Plain-language how-tos on registering and running a company or NGO, staying compliant, protecting your brand, raising finance and recovering money — the questions we are asked most.
Please note: these guides are general information, not legal advice — government fees, forms and timelines change, and the new Income-tax Act, 2025 is renumbering several provisions. For your situation, please talk to us.
Before you register anything, the most important decision is what to register as — because your structure decides your tax, your personal liability and how easily you can raise money later. Getting it right at the start is far cheaper than fixing it afterwards.
The common options, in plain terms: - Sole Proprietorship — just you. Simplest and cheapest to start (often only GST, a Shops & Establishment registration and any trade licences). But there is no legal separation between you and the business, so your personal assets are exposed, and banks and investors take it less seriously. - Partnership Firm — two or more people on a partnership deed. Easy to form, but partners carry unlimited liability. - Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) — limited liability with lighter compliance than a company. A good fit for professional and services firms. - One Person Company (OPC) — for a single founder who still wants limited liability and a corporate identity. - Private Limited Company — the gold standard if you plan to raise investment, scale, or want maximum credibility with banks and customers. More compliance, but the structure investors expect.
Registering a Private Limited Company — the actual steps: 1. Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) for the proposed directors. 2. Reserve the name through SPICe+ Part A (a quick availability check first saves a rejection). 3. File SPICe+ Part B — the single incorporation form — with the electronic MOA (INC-33) and AOA (INC-34), plus AGILE-PRO-S, which bundles GST, EPFO, ESIC, bank account and professional tax in one go. 4. DIN is allotted to the directors, and the Certificate of Incorporation is issued with your CIN — PAN and TAN are generated automatically. 5. Open the current account, bring in the subscribed capital, and pick up any sector-specific licences.
With clean documents this typically takes about 7–15 working days.
How we help: we advise on the right structure for your plans, handle the entire incorporation end-to-end, and make sure GST, PAN/TAN and the first registrations are in place so you can start invoicing from day one.
Most penalties businesses face aren't for doing something wrong — they're for missing a date. Here's the rhythm of a compliant company, so nothing creeps up on you.
Every month - GST — GSTR-1 (outward supplies) and GSTR-3B (summary and tax payment). Smaller businesses on the QRMP scheme file quarterly but still pay monthly. - TDS — deposit tax deducted on salaries, rent, contractor and professional payments by the 7th of the following month. - PF & ESI — deposit employee contributions by the 15th.
Every quarter - TDS returns (Forms 24Q / 26Q). - Advance tax instalments (15 June, 15 Sept, 15 Dec, 15 March).
Every year (Private Limited Company) - Statutory audit of the accounts. - Annual General Meeting — within six months of the financial year-end. - AOC-4 (financial statements) — within 30 days of the AGM. - MGT-7 / MGT-7A (annual return) — within 60 days of the AGM. - DIR-3 KYC — for every director, by 30 September. - Income Tax Return — and a tax audit if turnover crosses the prescribed limit. - DPT-3 (return of deposits) and MSME-1 (if you owe registered MSME vendors). - Board meetings (a minimum number each year) and the directors' report.
LLPs have it lighter — Form 11 (annual return, by 30 May), Form 8 (statement of account & solvency, by 30 October) and the income-tax return. Proprietorships mainly handle GST returns, TDS where applicable and the personal ITR.
One number worth remembering: late ROC filings carry a penalty of ₹100 per day, per form, with no upper cap — a small delay becomes an expensive one fast.
How we help: we run your monthly, quarterly and annual calendar as a managed service — returns filed on time, reconciliations done, and a heads-up before every deadline, so you can run the business instead of the paperwork.
Your content, your code, your designs and your brand artwork are often the most valuable — and most copied — things your business owns. Copyright actually exists the moment you create an original work, but registration gives you dated, official proof of ownership, which is exactly what wins a dispute.
What copyright protects: original literary works (including software and source code), artistic works (logos, illustrations, packaging art), musical works, sound recordings and cinematograph films.
