Startup compliance, DPIIT registration
and investor readiness for Series A.

You launched. Revenue is moving. Maybe you have your first ten clients or paying users. Everything is exciting — and your books are a mess. Accounts are partially maintained, payroll was set up informally, and investors are starting to ask questions you do not have clean answers to. You know this needs fixing. You just haven't had time.

From our CA's experience

“I have seen Series A deals collapse — and more often get severely repriced — because of three months of transactions maintained in a spreadsheet. The investor does not care that you were too busy building a product. They see what the books show. And every unrecorded liability reduces your valuation. The cleanup cost is always lower than the valuation discount. Always.”

— On the most expensive mistake early-stage founders make before fundraising
What we see — the real problems
Problem 01
Messy books entering the fundraising process
Investors bring auditors. Auditors find unrecorded liabilities, unexplained transactions and missing documentation. Every finding extends your due diligence timeline. Every unresolved item reduces your valuation. Books in spreadsheets for 18 months are a Series A risk — not a minor inconvenience.
Average valuation impact: ₹50L–₹2Cr
Problem 02
DPIIT recognition — the most valuable application most startups never file
DPIIT recognition gives you: a 3-year income tax holiday on profits, faster patent processing, self-certification under 9 labour laws, access to government schemes and grants. In our practice, fewer than 30% of eligible startups have applied. Some of our clients have accessed ₹50L+ in government schemes after getting recognised.
Limited-time eligibility window
Problem 03
Payroll processed without TDS compliance
Hired 3–5 people. Paying salaries directly from the company account. No TAN registration. No TDS deduction under Section 192. This creates a tax demand on the company — ₹3–8 lakh depending on salary scale — with 18% annual interest from month one of the omission.
Common in months 4–12 of operations
Problem 04
No MIS reporting when investors, banks or partners ask
A serious investor asks for your monthly P&L, cash position and revenue reconciliation. A bank asks for certified financials. A strategic partner wants to see your unit economics. Without proper MIS reporting produced monthly, you cannot have the financial conversations your business needs at this stage.
SaaSFinTechD2CEdTechHealthTechAgriTech
What we do for you
Audit-ready books before your investor asks for them.

We start with a compliance audit — what is clean, what needs fixing, what is at risk. We fix the highest-risk items first. Then we produce the financial picture your investor will see. We aim to get you audit-ready 90 days before you actually need it — not 2 weeks before the term sheet conversation.

Full compliance audit — books, TDS, GST, payroll, ROC filings
DPIIT recognition application if you qualify
TDS regularisation with penalty mitigation where applicable
Monthly MIS reporting — P&L, cash position, revenue reconciliation
Investor due diligence documentation package prepared in advance
Startup compliance from ₹15,000/month. The cost of clean books is always lower than the valuation discount for dirty ones. This is not a cost — it is capital protection.
Case we solved — recovered ₹1.6Cr of ₹2Cr valuation reduction
Meera Krishnan — Co-Founder, EdTech Startup, Bengaluru
16-month-old startup · ₹2.4Cr ARR · Series A approaching · Books maintained in Excel since incorporation
MK
The situation

Meera's startup was 16 months old and approaching Series A. All accounting was done in Excel. Transactions from the first 18 months had never been entered into proper accounting software. Payroll for 6 employees had been processed without TDS registration for the first 8 months. The investor brought in an auditor.

What the auditor found before we stepped in

₹45L in unrecorded liabilities. TDS demand of ₹3.2L plus interest. Missing documentation for ₹12L in business expenses. The investor reduced their valuation offer by ₹2 crore and extended the due diligence timeline by 6 weeks.

What we did after being brought in

Reconstructed 18 months of accounts from bank statements, invoices and receipts. Handled TDS regularisation with successful penalty mitigation. Produced investor-grade certified financial statements and a complete due diligence documentation package.

₹1.6Cr
Valuation recovered from ₹2Cr reduction
4 weeks
From our engagement to deal close
₹3.2L
TDS demand with penalty mitigation

“Meera's case cost ₹45 lakh to fix under pressure in 4 weeks. It would have cost ₹1.8 lakh to maintain properly every month from month one. The maths of clean books is always unambiguous. We never see it calculated in advance — only after the due diligence finds the gap.”

The one thing we tell every startup founder before they begin fundraising
Start cleaning your books 6 months before you plan to raise. Not 6 weeks before.

Every unrecorded liability found in due diligence reduces your valuation by more than the cost of fixing it. Every unresolved TDS issue extends your fundraising timeline by weeks. Investor auditors are not looking for problems — they are documenting everything they find.

Six months gives you time to fix issues quietly, produce certified statements calmly, and walk into due diligence with a documentation package ready. Six weeks gives you nothing but pressure and a repriced term sheet.

Ask us for a free compliance audit 6 months before you plan to raise. We will tell you what is clean, what needs fixing, and what the timeline looks like. No pressure, no obligation.
“Want to talk this through?”