We accept outsourced work: the accounting, audit support and tax compliance that a business cannot staff in-house, or that another professional firm needs a second team to carry. The engagement is defined, the people are ours, and the responsibility for the work we do is ours.
This describes the subject in general terms and is not advice; what applies depends on the facts, and the law changes.
Understanding the service
Outsourcing here means more than passing over a task. We take on a defined body of work, agree the cycle it runs to, the systems it runs in and the approvals that stay with you, and then run it as part of your calendar rather than at arm's length from it.
Three kinds of client use this. Businesses without a full finance function, who need the books kept and the returns filed properly. Foreign-owned entities, who need Indian records and filings maintained to a standard their parent can rely on. And other professional firms, in India and abroad, who need capacity for a season or a project and want it from a team that works to their own standards.
What it does not do is move responsibility. Where the law places a duty on a company's board, its officers or its appointed auditor, that duty stays there. We are accountable for the work we perform and for performing it with care; the statutory responsibility remains with the person on whom the law puts it.
Independence sets one hard limit. We cannot keep a company's books and also audit them, and the Companies Act restricts a company's auditor from providing accounting services to that company. Where a client wants both, one of them has to sit with another firm.
When it becomes relevant
- A business whose transaction volume has outgrown the person currently handling the books
- A foreign-owned entity that needs Indian accounting and filings maintained reliably
- A professional firm needing capacity through a busy season, or for a particular engagement
- A finance team short-handed through a vacancy, a transition or a leave period
- A company whose records have fallen behind and need bringing up to date
- Management that wants monthly figures instead of a year-end reconstruction
What we take on
- Accounting: recording transactions, maintaining ledgers, and bank, supplier and customer reconciliations
- Periodic management information and the preparation of financial statements
- Payroll processing support, and the returns connected with it, where agreed
- Tax compliance: computations, returns, tax deducted at source, advance tax and GST filings
- Audit support: preparation of schedules, reconciliations and working papers for the appointed auditor
- Engagement support for other professional firms, working to their templates and review standards
- Coordination with the auditors, the bankers and the client's own team at the year end
Framework and sources
The law and professional standards this work is carried out under. Links open the official site.
How the work runs
- Scope and cut-offAgree exactly which work transfers, from which date, in which systems, and what stays with you.
- TransitionTake on opening balances, reconcile them, and settle the chart of accounts and the reporting formats.
- Run the cycleRecord, reconcile, review and report at the agreed intervals, with a named person responsible.
- Report and fileDeliver the management information and prepare or file the returns within the statutory dates.
- ReviewRevisit scope, volumes and reporting as the business changes.
A general sequence. Engagements differ, and the scope of each is agreed in writing.
Common questions
Does outsourcing transfer our legal responsibilities?
No. Statutory duties stay with the people the law places them on, including the board and the officers of a company. We are responsible for performing the work we accept, with due care.
Can you keep our books and audit them as well?
No. Independence does not permit it, and the Companies Act restricts a company's auditor from providing accounting services to that company. One of the two must go to another firm.
Do you work for other professional firms?
Yes. We take on engagement work and seasonal capacity for other firms, to their templates and under their review.
Whose systems do we work in?
Yours, wherever practical. Where you have no system in place we will propose one and run it, and the records remain yours throughout.
How is confidentiality handled?
Client information is held in confidence as a professional obligation. Access is limited to the people on the engagement, and the terms are set out in writing before work begins.