The registration process: 1. File the application (Form XIV) online on the Copyright Office portal, in the right category, with a copy of the work and the fee. 2. You receive a Diary Number, after which there's a mandatory 30-day window for anyone to object. 3. If there's no objection, the application moves to examination; if a discrepancy is raised, there's a chance to respond. 4. Once cleared, the work is entered in the Register of Copyrights and a Registration Certificate is issued.
A practical tip: a brand logo can be protected both as a copyright (artwork) and as a trademark (brand identity) — and for software, you can register the source code itself.
How we help: we pick the correct category, prepare and file the application, respond to any objection, and pair copyright with trademark so your brand is protected from every angle.
Finding a copycat using your name, your product or your content is genuinely upsetting — but you have strong, layered remedies, and acting early (and calmly) usually works.
The steps, from softest to strongest: 1. Preserve evidence — screenshots with dates, sample products, listings, and any lost-sales impact. 2. Cease-and-desist (legal notice) — a firm, well-drafted notice demanding they stop (and sometimes pay damages) resolves a large share of cases without going to court. 3. Civil suit — for an injunction (a court order to stop), plus damages or an account of profits. An interim injunction can shut the infringer down quickly while the case runs. 4. Criminal action — trademark and copyright infringement are cognizable offences, so a police complaint can lead to search and seizure of counterfeit goods. 5. Customs (IPR) recordal — record your trademark/copyright with Customs to block infringing goods at the border. 6. Online infringement — takedown notices to marketplaces and platforms under the intermediary rules, and John Doe / "Ashok Kumar" orders against unknown infringers.
How we help: we move at the right level for your situation — from the cease-and-desist notice through an interim injunction and, if needed, full trial — and we coordinate criminal and customs action where counterfeiting is involved.
Banks don't lend on a good idea — they lend on a credible file. The businesses that get sanctioned quickly, and on better terms, are the ones whose books, compliance and projections tell a clean story. Here's how to be one of them.
Be clear on what you're asking for: working capital (for day-to-day cash flow) and a term loan (for machinery, premises or expansion) are different products with different paperwork — going in with the right ask makes you look prepared.
What banks will want to see: - A project report / business plan showing the purpose and viability. - CMA data (financial projections in the bank's format) for working-capital and term loans. - Audited financials (usually 2–3 years), income-tax returns, GST returns and 6–12 months of bank statements. - KYC, your business registration and licences, and collateral documents — or a collateral-free route.
Schemes worth knowing about (we'll confirm the current limits for your case, as these are revised periodically): - MUDRA loans for micro-enterprises (Shishu / Kishore / Tarun categories). - CGTMSE — a credit-guarantee scheme that enables collateral-free loans for MSMEs. - Stand-Up India — for SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. - PMEGP — subsidy-linked funding for new micro-enterprises.
The quiet truth: a GST-compliant, audited, well-documented business is simply more bankable. Clean compliance isn't just about avoiding penalties — it directly improves how much you can borrow and at what rate.
How we help: we prepare the project report and CMA data, get your financials, GST and overall compliance audit-ready, complete your Udyam/MSME registration (which improves eligibility), and handle the documentation so your application stands up to scrutiny.
Cash stuck with a defaulting customer is one of the oldest problems in business — and one of the most solvable, if you use the right tool quickly.
Your options, by speed and strength: 1. Reconcile and send a formal demand notice — a lawyer's notice alone often unlocks payment. 2. Bounced cheque? Send a Section 138 (Negotiable Instruments Act) notice within 30 days, then file a complaint — it's a criminal remedy that carries real pressure. 3. MSME Samadhaan — if you're a registered MSME, the buyer owes interest on delayed payments under the MSMED Act, and the Facilitation Council can order payment. This is one of the most underused, most effective routes for small suppliers. 4. Summary suit (Order XXXVII, CPC) — a faster track for recovery on written contracts and invoices. 5. Insolvency (IBC) — for larger, undisputed dues, a demand under the Code can prompt quick payment (subject to the prescribed threshold).
