use the 30-days-from-month-end deadline rather than the payment-date alternative.

Where do GST returns fit in?

Slot them into week three, alongside realisation review, and reconcile export invoices across GST returns, your register and the EDF. Check exact due dates on the GST portal.

Bottom line

Four short sessions a month keep invoices, EDFs, receipts and GST in step. Start week one with the free EDF form generator.