Bookkeeping & Accounting Maintenance

What is bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is recording every transaction your business makes — sales, purchases, expenses, payments, and receipts — in a structured set of accounts. Accounting builds on it: reconciling those records, making adjustments, and turning them into financial statements.

For most businesses, it isn't optional. Companies must keep books under the Companies Act, 2013, many businesses and professionals must keep them under the Income-tax Act, and every GST-registered business must keep records under GST law. Good books are also what every return, audit, and loan application is built on.

The key terms

A few rules decide how books must be kept:

Double-entry, accrual basis

Companies must keep books on an accrual basis and by double entry, recording income and expenses when they arise, not just when cash moves.

Where books are kept

A company's books are kept at its registered office, or elsewhere in India if the board decides and the ROC is informed in Form AOC-5.

How long to keep them

Company books and vouchers must be preserved for at least eight years. GST records must be kept for 72 months from the due date of the annual return for that year.

Electronic books

Books kept electronically must be accessible in India at all times, with a backup on servers physically located in India taken daily.

Audit trail

Since April 2023, companies must use accounting software that records an audit trail — an edit log of every change — which can't be disabled.

Income-tax books

Professionals and businesses above the income or turnover limits in Section 44AA must keep books of account and documents that let the tax officer compute their income.

Reconciliation

Matching your books against bank statements, GST returns, and TDS records regularly, so errors are caught while they're still easy to fix.

Why good books matter

Bookkeeping is where compliance starts — and where most problems begin when it's neglected:

Every return depends on it

GST returns, TDS returns, income-tax returns, and the annual ROC filings are all built on the books. Errors in the books flow into every one of them.

Faster, cheaper audits

Auditors spend most of their time on messy records. Clean, reconciled books shorten the audit and reduce its cost.

Input tax credit

GST credit depends on matching purchase records with your suppliers' filings. Missed entries mean missed credit.

Knowing where you stand

Up-to-date books tell you your real profit, cash position, and who owes you money — not just your bank balance.

Loans and investors

Banks and investors ask for financial statements and ledgers. Books kept properly make those requests easy to meet.

Penalties for not keeping them

Failing to keep proper books can attract penalties under the Companies Act and the Income-tax Act, and weakens your position in any tax assessment.

Defending a notice

When a tax or GST notice arrives, your books and vouchers are the evidence. Without them, the officer's estimate usually wins.

Who is this for?

If your books are months or years behind, our Accounts Clean-up & Backlog Regularisation service is the place to start — it brings them current before regular bookkeeping takes over.

Bookkeeping options compared

Most small businesses choose between doing it themselves, hiring in-house, or outsourcing:

What we'll need from you

Bank statements

Statements for every business bank account and credit card, in a format we can import.

Sales records

Invoices you've issued, or access to your invoicing or billing software.

Purchase and expense bills

Supplier invoices, expense receipts, and rent, utility, and subscription bills.

Payroll details

Salaries, reimbursements, and statutory deductions like PF, ESI, and Professional Tax.

Registrations

Your GSTIN, TAN, and any other registrations, so the books line up with your returns.

Software access

Access to your accounting software, or we'll set one up for you.

Our fee depends mainly on the number of transactions each month, not on your turnover.

How we keep your books

Once set up, bookkeeping runs on a regular monthly cycle:

1. 1

   Set up the books

   We set up or review your chart of accounts, opening balances, and software, including the audit trail and backup settings.

2. 2

   Collect documents

   You share bank statements, invoices, and bills through a shared folder or your software, as they come in.

3. 3

   Record transactions

   Every sale, purchase, expense, and payment is recorded and categorised correctly.

4. 4

   Reconcile

   Bank accounts are reconciled, and the books are matched with GST returns and TDS records.

5. 5

   Review and adjust

   We review for errors, and make month-end entries like accruals and depreciation where needed.

6. 6

   Report

   You get a monthly summary of profit, cash, receivables, and payables, with anything that needs your attention flagged.

Keeping records properly

Books aren't just entered — they have to be kept safe and available:

Preserve for eight years

Keep company books and vouchers for at least eight years, and GST records for 72 months from the annual return's due date.

Daily backup in India

If books are kept electronically, make sure the software backs them up daily to servers in India.

Keep the audit trail on

Don't disable the edit log in your accounting software. Auditors now report on whether it was maintained.

Supporting documents

Keep invoices, bills, and contracts linked to entries, so every transaction can be traced.

Year-end handover

At year end, reconciled books go to your auditor, with schedules of balances ready.

Inspection

Directors can inspect the books at any time, and so can the Registrar or an inspector when they're entitled to.

Benefits and responsibilities