Nepal tax guide

What is CBMS? Nepal's Central Billing Monitoring System, explained

Last checked 27 October 2026 (10 Kartik 2083). By Black Rock, the maker of BRAccount.

CBMS (केन्द्रीय बीजक अनुगमन प्रणाली, the Central Billing Monitoring System) is the Inland Revenue Department's server that receives a copy of every electronic bill the moment billing software issues it, so the tax office sees sales as they happen rather than at the monthly return. Businesses above the turnover lines the IRD sets by notice must connect: Rs 20 crore for a business that bills its customers directly (IRD notice, 4 Baishakh 2083), Rs 10 crore for one already billing electronically (budget 2083/84), Rs 5 crore for hotels, restaurants, canteens and internet service providers. This guide covers who must connect, what the software sends and what CBMS answers, how a business starts, and the fines for software that gets it wrong.

The short version

CBMS is the IRD's server for bills. Listed billing software posts each tax invoice and credit note to it over the IRD's web API as it is issued (Electronic Billing Procedure 2082, clause 6.4(क)); the legal duty sits in VAT Act section 14क.
Who must connect: turnover above Rs 20 crore for any business billing customers directly; above Rs 10 crore for one already billing electronically; above Rs 5 crore for hotels, restaurants, canteens and internet providers; and any business the IRD names in a notice. Banks and financial institutions that do not bill consumers directly are excluded.
What goes: 21 fields per bill (seller's and buyer's PAN, buyer's name, fiscal year, bill number, Bikram Sambat date, totals by tax type, whether it was sent in real time); a credit note goes to the bill-return endpoint naming the original bill. CBMS answers 200 when it accepts.
How to start: the software is listed with the IRD (Annex 1), the business gets its tax office's permission (Annex 3, then the Annex 4 permit), tests against the IRD's sandbox, and connects before its first bill.
Every bill carries a dynamic QR code; for a connected business it holds a link that verifies the bill on the IRD's server.
Software that lets issued bill data be deleted or edited costs the business Rs 5 lakh, and the vendor who makes or installs it Rs 5 lakh too (Finance Act 2083).

What is CBMS?

The Central Billing Monitoring System is the server the Inland Revenue Department runs to receive bills as they are issued. A business connected to it sends every tax invoice and every credit note from its billing software to the IRD in real time, under its own PAN and Taxpayer Portal login; the tax office can then match what was billed against what the monthly VAT return declares, bill by bill, without waiting for the return or an inspection.

The duty comes from section 14क of the VAT Act, rewritten by the Finance Act 2083: the IRD sets the standards for electronic bills, and the taxpayers it names by notice must bill electronically and connect to CBMS, or use the IRD's own billing system. How software does it is set by the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082: clause 6.4(क) requires a real-time link over the IRD's web API, and clause 8(ङ) that the businesses the IRD names report each bill automatically, as it is issued.

Full name: केन्द्रीय बीजक अनुगमन प्रणाली, Central Billing Monitoring System
Run by: The Inland Revenue Department (IRD)
What it receives: Every tax invoice and credit note from connected software, the moment it is issuedProcedure 2082, 6.4(क), 8(ङ)
Legal basis: VAT Act s14क (Finance Act 2083); the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082, in force since 2082/12/01 (15 March 2026)
Not the same as: The Taxpayer Portal, where returns are filed; CBMS is the bill feed behind it

Who must connect to CBMS?

The IRD sets the turnover lines by published notice, under section 14क, so the lines move without the Act changing. As of 22 October 2026:

Who	Turnover line	The duty	Source
Every business that bills its customers directly (banks and financial institutions that do not are excluded)	Above Rs 20 crore a year	Bills must be electronic and reach CBMS as they are issued	IRD notice of 4 Baishakh 2083 (17 April 2026), on the Department's decision of 2082/12/27
Businesses that already bill electronically	Above Rs 10 crore a year	The billing software joins CBMS	Budget 2083/84, point 70(ख), 29 May 2026; tax offices notify the businesses concerned
Hotels, restaurants, canteens and internet service providers	Above Rs 5 crore a year	Electronic bills, reported to CBMS	Earlier IRD sector notices
Any business the IRD names in a published notice	Any turnover	Electronic bills joined to CBMS, or the IRD's own billing system	VAT Act s14क(2), as rewritten by the Finance Act 2083

Below the lines, connecting is voluntary. A business that chooses to bill electronically still needs listed software and its tax office's permission for it.

