Getting your files ready

Pick the entity (company, LLP, partnership, proprietorship, HUF…), enter the client and the financial year. SignReady sets up the whole journey — from engagement letter to partner sign-off.

Need a different set-up? Start a custom finalisation and tick only what applies. Statements and an audit report already prepared elsewhere? Use Second review.

One finalisation = one client + one financial year. It is counted only when you first upload a file or create a document for it — opening or setting it up does not count.

Once counted it stays counted, even if deleted. Re-creating a deleted finalisation for the same client and year does not count again.

Free finalisations earned by referring other firms are used after your plan or trial allowance runs out.

The date at the top right is the next date to work to, with the days left: amber within 15 days, red once past. Click it to see every date for this client.

These are planning reminders, worked out from the general rules — not a conclusion on this client's deadline. Verify applicability, any extension and the filing position before relying on a date.

1. Company: AGM within six months of the year end — nine months for the first AGM; a One Person Company has no AGM and files its financial statements within 180 days (s.96(1); proviso to s.137(1)). AOC-4 within 30 days and MGT-7 within 60 days of the AGM are shown for information (s.137(1), s.92(4)).
2. Tax audit (when What applies shows it as required): the report is due one month before the return due date — 30 September, or 31 October where a transfer pricing report under s.92E is required (Income-tax Act, 1961, s.44AB, for FY 2025-26 and earlier).
3. Return of income (for information): 31 October for a company or where the accounts are audited under any law (tax audit, LLP audit); 30 November where a s.92E report is required — whether or not a tax audit applies (s.139(1), Explanation 2).
4. LLP: Form 8 within 30 days from the end of six months of the year — 30 October (LLP Rules, 2009, rule 24).

Add your date to work to (for example the Board meeting) — it is usually the real deadline for signing the report — and the AGM date once it is held (until then the statutory last date is used). When CBDT or MCA extends a date, SignReady shows the extended date with the circular reference. Company dates assume a 31 March year-end.

For FY 2026-27 onwards the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies: until SignReady adds its dates, enter your own date for the tax audit.

Each finalisation moves through six stages: Set up, Review & queries, Documentation, Financial statements, Client review and Checklist & sign-off. Each card shows how far that stage has gone; click a card to see its steps.

Steps SignReady can see for itself (a TB uploaded, statements generated, the checklist complete) tick themselves. Steps it cannot see — such as "Draft statements sent to the client" — you mark done.

Most steps close only when SignReady sees them complete. A few have other ways to close, and the step menu shows only what is allowed for that step:

1. Close as not applicable, with a reason — closing stock, revised trial balance, and sending client queries.
2. Close subject to a condition (Partner only) — engagement letter, review points, queries resolved, work programme, working papers, management representation letter and client approval. The condition (what, by when, who) is tracked until it is cleared and shows in the file pack; for the MRL it must be cleared before the audit report is signed.

Sign-off records that the file is complete in SignReady, with the partner's name, date and time. It is not a digital signature and not the audit report.

It covers the file as it is in SignReady. If the downloaded statements or report are edited outside SignReady, upload the final version and run FinalCheck or a Second review before signing — the sign-off asks you to confirm this.

If anything changes after sign-off, the file shows "Changed after sign-off" until a partner signs again.

Client details feed the statements, the audit report, CARO and the letters, and are carried forward to next year's finalisation.

Fill from last year's statements reads an uploaded file and fills only empty fields (such as authorised capital, shares and face value, directors or partners, CIN and address). The file is read and discarded — check the fields before saving again.

An applicability planner for the partner: worked out from your answers and the trial balances. It is guidance to confirm, not a conclusion.

Each result shows the questions that decide it directly underneath. A question is asked once — under the first result that needs it — and appears as a chip (green when answered) under later results that also use it.

Tests that the law applies "at any time during the year" (for example borrowings) are read from the year-end trial balance unless you answer the highest-borrowings question.

If you differ from a worked-out result (small company, CARO, Ind AS), choose your own answer under Your decision and write the reason — it applies to this year only and is shown in the file.

