Incorporation certificates come with no instruction manual. This is the manual — every statutory obligation of a private limited company’s first year, in the order the deadlines arrive.
The first 30 days
- Appoint your first auditor within 30 days of incorporation — board meeting, consent letter, intimation.
- Open the company bank account and deposit the subscription money shown in the MOA.
- Hold the first board meeting within 30 days.
- Apply for GST, professional tax, and shops & establishment registration where applicable.
The first 180 days
- File INC-20A (declaration of commencement of business) within 180 days — miss it and directors face penalties and the ROC can strike the company off.
- Issue share certificates within 60 days of incorporation and pay stamp duty.
- Start monthly payroll compliance the month you hire: TDS on salaries, PF and ESI if you cross the employee thresholds.
The monthly rhythm
From your first invoice or first hire, three cycles run continuously: GST returns on the 11th and 20th, TDS deposit by the 7th, and PF/ESI by the 15th. Nil months still need nil filings — the penalty meter does not care that you had no revenue.
Year-end — the big four
- Hold the AGM within nine months of the first financial year-end.
- File AOC-4 (financial statements) within 30 days of the AGM.
- File MGT-7A (annual return) within 60 days of the AGM.
- File the income-tax return — 31 October for audited companies.
Late fees on ROC filings run per day, not per month — ₹100 a day, no cap, no mercy.
Directors have personal deadlines too
Every director files DIR-3 KYC by 30 September each year. Skip it and the DIN gets deactivated — which quietly blocks every other filing the company must make. It is the smallest form on this list and causes the most chaos.
Or hand the calendar to us
This entire checklist is what our Step Up compliance retainers exist for — one fixed fee, every deadline watched, and a WhatsApp message before anything falls due. You build the business; we keep it filed.