The lines are measured on annual turnover, and a tax office writes to the businesses a notice reaches. If you sit near a line, confirm your position with your office before the fiscal year in which you cross it: joining CBMS takes listed software, a permit and a test run, and the software must connect before its first electronic bill.

What does the software send to CBMS, and what does CBMS answer?

The IRD publishes the interface in its CBMS API Technical Document for Software Developers. The software signs in with the business's own Taxpayer Portal user ID and password; it never reports under another taxpayer's PAN.

A bill goes to the IRD's bill endpoint with 21 fields: the seller's and buyer's PAN, the buyer's name, the fiscal year (for example 2083.084), the bill number and its Bikram Sambat date, the totals by tax type, and whether it was sent in real time.
A credit note goes to the bill-return endpoint, naming the original bill, the credit note's number and date, and the reason for the return.
CBMS answers with a code: 200 accepted; 100 wrong credentials; 101 already on file; 102 to 104 a problem with the data; 105 the original bill is not on file (for a credit note).
The IRD publishes test credentials, with seller PAN 999999999, to try the connection on its sandbox before going live.

The Annex 5 Standard View, the 20-column table every listed software must keep, records the outcome bill by bill in its Sync with IRD and Is_realtime columns, and a tax officer may ask to see it on demand. The sales, purchase and return registers must also be ready to upload to CBMS in Excel (clause 6.3(क)).

What happens when CBMS is down or a bill fails?

The bill is still a valid bill: it is issued to the customer at once, with its number, date and QR code. What the procedure requires is that the software logs the attempt and keeps trying, and that the bill reaches CBMS marked as not sent in real time when it finally does. A code 100 means the credentials are wrong and nothing will go through until they are fixed; 101 means the bill is already on file; 102 to 104 point at the data (a PAN, a date, a total), which the software must correct and resend; 105, on a credit note, means CBMS never received the original bill.

Because every attempt is logged, the activity log (clause 6.3(ग)) and the Standard View show an inspector exactly which bills reached the IRD when. A month's return should not be filed with bills still unsent.

How does a business start reporting to CBMS?

The software is listed with the IRD. Its producer applies through the Taxpayer Portal with Annex 1, a security test report and a certificate that the software meets the procedure's standards (section 3). Listed software is shown on the portal; software listed under the 2074 procedure had to list again by the end of Asar 2083 (16 July 2026).
The producer consents to the business using it (Annex 2).
The business applies to its own tax office (Annex 3) with Annex 2 and the documents the office asks for: sample bills (the original and a Copy of Original print), credit and debit notes, a reverse entry, the activity log, the Standard View synced to the CBMS test server, and, for a cloud server, the Annex 7 agreement signed by the provider, the producer and the business.
A tax or IT officer inspects the software on site against chapter 4 of the procedure; branches using the same software need only one check.
The office issues the permit (Annex 4). From then on every sale is billed through that software, and billing any other way needs the office's prior approval.
The software connects to CBMS before its first bill (clause 9(च)), with the business's own Taxpayer Portal credentials, having passed the sandbox test first.

Changing software later needs the tax office's approval again: the old records move to the new software with the producer's help, and the new software joins CBMS before its first bill (section 9).

What does the QR code have to do with CBMS?

Every bill from listed software carries a dynamic QR code (clause 6.2(ङ)): the seller's PAN, the bill number and date, the buyer's PAN if there is one, the total and the tax. For a business connected to CBMS, the code also holds a link that verifies the bill on the IRD's server, so a customer, an auditor or an officer can check from the bill itself that the IRD received it. The tax invoice guide lists everything else the bill must show.

What does it cost to get CBMS wrong?

