Every registered company files an annual return and audited financial statements, whether it traded or not. Both forms prepared, certified and filed for you.
A few details, then secure checkout. Your expert takes it from there.
Starting at₹3,999+ Govt. Fees
Prefer to talk to someone first?
Two filings with the Registrar, due after the annual general meeting, and neither is optional.
A private limited company is a separate legal person, and it keeps that status by filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs every year. Two documents go to the Registrar for each financial year: the audited financial statements, and the annual return. The obligation does not depend on turnover. A company with crores of revenue and a company with a single transaction file the same two forms, and so does a company with none.
Both forms report the activity and the financial data for the financial year they cover, and both due dates run from the date of the annual general meeting rather than from a fixed calendar date. The audited statements go on AOC-4 within 30 days of that meeting; the annual return goes on MGT-7, or on the abridged MGT-7A for a small company or a one person company, within 60 days of it.
Continued failure is not a paperwork problem. The additional fee accrues daily with no upper limit, the directors concerned can be disqualified and debarred from further appointment, and the Registrar can strike the company’s name off the register altogether. The Ministry has been active about all three.
Both forms, their attachments, and the drafting that has to happen first.
The audit itself is separate work. This service files audited statements; it does not produce them.
The date of a company’s last annual filing appears on its master data on the MCA portal, where anybody can read it. For a government tender, a loan approval or a supplier check, the regularity of that record is the measure people use.
An investor asks for the financial records before a proposal is finalised, and can pull them from the MCA portal without asking at all. A clean compliance history is a precondition rather than an advantage.
Since July 2018 an additional fee of ₹100 accrues for each day of delay, per form, with no upper limit, until the day the form is actually filed. It is the only penalty here that grows while nobody is looking at it.
Continued default turns the company’s status to defaulting, and can end in the name being removed from the register. The directors concerned are disqualified and debarred from further appointment, which follows the person and not the company.
Two filings, and which annual return form applies depends on the size of the company. The additional fee for a late filing is the same on all three, and is charged per form.
| Attribute | AOC-4 | MGT-7 | MGT-7A |
|---|---|---|---|
| What each form is | |||
| The audited financialsThe balance sheet, the profit and loss account and the other financial statements for the year, as audited, with the auditor’s report and the board report attached. | The annual returnThe company’s registration details, its principal business activities, its shareholding pattern, its indebtedness and the remuneration of its directors and key managerial personnel. | The abridged annual returnThe same return in a shortened form, introduced for FY 2020-21 onwards for companies that do not need to make the full set of disclosures. | |
| Every companyNo exemption by size, turnover or level of activity. | Companies other than small companies and OPCsThe full return. A company that is neither a small company nor a one person company files this one. | Small companies and one person companiesSince FY 2020-21. Most newly incorporated private companies fall here, which is why naming only MGT-7 misleads a large part of this page’s audience. | |
| When and what it costs | |||
| 30 days from the AGMThe clock runs from the date of the annual general meeting, not from the end of the financial year. | 60 days from the AGMAlso measured from the meeting. | 60 days from the AGMThe same deadline as the full return. | |
| A directorDigitally, using an active class 3 digital signature certificate. | A director and a company secretaryWhere the company has no company secretary, a company secretary in practice certifies it. | A director or a company secretaryThe abridged form does not require the same certification. | |
| Next step | |||
Swipe the table sideways. Open any attribute to read the detail behind all 3 answers.
Legalwiz has a great team to work .I appreciate the team's thoroughness in reviewing all details before submission, ensuring accuracy.. The returns were filed within the stipulated deadlines, which helped avoid any penalties or interest charges.
I am greatly satisfied with the services provided by Legalwiz. I recommend these services to everyone. Thank you
Thank you! Appreciate your professional approach
thank you very much for a services prvoded on a proffesional level
Good service thank you for your support
The Service given by the Legalwiz team is very good, we are very much appreciated with your timely response and co-operation.
absolutely wonderful and prompt services
Four things, and the audit has to have happened before three of them exist.
The PAN card and certificate of incorporation of the company, with its memorandum and articles of association.
The financial statements for the year, audited by an independent auditor. Unaudited statements cannot be filed.
The independent auditor’s report and the report of the board of directors, both of which are attachments to the filing.
A valid and active digital signature certificate belonging to one of the directors.
Step 01
Step 02
Step 03
Subject to government processing time.
Five working days from the day your documents reach us.
1 of 5 working days
3 of 5 working days
1 of 5 working days
Subject to government processing time.
Leverage best deals offered by the industry leaders and experience mutual growth.
Still have a question? Our team is happy to help, at no charge and with no obligation to buy anything.
Yes. Every registered company files, whatever its turnover or capital, from its first financial year onwards.
The obligation arises after the annual general meeting and does not depend on whether the company traded.
Since July 2018 a company that misses the deadline is charged an additional fee of ₹100 for every day of delay, per form, until the day it actually files. There is no upper limit on that fee.
For continued failure, a penalty can be levied on the company and on its directors on top of the additional fee, and prosecution is available. The Registrar can also remove the company’s name from the register.
Yes, from incorporation onwards. Only audited statements can be filed.
Not having had the audit done is not a reason to file late. The additional fee runs regardless.
No. An auditor is appointed either for five consecutive years or until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting, so it is not an annual event in the way the two filings are.
The appointment or replacement is reported on Form ADT-1.
Yes. Under the Companies Act, 2013 a signed director’s report is submitted for every financial year, and it is an attachment to the annual return.
A dormant year is a shorter report, not an absent one.
It was the extract of the annual return that used to be attached to the board’s report. Section 92(3) was substituted with effect from 28 August 2020 and MGT-9 no longer applies.
A company with a website now places its annual return on it and states the web link in the board’s report. Where there is no website, the requirement falls away with it.
MGT-7A, the abridged annual return, applies to one person companies and to small companies from the financial year 2020-21 onwards. Every other company files MGT-7.
Most newly incorporated private companies are small companies, so this is the more common of the two in practice.
Through the annual return. Transfers and transmissions during the year are reported there rather than as they happen.
Not every company is meant to chase revenue the moment it is incorporated. Some are set up to hold land, safeguard a brand name, park an investment, or quietly wait for the right time to launch.
4 min read
Every company registered under the Companies Act 2013 must hold General Meetings and Board Meetings at regular intervals.
5 min read
Starting a business in India begins with choosing the right structure. For solo founders, a One Person Company can be a suitable structure.
3 min read
Both forms drafted, certified and filed, before the daily fee starts.
Get started