Incorporate the right entity. The first time.

No. The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2015 removed the ₹1,00,000 minimum paid-up capital requirement. You can incorporate a Pvt Ltd with ₹10,000 authorised capital and ₹10,000 paid-up — and even less in some cases.

That said, authorised capital ≠ paid-up capital. Authorised is the cap; paid-up is what’s actually subscribed. Govt fee scales with authorised capital — keep it at ₹1L or ₹10L initially unless you have a specific reason to go higher (you can increase later).

For LLPs, there’s no minimum capital contribution either. ₹1 is technically valid.

Yes — your residential address is valid as a registered office. You’ll need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the property owner (yourself or family) and address proof of the premises.

Caveat: the registered office address is public on the MCA portal and becomes the address for service of legal notices. If you’re concerned about privacy or expect ROC officers to inspect (rare but possible), use a virtual office or coworking address with NOC.

For Section 8 companies, the registered office must be capable of serving as the actual operational address for charitable activities — residential addresses are scrutinised more carefully.

Both work, but the choice matters strategically:

Choose OPC if: you genuinely want to stay solo for the medium term, your turnover is unlikely to cross ₹2Cr soon (mandatory conversion trigger), you don’t plan to raise external funding.

Choose Pvt Ltd if: you might bring in co-founders, expect rapid scale, plan to raise angel/VC funding within 2 years, or want to issue ESOPs to early hires.

A common pattern we see: founders form OPC, then convert to Pvt Ltd 12–18 months later when they hire a co-founder or take seed funding. This is fine — the conversion is straightforward but does cost ₹15-25K in fees and 30-45 days. Starting Pvt Ltd avoids this future friction.

The single most-asked question. Short answer:

Pvt Ltd if: raising VC/angel funding, planning ESOPs, building a tech startup or scalable business, expect to cross ₹5Cr+ revenue.

LLP if: professional services (consulting, CA, law, architecture), family/closely-held businesses, no plans for institutional fundraising, want lower ongoing compliance.

Critical differences: LLPs cannot issue shares or ESOPs, cannot easily take VC money (VCs almost always require equity in a Pvt Ltd), and have a 30% flat tax (vs 22%/25% corporate for Pvt Ltd).

The compliance gap matters too — LLPs file 4-5 annual filings; Pvt Ltd files 12-15. The annual cost difference is roughly ₹15-25K.

For a Pvt Ltd / LLP / OPC with all documents ready upfront:

Best case (clean): 7-10 working days. DSC + DIN + name reservation + SPICe+ filing + ROC approval, all without back-and-forth.

Typical: 10-15 working days. Some ROC queries on objects clause or address proof, one round of resubmission.

Section 8: 25-40 days because of the additional INC-12 licence step.

Partnership: 5-7 days for deed registration with Registrar of Firms.

Proprietorship: 2-4 days (just MSME + GST + bank account).

Since 2 November 2018, every newly incorporated company must file Form INC-20A within 180 days of incorporation, declaring that subscribers have paid up the value of shares agreed in the MOA.

Until INC-20A is filed, the company cannot legally start business or borrow money. Banks won’t let you operate the current account beyond initial deposits. Customers can challenge the validity of contracts you sign.

Missing the 180-day deadline attracts ₹50,000 penalty on the company + ₹1,000 per day per officer in default (minimum ₹1L). And the company can be struck off the register.

Our incorporation packages include INC-20A filing as the final step — you don’t have to track it separately.

Setting up an ESOP scheme is a multi-step process post-incorporation:

(1) Board resolution approving the ESOP scheme document (vesting period, exercise price, eligibility, accelerated vesting on exit).

(2) Shareholder special resolution approving the ESOP pool size (typically 10-15% of share capital).

(3) MGT-14 filing with MCA within 30 days of the SR.

(4) Grant letters to individual employees with their option count, vesting schedule, exercise window.

(5) PAS-3 filings as options vest and are exercised (allotment of shares).

An entry-level ESOP setup runs ₹25,000-40,000. We handle the full setup including the scheme document, board/shareholder resolutions, MCA filings, grant letter templates, and exercise tracking.

Yes for both — with conditions:

Foreign directors: Allowed. At least one director must be an Indian resident (defined as having stayed in India ≥ 182 days in the previous financial year). Foreign directors need apostilled passport + address proof for KYC.

Foreign shareholders (FDI): Allowed in Pvt Ltd via the automatic route in most sectors (no prior approval needed). Sector-specific caps apply (e.g., 100% in IT/SaaS, 49% in defence, conditions in retail). Approval route applies for restricted sectors.

LLPs accept FDI but only in sectors permitting 100% FDI under automatic route. OPCs don’t allow foreign shareholders at all.