Breach	What it costs	Section
Billing software that lets issued bill data be deleted or corrected	Rs 5,00,000 on the business	VAT Act s29(1)(छ२), Finance Act 2083
Other breaches of the electronic-billing duties	Rs 1,00,000	VAT Act s29(1)(छ२), s14क
Developing, installing or operating billing software that does not comply	Rs 5,00,000 on whoever does it: the vendor, not only the business	Income Tax Act s119क
No tax invoice issued for a sale	Rs 10,000 each time	VAT Act s29(1)(c)
Changing billing software without the tax office's approval	A breach of the procedure's section 9; the old records must move with the producer's help	Procedure 2082, s9

The other VAT fines, fees and interest, and how to appeal, are in penalties and appeals.

How BRAccount connects to CBMS

Each organisation in BRAccount keeps its own seller PAN, CBMS user ID and password and a switch between the IRD's sandbox and the live server. When a sales invoice is submitted, the posting goes to CBMS at once; a credit note goes to the bill-return endpoint; a failed post is retried every hour and every attempt is kept in the CBMS Sync Log, which the Standard View and the Monthly Close read before a return is filed. An organisation without a login is held back, never sent under another taxpayer's PAN. BRAccount is built to the 2082 procedure's software rules but is not yet on the IRD's list, so a tax office cannot yet permit electronic bills from it; the IRD billing software guide states the rules clause by clause and where BRAccount stands on each, and the VAT billing page shows the billing side.

Questions

What is CBMS in Nepal?

The Central Billing Monitoring System (केन्द्रीय बीजक अनुगमन प्रणाली): the Inland Revenue Department's server that receives a copy of every electronic tax invoice and credit note from connected billing software the moment it is issued, under the business's own PAN.

Who must connect to CBMS?

Every business with turnover above Rs 20 crore that bills customers directly (IRD notice of 4 Baishakh 2083); businesses already billing electronically above Rs 10 crore (budget 2083/84); hotels, restaurants, canteens and internet service providers above Rs 5 crore; and any business the IRD names in a notice. Banks and financial institutions that do not bill consumers directly are excluded.

Is CBMS the same as electronic billing?

No. Electronic billing is issuing bills from software listed under the Electronic Billing Procedure 2082, which any business may do with its tax office's permission. CBMS is the IRD's feed that the businesses above the turnover lines must also send each bill to, in real time.

What does the software send for each bill?

Twenty-one fields: the seller's and buyer's PAN, the buyer's name, the fiscal year (for example 2083.084), the bill number and its Bikram Sambat date, the totals by tax type and whether the bill was sent in real time. A credit note goes separately, naming the original bill and the reason for the return.

How can I check that a bill reached CBMS?

In the software's sync log and its Annex 5 Standard View, whose Sync with IRD and Is_realtime columns record each bill's outcome, and through the verification link inside the bill's QR code, which checks the bill on the IRD's server.

What happens if the internet is down when I issue a bill?

The bill is still valid and goes to the customer at once. The software logs the attempt, keeps retrying, and sends the bill marked as not real-time when the connection returns. A month's return should not be filed with bills still unsent.

Can a bill be cancelled after CBMS has received it?

Not cancelled or edited: nothing entered can be deleted or altered. It is reversed with a credit note, which the software sends to CBMS's bill-return endpoint naming the original bill and the reason.

Does my business need CBMS if its turnover is below the lines?

No. You may keep issuing paper bills, or bill electronically with listed software and your tax office's permission without connecting to CBMS, until a notice names your business or your turnover crosses a line.

How do I test a CBMS connection before going live?

On the IRD's sandbox, with the test credentials it publishes (seller PAN 999999999). Your tax office asks for the Standard View synced to the CBMS test server as part of the Annex 3 application.

Does BRAccount connect to CBMS?

Yes, per organisation, under its own PAN and Taxpayer Portal login, with hourly retries and a full sync log. BRAccount is not yet on the IRD's list of e-billing software, so a tax office cannot yet permit electronic bills from it; the IRD billing software guide shows where it stands.

Sources

IRD billing software guide Request access