Starting a business
A company, an LLP or a partnership, from the decision through the months and years of running it: what each step needs, and where we come in.
How people usually arrive.
You are deciding between a company, an LLP and a partnership.
You have incorporated and want the first registrations done in the right order.
You are about to make the first hire, and to pay yourself for the first time.
The books are behind, and the GST returns no longer agree with them.
Investors are coming in and you have been told the company needs a valuation and a set of filings first.
Where we come in.
What you can engage us to help with here, how it usually begins, and what is useful to have.
- Choosing the form
- We set out what a company, an LLP and a partnership would each mean for you: the compliance calendar, whether an audit applies from the start, what founders can be paid and how, and how investors can come in. You get a written comparison to decide against.
- Incorporation and the first registrations
- We prepare the incorporation and the registrations that follow, in the order they depend on each other: the tax registrations, GST registration where the business needs it, and the state registrations that employing people brings. Some of these filings need a practising professional’s certification, which is a separate step; we tell you which at the start.
- The books, from the first transaction
- We set up the books so that the bank account, the payment gateway and the invoicing match the entity’s registrations, then keep them current: the ledgers, the bank reconciled, what is owed and owing, each month closed, and a monthly view you can act on of cash, receivables, payables and margin.
- Founder pay and payroll
- We settle how founders are paid and what that brings with it, and run payroll from the first hire, with the withholding and the statutory contributions that go with it.
- GST, withholding and advance tax
- We prepare and file the GST returns on their cycle, deposit and report the tax the business withholds on salaries, rent, contractors and fees, and issue the statements the people paid need for their own returns. We reconcile both against the books and the tax credit statement, which is where the differences usually are, and estimate the advance tax each quarter from the same numbers.
- Year end and the filings
- We close the books, prepare what the auditor needs where an audit applies, prepare the entity’s income-tax return alongside the founders’ own, and file the annual returns with the registrar, keeping the calendar of registrar filings, board records and statutory registers.
It begins with what the business will sell, to whom, who the owners are, where they live and how they expect to be paid; for a business already running, with the bank statements, the accounting file and where the filings stand.
Useful to have, if you have it
- What the business will sell, and to whom
- Who the owners are, where they live, and how they expect to be paid
- The incorporation documents and registration certificates, if the entity already exists
- Bank statements, and access to the accounting file if there is one
- Payroll details, if there are employees
Where this needs another specialist
Where a matter needs a lawyer, the shareholders’ agreement for example, we say so and work alongside one. We do not carry out audits or issue attestations ourselves: where an audit or a practising professional’s certification is required, we can connect you with one, and we prepare what they need. A valuation for an investment round comes from a registered valuer or a merchant banker.
What becomes relevant, and when.
Each consideration at the stage it tends to arrive, explained once. The ones shared with other matters say so.
Before you act
- Entity form
Company, LLP or partnership: the form you choose sets the compliance calendar, whether an audit applies from the start, what founders can be paid and how investors can come in.
- Who owns what
At incorporation
- Registrations & filings
Every entity has a calendar of registrations and filings from day one, some with the registrar, some with the tax department, some with the state. Board records and statutory registers run alongside them, and the annual filings close each year. Missing early ones is expensive to fix later.
Shared with 03 SEBI compliances & registrations · 05 Unlisted investments · 10 Inheritance & succession
- GST
Whether GST registration is needed, and from when, depends on what is sold, to whom, from where and how much, so it is settled at the start. Once registered, the returns run on their own cycle, monthly or quarterly depending on size, and are reconciled against the books.
Shared with 03 SEBI compliances & registrations · On the map →
- Bank & payments
The bank account, the payment gateway and the invoicing set-up are where the books begin. They need to match the entity’s registrations.
- Incorporation
Incorporation is a sequence of registrations and first filings, each with its own documents and timing, and some steps only open once an earlier one is done. Getting the order right avoids repeating steps.
First months
- Books
Books kept from the first transaction and closed every month make every later filing straightforward, and give the founders numbers to run the business on: cash, receivables, payables and margin. Reconstructing them at year end costs more than keeping them.
Shared with 03 SEBI compliances & registrations · On the map →
- Founder pay
How founders are paid, salary, fees or drawings, follows from the entity form and brings payroll and withholding with it.
- Payroll
The first hire brings payroll, withholding on salaries and, once the headcount crosses the thresholds, the registrations that go with employing people. From then on, each month’s payroll brings the statutory contributions and the records that support them.
Shared with
Every month and quarter
Relevant here too. Explained under At incorporation.
- Withholding (TDS)
Paying salaries, rent, contractors or professionals brings a duty to withhold and deposit, and to report what was withheld on a cycle of its own, with statements for the people paid. It starts earlier than most founders expect.
Shared with five other matters. See them on the map →
Relevant here too. Explained under First months.
- Advance tax
A business pays its tax in instalments through the year, estimated from the monthly numbers; how many instalments depends on how the business is taxed. The estimate is revisited each quarter.
Shared with 02 Tax returns · 04 Listed investments · 09 Property
At year end
Relevant here too. Explained under First months.
Relevant here too. Explained under At incorporation.
- Income-tax return
The entity’s own income-tax return, and the founders’ personal ones, are prepared from the same closed books. Both have their own deadlines, and for a company the audit comes first.
Shared with nine other matters. See them on the map →