Small company: s.2(85) with the limits in G.S.R. 880(E). Cash flow: the proviso to s.2(40). CARO 2020 para 1(2). IFC reporting: s.143(3)(i). CSR: s.135. Internal auditor: s.138. Secretarial audit: s.204. Click a reference to open the official text.

1. Open Display More Reports → Trial Balance (or Gateway of Tally → Trial Balance).
2. Set the period to the full financial year (Alt+F2).
3. Show ledgers, not just groups: press Alt+F5 (Detailed) in TallyPrime — in Tally ERP 9, Alt+F1 (Detailed) or F12 / Configure → Show ledgers.
4. Export: Alt+E → Export → Current, format Excel (Spreadsheet).
5. Upload the exported file here.

Any Excel (.xlsx) or CSV trial balance with ledger names and closing Debit / Credit (or one closing-balance column with Dr / Cr) works. Save old .xls files as .xlsx first.

PDF files cannot be read reliably — export to Excel instead.

Tally's trial balance with a column added for last year, or your own CY / PY working, works too. Mark last year's columns as Previous year — Closing Debit / Credit (or balance) and both trial balances are created from this one upload.

The first time a format is seen, SignReady shows the columns it detected. Check them once — the format is remembered, so the next file in the same format imports directly.

Each ledger is placed in a category used for the analysis and the draft statements. Mappings are remembered for the client — even when a ledger is renamed — so next year starts mapped.

Common names are recognised as the same account (for example "Sundry Debtors", "Trade Receivables" and "Accounts Receivable").

Every ledger is placed in an area, in this order:

1. Your choice for this client (remembered every year).
2. Tally group — including groups the client created, through the Tally group above them: a ledger in "Debtors - Mumbai" under Sundry Debtors goes to Trade receivables. The full chain of groups is read from a detailed (Alt+F5) trial balance.
3. Your firm's choice for a group — when you set an area for one of the client's own groups, other clients with a group of the same name are placed the same way.
4. Placed by default — no group or name SignReady recognises: a debit balance goes to Other current assets and a credit to Other current liabilities (or Other income / expenses, Reserves for files with account classes).

Only ledgers placed by default or guessed from the name are listed, and only those at or above performance materiality. Smaller ones are folded away: open them to change any, or Accept all as shown.

Use Set all in this group to… to place a whole group at once; a row you change on its own keeps your choice.

Upload the old and the revised trial balance: SignReady lists only what changed — new ledgers, removed ledgers and changed balances — so you do not compare hundreds of lines by hand.

Movements between this year and last year, new and nil balances, and key ratios, read from the two trial balances.

A movement is flagged when it crosses the limits set on the Materiality page — so set materiality first.

This supports the analytical procedures in SA 520. Explain or follow up each flagged movement; a management explanation needs evidence behind it.

Overall materiality = the ticked benchmark × its %. Performance materiality and clearly trivial are each a % of overall materiality.

The benchmarks and percentages are a starting point — the levels are a matter of professional judgement under SA 320. Record why you chose them.

In CY vs PY, a movement is flagged for review when it crosses both limits (the ₹ limit and the % change). The same limits decide which review points are raised.

Points raised from the analysis for the team and the partner. Resolve each one with a note, or turn it into a client query.

Turn review points into queries, then share one private link by WhatsApp or email. The client replies and attaches documents without logging in; replies come back into the file.

A standard engagement letter for the entity type, using your firm and client details. Edit it, then download in Word or PDF. The terms of the audit engagement are agreed under SA 210.

Only the engagement letter ticks Engagement letter issued in the progress. The other letters on this page are for your file.

Before accepting an audit previously done by another chartered accountant, you must first communicate with them in writing (Clause (8), Part I, First Schedule to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949). It applies to every kind of audit, not only companies.

Keep proof of delivery: Registered Post with Acknowledgement Due, by hand against a written acknowledgement, or email with an acknowledgement from the previous auditor's email registered with ICAI (or last known official email). ICAI has held that a certificate of posting alone is not enough.

