Accountants in India

Hard trigger points: (1) GST registration is mandatory when your turnover crosses ₹40 lakh (goods) or ₹20 lakh (services) — ₹10 lakh in special-category states, (2) tax audit under Sec 44AB applies above ₹1 crore turnover (₹10 crore if your cash receipts and cash payments are each under 5%), (3) statutory audit under the Companies Act is mandatory for every private limited company from day one, regardless of turnover, (4) e-invoicing kicks in at ₹5 crore turnover. Hit any of these and DIY is no longer realistic.

A Chartered Accountant (CA, regulated by ICAI) is the only profession that can sign a tax audit report under Sec 44AB or a statutory audit under the Companies Act — they're the closest analogue to a US CPA. A Cost and Management Accountant (CMA, regulated by ICMAI) specialises in cost audit, internal audit, and management accounting; they can sign GST audits but not tax audits or company statutory audits. An accountant or bookkeeper (no statutory body) handles day-to-day entries, invoicing, GST return data entry, and bank reconciliation — they can't sign any of the statutory reports. Most growing SMBs use an in-house accountant for daily work + an external CA for audits and ITR.

Five things: (1) Will you handle GST + TDS + ITR + ROC, or only some of them — if only some, who handles the rest? (2) What is the response time on portal notices (CPC, ITBA, GSTN, ROC) — same-day or 48-hour? (3) How are fees structured — annual retainer, per filing, or hourly? (4) Are e-invoicing and e-way bills included or extra? (5) Do you provide working papers and reconciliations or only the signed return? Get answers in writing.

ICAI publishes a free member-search tool at icai.org (Member Search → by name or membership number). Every CA listing claim should match an active membership record. Every firm in the HelloBooks directory has been verified against ICAI before listing — the 'ICAI Member Verified' chip on each profile links to the registry so you can re-check.

Remote is fine for GST, TDS, ITR, ROC, and most audit prep. Where local still matters: physical document collection (some banks and registrars still want signed hardcopies), in-person meetings with the AO (Assessing Officer) for scrutiny cases, and stamp-duty work that requires presence at the sub-registrar. Filter by city if you want a local CA; otherwise filter by specialty.

Expect (1) view-only access to your books, bank statements, and prior ITR/GSTR in the first week, (2) a 'state of compliance' report in 2-4 weeks flagging missed filings, late fees, ITC mismatches, and TDS gaps, (3) the first clean monthly GSTR-3B in month one. If month two is also clean and your GSTR-2B reconciliation is current, you've picked well.