Who Should Own Each Compliance Task in a Small Business?

Start with an obligation list for your business. Ask your CA or relevant professional to confirm which obligations apply to your legal entity, registrations and activities. Use the official portals for current requirements and deadlines.

Give each obligation a separate row. Avoid one entry called 'tax work' or 'company compliance'. Preparation, payment and submission may need separate tracking even when they support the same filing.

• ✓Obligation, business entity, registration and reporting period.
• ✓Named preparer, reviewer, approver and backup.
• ✓Records needed and the person supplying each missing item.
• ✓Current statutory deadline, verified source and internal handover dates.
• ✓Required completion evidence and where it will be stored.
• ✓Escalation trigger, recipient and next action.

Use the Compliance Calendar Guides to organise recurring work. The Post-incorporation Compliance Checklist for Startups in India can help frame a discussion about obligations after incorporation; have applicability confirmed for your business.

Assign roles by the work involved, rather than job titles alone. Write a person's name against each role, including the contact at an external firm. 'Accounts team' gives nobody a clear handover.

Also identify who will make any payment and who will submit or sign. Internal approval does not establish authority to sign a statutory filing. Confirm the applicable signatory and authorisation requirements on the relevant portal or with your professional adviser.

You do not need a separate employee for every role. Keep preparation and review separate wherever practical. For example, an accounts assistant prepares the records, the external accountant reviews the filing draft, and the owner approves the reviewed position.

If the external accountant prepares the return, ask who checks it before it reaches you. Receiving a draft from a professional does not tell you whether another person has reviewed it.

Where staffing makes independent review difficult, record that limitation. Ask the owner or another suitable adviser to examine significant changes, unexplained differences and unresolved questions before approval. Do not describe a self-check as an independent review.

Define completion before work starts. A message saying 'done' gives the owner little to check. Match the evidence to the obligation and distinguish preparation, approval, payment and submission.

• ✓Final supporting workings and the reviewed version of the draft.
• ✓Review comments, their resolution and any remaining exceptions.
• ✓Approval identifying the entity, period and version.
• ✓Payment confirmation where payment is required.
• ✓Submitted copy and portal acknowledgement or reference, where available.
• ✓Portal status checked, with any rejection, pending action or follow-up assigned.

Keep these together in a controlled folder that the business can access. Store the evidence location in the calendar row. Choose access and retention arrangements with your adviser, taking account of applicable record-keeping requirements.

For linked GST work, the GSTR-1 vs GSTR-3B Checklist for Small Businesses is a useful companion to the responsibility record. Use separate completion evidence for each return and its associated payment work.

Set internal handover dates by working backwards from the verified deadline. Allow time for review, corrections, approval, funding and submission. These are planning dates chosen by the business, not statutory deadlines.

• Missing records: the preparer alerts the person supplying them and records what is outstanding.
• Unresolved difference: the reviewer states the issue, its possible effect and the decision needed.
• Approval or funds unavailable: the coordinator alerts the owner before the planned submission window.
• Primary person unavailable: the named backup accepts the handover.
• Submission rejected or status unclear: the person submitting reports the portal response and obtains professional guidance on the next action.

Every escalation should name the blocker, the person who must act and the next update point. Keep the task open while the blocker remains. If delay may affect compliance, ask the relevant professional about the current consequences and available action.

Agree the accountant's scope in writing. Separate advice, preparation, review, payment support, submission and follow-up. Confirm who monitors portal notices and how they reach the business.

As an operating arrangement, retain responsibility inside the business for complete records, answers to queries, approval, funds and evidence collection. The owner can assign these duties to staff while keeping oversight of unresolved items.

Before changing accountants, collect the current obligation list, completed filings, workings, open queries and pending actions. Reassign every active task and confirm access through the relevant authorisation process.

Illustrative example: a service business assigns its accounts assistant to prepare records for a recurring GST return. Its external accountant reviews the draft and raises differences. The owner approves the corrected version and arranges funds; the agreed authorised person handles submission.

The backup for record preparation can access the accounts and open-items list. Separate cover is agreed for professional review and submission. When a supplier record is missing, the assistant logs it and escalates before the internal review date.

The coordinator closes the task only after collecting the final workings, approval, applicable payment evidence and submission acknowledgement, and checking for outstanding portal action.

• Assigning everything to 'the CA' without defining the service scope or internal contact.
• Naming a backup who lacks the records, access or authority to act.
• Approving a draft while leaving significant questions unanswered.
• Treating payment evidence as proof of submission, or submission as proof that every follow-up is resolved.
• Leaving responsibilities unchanged after a staff departure or adviser change.

Review the role chart when people, registrations or activities change. Arrange a quarterly review of the compliance guidance and verify current requirements before relying on a calendar entry.