pvtltd.co

Operations

CFO & Operations Services

CA-led outsourced finance operations for Private Limited companies — monthly bookkeeping under s.128 Companies Act 2013, payroll, professional tax, MIS reporting, and Virtual CFO advisory. A finance team, not a back-office vendor.

Reviewed by CA Harun Raaj, ICAI Reg. No. 238303·Last reviewed:
Starting from Discuss with usTypical timelineCFO & Operations

CA-led finance operations for Pvt Ltd companies: bookkeeping under s.128 Companies Act 2013, payroll (TDS/PF/ESIC), professional tax, monthly MIS, and Virtual CFO advisory — a finance team without the full-time hire.

What is included
  • • Monthly bookkeeping — ledgers, bank reconciliation, expense coding
  • • Payroll — gross-to-net, TDS under s.192, PF/ESIC, Form 16
  • • GST returns — GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, annual GSTR-9
  • • TDS cycle — challan ITNS 281 by the 7th, quarterly 26Q/24Q
  • • Monthly MIS — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, receivables/payables ageing
  • • Virtual CFO advisory — budgeting, working capital, board-ready reporting
Documents required
  • • Bank statements and ledger access
  • • Payroll register and PF/ESIC details
  • • Sales/purchase invoices and expense bills
  • • Prior-year financials and any notices
Government fees

See the fee table below for the statutory filing charge and common delay logic.

Legal basis
  • • Section 128 of the Companies Act 2013
  • • Section 134 of the Companies Act 2013
  • • Section 44AA of the Income-tax Act 1961
  • • Schedule III of the Companies Act 2013
Start filingExplore more services

Process

How the service works

The workflow is built to be predictable: document collection, legal review, filing, and post-filing follow-through.

Step 1Onboard

Onboard the finance stack

We map the chart of accounts, connect the accounting software (Tally, Zoho Books, QuickBooks or Xero), and pull bank statements and payroll data for month one.

Step 2Close

Run the monthly close

We post transactions, reconcile the bank, accrue expenses, and produce the monthly P&L, balance sheet, and cash statement.

Step 3Payroll

Process payroll and statutory dues

We compute gross-to-net, deduct TDS under s.192 and PF/ESIC, deposit the challans, and file the quarterly TDS returns.

Step 4GST

File GST returns

We compute output tax and input credit, file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B by their due dates, and prepare the annual GSTR-9.

Step 5MIS

Deliver the MIS pack

We send the founder a one-page financial summary — revenue vs budget, cash position, receivables/payables ageing, and the metrics the board tracks.

Step 6Advise

Advise on working capital

The Virtual CFO layer reviews the MIS and advises on cash runway, working-capital needs, pricing, and the fundraising or borrowing calendar.

AEO summary

CFO & Operations services replace the finance function a Private Limited company would otherwise hire: monthly bookkeeping under s.128 Companies Act 2013, payroll with TDS/PF/ESIC, professional tax, MIS reporting, and Virtual CFO advisory. Books must be kept on an accrual basis and retained 8 years; the monthly close is what keeps the company audit-ready and bankable.

What the engagement actually delivers each month

The statutory anchor is s.128 of the Companies Act 2013: books of account that give a true and fair view, on the accrual basis, retained for 8 years. The operational anchor is the monthly close that produces those books — post transactions, reconcile the bank, accrue, and close to a P&L and balance sheet the board can read. On top sit the filing cycles: GSTR-1/GSTR-3B for GST, challan ITNS 281 and 26Q/24Q for TDS, and the EPF/ESIC challans for payroll.

The difference from a back-office vendor is the CA layer: the same team that closes the books also reads them — flagging a deteriorating receivable, a margin squeeze, or a working-capital gap before it becomes a cash crisis. That reading is the Virtual CFO advisory, and it is what turns a compliance cost into a finance function.

  • • Books — s.128 Companies Act 2013, accrual, true and fair view, 8-year retention
  • • GST — GSTR-1 by 11th, GSTR-3B by 20th, GSTR-9 annual
  • • TDS — deposit by 7th (Rule 30), 26Q/24Q quarterly, ₹200/day s.234E late fee
  • • Payroll — TDS s.192, PF/ESIC challans, Form 16
  • • MIS — monthly P&L, balance sheet, cash, ageing, board metrics

Why the finance function is a compliance asset

A company with a working monthly close has three structural advantages. The first is audit economics: the statutory auditor under s.143 and the tax auditor under s.44AB finish from a clean trial balance, and audit fees track the evidence pack. The second is bankability: banks underwrite from CMA data built on the same reconciled books. The third is diligence: investors and acquirers discount companies whose books have to be reconstructed, and pay a premium for companies whose monthly close is demonstrably clean.