Post-investment compliance: Form FC-GPR filing with RBI within 30 days of share allotment, annual FLA (Foreign Liabilities & Assets) return.

GST registration is mandatory if any of the following apply:

(1) Annual turnover > ₹40L (₹20L for service providers; ₹10L for special category states).

(2) Inter-state sales (any value).

(3) E-commerce platform sales (Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, etc.).

(4) Reverse charge applies (e.g., import of services).

(5) Casual taxable persons or non-resident taxable persons.

Voluntary registration is also common — it lets you claim input tax credit on your purchases, which often saves more than the compliance cost. We include GST registration with all Pvt Ltd / LLP / OPC packages by default if you indicate it’s needed.

A virtual office is a commercial address (coworking space, business centre, or virtual office provider) that you use as your registered office address without actually occupying physical premises.

Validity: Yes, virtual offices are valid for MCA registration as long as you have a genuine NOC from the address provider, an agreement (typically annual), and proof of address. Coworking spaces and providers like WeWork, Awfis, MyHQ all routinely provide registration NOCs.

Caution: The MCA has been increasingly strict with addresses that turn out to be shell-office providers serving hundreds of unrelated companies. Some Registrars now ask for photos of the premises showing the company’s name displayed. Choose a reputable virtual office, not a ₹500/month “PO Box equivalent”.

For Section 8 companies and entities expecting FDI, a physical address is strongly recommended.

Yes. Section 56(4) of the Companies Act, 2013 requires share certificates to be issued within 2 months of allotment. Share certificates must be:

(1) Numbered serially. (2) Stamped with the prescribed stamp duty (varies by state — typically ₹1 per ₹1,000 of share value). (3) Signed by 2 directors and the Company Secretary (if any). (4) Affixed with the company’s common seal (if it has one) — though seal is now optional under the 2015 amendment.

For dematerialisation: from 1 October 2023, all new Pvt Ltd companies are not required to demat shares (that requirement was withdrawn). But many startups demat anyway for ESOP issuance flexibility.

We include share certificate preparation, stamping, and the statutory share register in our Pvt Ltd package.

You can’t “convert” — a proprietorship isn’t a legal entity that can be transformed. But you can effectively transition by:

(1) Incorporating a new Pvt Ltd with you as the sole or majority shareholder.

(2) Transferring the business to the new company through a Business Transfer Agreement (BTA). All assets, liabilities, contracts, and goodwill are transferred to the new entity.

(3) Updating customer / supplier contracts to be with the new entity (some require fresh agreements; others a notice of assignment is enough).

(4) GST — new GST registration for the Pvt Ltd; surrender of the proprietorship’s GSTIN.

Tax implications: the transfer may attract capital gains tax. Slump sale election under section 50B can help. We handle the full transition including tax structuring — typically ₹15,000-30,000 depending on complexity.

All three are non-profit structures but with different governance models:

Section 8 Company: Governed by Companies Act, 2013. Has directors, MOA/AOA. Highest credibility for CSR and large grants. Highest compliance.

Trust (Public Trust): Governed by state-specific Trust Acts (Bombay Public Trusts Act, Indian Trusts Act). Has trustees, trust deed. Simpler to set up. Common for educational institutions and religious bodies.

Society: Governed by Societies Registration Act, 1860. Has governing body, MOA, by-laws. Membership-based structure. Common for clubs, professional bodies, cultural organisations.

For CSR funding, Section 8 is now strongly preferred — CSR-1 registration is easier and many corporates require it. For educational institutions, Trust remains common because of state education regulations.

We offer two post-incorporation paths:

Annual compliance retainer (₹24,999/yr for Pvt Ltd): Covers all mandatory filings — MGT-7, AOC-4, DIR-3 KYC, DPT-3, board minutes, statutory registers, annual director KYC. Does not include statutory audit fee (separate, ₹15-30K depending on size) or actual tax filings.

Per-filing basis: If you handle most things in-house and only need help with specific filings, we charge per filing — ₹1,499 for DIR-3 KYC, ₹3,999 for AOC-4, ₹2,999 for MGT-7, etc.

For LLPs the retainer is ₹14,999/yr. For OPCs, ₹19,999/yr. We send a renewal quote 30 days before retainer expiry.

WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted. For larger file batches we use a secure client portal with TLS in transit and encryption at rest.

Sensitive identity documents (PAN, Aadhaar, passport) are retained only for the duration of the engagement plus statutory retention requirements (typically 8 years for tax-linked documents). You can request deletion of non-statutory copies anytime.

Internally, only your assigned CA and a senior reviewer access your file. We don’t share documents with third parties beyond what’s required for the registration itself (e.g., uploading to MCA portal, DSC issuance authorities).