Conditional acceptance is your firm's decision. ICAI's guidance on Clause (8) in its Code of Ethics recognises that, where the time schedule does not allow waiting for the reply, the incoming auditor may accept conditionally after sending the communication and begin urgent work — read the current Code of Ethics before relying on it. The letter's paragraph on this is marked optional: delete it if you will wait for the reply.

The letter does not ask for the previous auditor's working papers: in India they cannot share them (Clause (1), Part I, Second Schedule to the CA Act). For opening balances, SA 510 relies on the audited statements and related documents instead.

Answer First year as this client's auditor? = Yes in Client details and the finalisation checklist adds the matching item (CC16).

Three documents, in this order:

1. Consent and eligibility certificate — given by you before the appointment (section 139(1) read with rule 4 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014; criteria in section 141). Replace "Nil" if any proceedings on professional conduct are pending.
2. Appointment letter — a draft for the company to put on its letterhead and sign, worded for how you were appointed: at an AGM (section 139(1)); as first auditor by the Board within 30 days of registration or, if the Board did not, by the members at an EGM within 90 days (section 139(6)); or by the Board within 30 days to fill a casual vacancy, approved by the members within three months where it followed a resignation (section 139(8)).
3. Acceptance — before accepting, you must ascertain from the company that sections 139 and 140 were complied with (Clause (9), Part I, First Schedule to the CA Act). The letter lists the documents to ask for.

Check the blanks (meeting dates, AGM numbers, the previous auditor's name) before sending. Re-appointment needs a fresh consent and certificate too, because section 139 treats it as an appointment. Not for a Government company or another company owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Government, where the CAG appoints the auditor — the page asks you to confirm this before download.

Upload the final version of each working against its area — the depreciation schedule against Depreciation, debtors ageing against Trade receivables, bank reconciliation against Cash & bank — or against the whole finalisation. Anyone in your firm on this finalisation can open them later, without searching emails or desktops. SignReady is not an archive: keep your own copies too (the file pack includes them).

Uploading a new version keeps the earlier one under "earlier versions", so you can see what changed. Deleting removes the file and its earlier versions.

Up to 10 MB per file and 250 MB per finalisation; Excel, PDF, Word, CSV, text and images. Files are stored privately (Amazon S3, Mumbai, encrypted) and opened through a link that works for five minutes; people from the client do not see them.

They are included in the finalisation file pack (zip) and follow the data retention policy: deleted with the finalisation's data, and 180 days after a plan ends unless it is renewed.

Standard steps for common areas. Tick, add remarks and keep it in your file.

For checks done in other software (GST, TDS, bank reconciliation, tax audit), tick the step and note in Remarks where that working is filed — no need to redo it here.

Once a trial balance is uploaded, the programme is tailored to this client: steps for stock, loans, fixed assets and so on appear only where they exist; others are marked "Not relevant" by SignReady.

A short checklist before you sign. Items SignReady can verify tick themselves ("Done in SignReady"); only the rest need your tick.

An item can be marked done once SignReady shows it complete — or N/A with a remark if the work was done outside SignReady.

Some items appear only when they apply — for example communication with the previous auditor in a first year, opening balances (SA 510) after a modified report, and litigation and the Board's report (SA 720) for companies.

An editable Excel draft — Balance Sheet, Statement of Profit & Loss, cash flow statement (unless exempt) and notes — generated from the trial balances, with previous-year figures and formulas linking the notes to the statements.

It is a draft for the firm to review, adjust and finalise — not a final or audited financial statement. Formats follow Schedule III for companies, and the LLP and non-corporate formats for LLPs, firms, proprietors and HUFs.

The defaults set only the starting place for every such ledger. If some director loans are short-term and others long-term, or investments are of both kinds, set each ledger in 9. Balance Sheet classification.

For the part of a long-term loan repayable within 12 months, use Current maturities of long-term borrowings in section 3.

Take it from the Tally Balance Sheet or stock statement. The previous year defaults to this year's "Opening Stock" in the trial balance.

For manufacturers, choose Business type → Manufacturing and save to split raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods.

When the relevant ledgers exist, SignReady also adds notes for provident fund / ESI contributions, lease rentals, export earnings / imports / exchange differences, and prior period items.