How we help: we assess the debt and pick the fastest route — notice, MSME claim, cheque-bounce complaint or suit — and pursue it through to recovery.
A lot of confusion (and lost protection) comes from filing the wrong thing. In one line each:
And remember — these overlap: a logo can be both a copyright (the artwork) and a trademark (the brand). We'll map exactly what you should file.
How we help: we audit what your business owns, tell you honestly what's worth protecting, and file across the right rights so nothing valuable is left exposed.
Setting up a non-profit to do good work is genuinely rewarding — but it comes with its own legal architecture, and the registrations you get (or miss) decide whether you can claim tax exemption, attract donors, and receive grants or foreign funding. Here is the full picture.
Step 1 — Choose the right structure. There are three routes, and the choice shapes everything that follows: - Public Charitable Trust — created by a trust deed (settlor, trustees, objects) and registered with the sub-registrar or charity authority. Simple and stable; common for family-run or endowment-based charities. - Society — registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 with a Memorandum and Rules and a minimum group of members (usually seven, from different states for an all-India society). Suits membership-driven bodies. - Section 8 Company — a non-profit company under the Companies Act, 2013, registered with the MCA. The most credible and best-governed form — preferred for CSR grants, institutional funding and scale — though it carries company-style compliance.
Step 2 — Register the entity and obtain its PAN. For a Section 8 company that means DSC, name approval and incorporation through SPICe+ along with the Section 8 licence; for a trust or society, the deed/memorandum and registration with the relevant registrar.
Step 3 — Get the tax registrations that make an NGO actually work: - 12AB registration (Income-tax Act) — this is what exempts the NGO's own income from tax, as long as it is applied to charitable purposes. Without it, your receipts are taxable. It is time-bound and renewable. - 80G registration — this is the donor magnet. With 80G, your donors can deduct part of their donation (commonly 50%) from their taxable income, which makes people far more willing to give. You then report donations in Form 10BD and issue each donor a Form 10BE certificate every year so they can claim it. - Both are applied for through Form 10A / 10AB on the income-tax portal. - CSR-1 registration with the MCA — mandatory if you want to receive CSR funds from companies.
Step 4 — FCRA, if you will take foreign funding. To receive donations or grants from outside India, an NGO needs FCRA registration (or "prior permission" for a one-off grant) from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The essentials: - You generally need around three years of existence and a minimum spend on your objects to qualify for full registration; prior permission covers a specific donor before then. - Since the 2020 amendments, all foreign funds must first be received in the designated FCRA account at SBI, New Delhi Main Branch, sub-granting to other organisations is barred, and office-bearers' details (including Aadhaar) are required. - Registration runs for five years and is renewable — and FCRA is heavily scrutinised, so clean compliance is non-negotiable.
Maintaining the NGO — the ongoing compliance: - Apply at least 85% of your income to charitable purposes each year to keep your exemption (accumulating more needs a specific filing). - Annual audit of accounts (where income crosses the limit), with the audit report in Form 10B / 10BB, and the ITR-7 income-tax return. - Form 10BD/10BE donation reporting by 31 May each year. - Renew 12AB and 80G on their cycle (every five years; provisional approvals sooner) — lapses are a common, costly mistake. - Section 8 companies also file ROC returns (AOC-4, MGT-7), hold board meetings and an AGM, and complete director KYC. - Trusts and societies file their annual returns/renewals with the registrar or charity commissioner (this varies by state). - FCRA holders file the annual FC-4 return and keep foreign funds strictly separate and properly utilised.
The role of 80G, in one line: 12AB protects your money from tax; 80G rewards your donors — and an NGO with both, plus CSR-1 (and FCRA where relevant), is one that funders, companies and individual donors can give to with confidence.
How we help: we advise on the right structure, register the entity, and secure the full stack — 12AB, 80G, CSR-1 and FCRA — then keep you compliant year after year: audits, ITR-7, Form 10B/10BB, the 10BD/10BE donation filings, renewals and the ROC work for Section 8 companies. The goal is simple — that your registrations never lapse and your funding is never put at risk, so you can focus on the cause.