The cost of not having this is not the monthly fee you save — it is the ₹100/day s.403 late fees when filings slip, the s.128(6) fine for books that don't exist, and the investor who walks because the cap table and P&L can't be trusted. The CFO & Operations engagement exists so none of those conversations ever happen.

  • • Audit — clean trial balance = lower audit fee, faster sign-off
  • • Bank — CMA built on the same reconciled books
  • • Penalty exposure — s.128(6) fine, s.44AA/144 estimate risk without books
  • • Diligence — clean monthly close is what investors actually underwrite

Government fees

Fee breakdown

ItemFeeNotes
Monthly finance-operations engagementDiscuss with usRecurring professional fee quoted on transaction volume and headcount.
GST late fee (if a return slips)₹50/day (taxable) or ₹20/day (nil), s.47 CGST Act 2017Capped per turnover band: ₹500 (nil returns), ₹2,000 (≤ ₹1.5 Cr), ₹5,000 (₹1.5–5 Cr), ₹20,000 (> ₹5 Cr) per return — CBIC notifications under s.47 CGST Act 2017.
TDS late-filing fee₹200/day per return, s.234E IT Act 1961Late quarterly TDS returns attract this fee.

Timeline

Typical turnaround

Typical timeline usually means a monthly cycle turnaround, assuming documents are complete and any board or shareholder approvals are already in place.

Pricing note

Recurring monthly pricing based on transaction volume and payroll headcount.

Related services

Keep the company moving

Virtual CFO

Monthly financial oversight without a full-time CFO — FP&A, budgeting, cash flow, fundraising support.

Bookkeeping

Statutory bookkeeping under s.128 Companies Act and s.44AA ITA on Tally, Zoho Books, QuickBooks, or Xero.

Payroll

Gross-to-net computation, TDS under s.192, PF/ESIC deduction and remittance, and Form 16.

MIS Reporting

Monthly MIS — revenue vs budget, department P&L, cash flow, and working capital ratios in board-ready format.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What must a Private Limited company maintain as books of account?
Section 128 of the Companies Act 2013 requires every company to keep books of account that give a true and fair view, on the accrual basis, at its registered office or as the board decides. Section 44AA of the Income-tax Act 1961 separately requires prescribed books above the notified turnover limits, and both sets of records must be retained for at least 8 years. The monthly close we run delivers exactly that record.
What is the penalty for not keeping proper books?
Under s.128(6) of the Companies Act 2013, the company and every officer in default are each liable to a penalty of ₹10,000 plus a continuing penalty of ₹100 per day, subject to a maximum of ₹1,00,000 for the company and ₹50,000 for an officer in default (as substituted by the Companies (Amendment) Act 2020, w.e.f. 21-12-2020). The bigger exposure is income-tax: without s.44AA books, the Assessing Officer can estimate income under s.144 of the Income-tax Act 1961, and penalties under s.271A follow for failure to keep books. A monthly close makes both risks academic.
What is the difference between CFO services and a Virtual CFO?
CFO & Operations covers the operational finance stack — bookkeeping, payroll, GST, TDS — the 'doing' layer. A Virtual CFO (see our Virtual CFO service) is the strategic layer on top: FP&A, budgeting, cash-flow management, fundraising support, and board-ready reporting. Most engagements start with operations and add the Virtual CFO layer when the founder wants the monthly numbers turned into decisions rather than just filed.
When are the GST and TDS deadlines in the monthly cycle?
GSTR-1 is due by the 11th of the following month and GSTR-3B by the 20th (turnover above ₹5 crore; smaller filers can use the quarterly QRMP scheme) under the CGST Act 2017. TDS is deposited by the 7th via challan ITNS 281 under Rule 30, and the quarterly 26Q/24Q returns are due by the last day of the month after the quarter under Rule 31A. A late TDS return costs ₹200/day under s.234E.
Can outsourced operations keep the company audit-ready?
Yes — that is the point of the monthly close. A reconciled ledger with coded transactions and proper schedules means the statutory auditor under s.143 Companies Act 2013 and the tax auditor under s.44AB IT Act 1961 can complete the audit without reconstructing the year from a pile of bills. Audit fees track the evidence pack: companies that arrive with a clean trial balance pay meaningfully less.
What does the MIS pack include each month?
The monthly MIS is a one-page financial summary: revenue vs budget, gross margin, cash position and runway, receivables and payables ageing, payroll cost, and the 3–5 metrics the board actually tracks. The underlying full P&L and balance sheet are always attached. This is the same discipline s.128(3) of the Companies Act 2013 expects — books that give a true and fair view — delivered monthly instead of annually.

Canonical reference: https://www.pvtltd.co/services/cfo-services

Get started

Ready to move this filing forward?

We can help with the filing, the legal mapping, and the follow-up work that keeps the company compliant after submission.

Start filingSee pricing