Legal statements that a trial balance cannot prove are never printed as "No / Nil" until a partner selects an answer; unconfirmed items appear in the draft as PARTNER CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.

An Excel workbook (.xlsx) with the Balance Sheet, P&L and Notes — on one sheet or several. PDF is not supported yet.

If a trial balance is uploaded for this finalisation, key figures are also compared with it.

The first time, check what each sheet is and which columns hold the note number and the current / previous year figures; this is remembered for the client.

"Inconsistency" items are arithmetic or cross-reference differences found in the file. "Review" items are potential review points for your judgement.

FinalCheck does not replace professional judgement and will not find every error.

Financial statements (and an audit report, for companies) prepared outside SignReady, checked against this finalisation's trial balance: applicability (small company, CARO, cash flow), Rule 11 reporting, CARO 2020 content, key figures, ratios and common template slips.

It reads the documents, not your audit evidence, and will not find every error. Review points assist your own review; items marked "to confirm" need the partner's view.

Each clause of CARO 2020 with what SignReady found in the books and suggested wording. The suggestions are drafts — you decide and edit every answer.

Where the wording follows the example in ICAI's Guidance Note on CARO 2020, the clause is marked "ICAI example".

Whether CARO applies at all is worked out on Client details (small company, private-company conditions — CARO 2020 para 1(2)).

For standalone financial statements of a company, based on ICAI's illustrative format for an unlisted company (Implementation Guide on SA 700, SA 705 and SA 706), updated for CARO 2020, Rule 11 as amended and s.197(16).

Choose the options; the opinion and every statement remain the auditor's to confirm. For listed companies use your own format — key audit matters (SA 701) apply.

Private companies may be exempt under the 2017 notification for private companies (G.S.R. 583(E), 13 June 2017): a one person or small company, or a company with turnover below ₹50 crore in its latest audited statements or borrowings from banks, financial institutions and bodies corporate below ₹25 crore at all times in the year — and only if it has not defaulted in filing its financial statements or annual return. Check the conditions for this company before choosing.

Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014: (a) pending litigations, (b) material foreseeable losses, (c) Investor Education and Protection Fund, (e) funds routed through intermediaries — with management's representations, which you obtain in the MRL (SA 580), (f) dividends under s.123, and (g) the audit trail in the accounting software. Clause (d) has been omitted. See ICAI's guides on Rule 11(e) and Rule 11(g).

Your overall analytical review near the end of the audit (SA 520), documented as a dated working paper (SA 230): sources, material movements, ratios, review points with resolutions, the FinalCheck summary and your conclusion.

Boxes 1 and 2 are drafted from the analysis, review points and client replies — check and edit them, then write your conclusion.

Marking it reviewed records your name, date, time and the note version, and locks the note. It is not a digital signature or audit approval.

Partners see every finalisation. Staff invited on the Team page start with access to all finalisations, unless a Partner limits them to selected ones.

Staff added on this page see this finalisation only.

A client's accountant invited here sees this finalisation only, and cannot see materiality, the analysis, review points, working papers, CARO, the report or sign-off. They can upload trial balances, map ledgers, prepare the draft statements and answer queries.

Before inviting someone from the client, confirm the firm is authorised to give them access.

They accept the invitation after logging in. Staff do not use extra finalisations — finalisations are counted per client and year for the whole firm.

One login = one firm. A person who already uses SignReady for their own practice cannot join with the same email — invite a separate email for firm work.

Staff invited on the Team page start with access to all finalisations, unless a Partner limits them to selected ones. To give someone one finalisation only, add them from that finalisation's People & access page instead.

Plans are yearly: Starter (15 finalisations), Plus (30), Firm (60) and Growth (unlimited). The same limit also applies to any one financial year.

Upgrade at any time during the year by paying only the difference; the end date does not change.

20% of what a firm you referred pays, before GST — on its first payment and on upgrades within a year — plus ₹1,000 when your first referral pays.

A firm counts as yours if it starts using SignReady within 90 days of opening your link, in the same browser. Your own firm, and logins with your mobile number, are not counted.

Request any amount from Payouts; tax is deducted at source where the law requires, so add your PAN in Settings.