FMCG and Consumer Goods
Sales forces book territory travel themselves, and only a fraction of invoices ever reach finance.
Where Airline Credit Usually Leaks
The patterns we see most often in FMCG and Consumer Goods. Your company’s picture will differ; the review shows by how much.
What We Do First
Most relevant service: Airline GST Reconciliation
- Collect invoices directly from airline portals
- Match reimbursement claims to tickets
- Make the GSTIN mandatory on booking apps
Case Study
Airline GST Reconciliation · Consumer brand · 2,000-person sales force
Recovering Credit on Territory Sales Travel
Context
The company sells personal care and home products through a sales force of about 2,000 people spread across 28 states. Area and territory managers book their own flights using corporate cards or reimbursement. Travel spend was significant, but only a small share of airline invoices ever reached finance, and those that did were often issued without the company's GSTIN. Airline credit had never been claimed in a structured way.
The Challenge
In 2024-25, the sales force took about 19,000 flights. Finance could trace GST invoices for fewer than a third of them. Many bookings were made on airline websites and apps without entering a GSTIN, so the invoice went out as B2C and never appeared in GSTR-2B. Others carried the GSTIN of a different state registration.
The company holds GSTINs in 11 states, and credit is available only to the registration named on the invoice. The Section 16(4) deadline of 30 November 2025 for 2024-25 invoices was about four months away. Reimbursement claims had ticket numbers but rarely invoice numbers, so there was no simple way to link spend to credit.
What We Did
We pulled invoices directly from airline portals using PNRs and ticket numbers from the expense system, then matched each one to GSTR-2B for all 11 GSTINs. About 96% of tickets were matched to an invoice. Each gap was valued and tagged: B2C invoice, wrong GSTIN, missing from GSTR-2B or credit note not claimed.
Specialists decided eligibility on each gap and checked the travel purpose against the company's policy. Automated follow-ups asked airlines to reissue invoices with the correct GSTIN where their rules allowed. Finance only approved a new booking rule: the company GSTIN of the traveller's home state is now required in the expense tool before a claim is paid.
The Outcome
In nine weeks, ₹74 L of airline credit was recovered and claimed before the 30 November deadline. The new booking rule raised the share of tickets carrying a correct GSTIN from under a third to over 85% within two months.
The match now runs monthly for all 11 GSTINs, using expense data to find tickets that finance never sees, with results in a signed monthly statement and a monthly call with the specialist. The signed monthly statement shows credit claimed, invoices pending with airlines and bookings awaiting a policy decision.
Where the Recovered Amount Came From
₹ L
Illustrative.
Timeline
- Weeks 1–2Expense data collected, invoices pulled from airline portals
- Weeks 3–4Matching to GSTR-2B for all 11 GSTINs, gaps valued
- Weeks 5–6Eligibility decided, booking rule approved
- Weeks 7–9Airline follow-ups, reissued invoices claimed before 30 November
When employees book their own travel, the expense system is the best route to the invoices.
Make the correct GSTIN a condition of reimbursement, and credit starts to claim itself.
Credit sits with the GSTIN on the invoice, so state-wise mapping matters as much as the invoice itself.
Illustrative case study based on a typical engagement. Client name withheld and details changed to protect confidentiality. Open the full case study
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