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 Review statements made elsewhere.

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.

Needs attention counts the open finalisations of the year that need something: no current-year trial balance yet, ledger mapping to check, a Balance Sheet that does not balance, opening balances that differ from last year's closing, FinalCheck inconsistencies, high review points open, client queries overdue, client replies to review, and pending conditions. Click a line to see just those files in Your finalisations (a "Showing: …" banner says what is filtered; Show all clears it). The counts are as of when each file was last opened; signed-off files are left out.

Recent activity shows who did what in the last 30 days, with a link to each file.

Team (Partners only): everyone in the firm, Partners and Staff, invitations pending and people from clients — with what each person can open, how many files they worked on in the last 30 days and when they were last active. Manage team opens the Team page.

Install SignReady app (in the menu under your name, and at the bottom of the left menu) adds SignReady to your desktop, dock or phone home screen, opening in its own window. Nothing is stored on the device — everything still comes from the server.

The blue bar Turn on notifications lets SignReady remind you even when it is closed — a client replied, a file is ready to sign, a date is near. Not now hides the bar for 7 days. Change it any time in Subscription & data → Notifications.

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).
5. ADT-1 within 15 days of the AGM that appoints or re-appoints the auditor (proviso to s.139(1), rule 4(2) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014) — tick it below; UDIN within 60 days of signing the report (ICAI) — from the report date you enter, else the Partner sign-off.

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 with a pending 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 review of statements made elsewhere 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.

On every page of a finalisation, the bar under the top bar shows the client, the year, the entity and how far the file is done; Switch client goes back to Home. The browser tab shows the client name first, so several open files are easy to tell apart.

On long forms, a bar appears at the bottom as soon as you change anything: You have unsaved changes — Save now. If you try to leave the page before saving, SignReady asks first, so work is never lost silently.

Finalisation details are what is particular to this year: this year's audit, first financial statements, share capital at the year end, signatories, the signing partner and what applies. They feed the statements, the audit report, CARO and the letters, and are carried forward to next year's finalisation.

The client's legal name, CIN / PAN, address, nature of operations and company type are the same for every year: they are on the Client profile & permanent file page, with the client's documents and the working papers of every year.

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 press Alt+G, type Trial Balance and press Enter).
2. Set the period to the full financial year (F2, Period; Alt+F2 in Tally ERP 9).
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. Recommended: F12 (Configure) → Show Opening Balance: Yes and Show Transactions: Yes, so each ledger has Opening | Debit | Credit | Closing.
5. Export: Alt+E → Export → Current, format Excel Workbook (.xlsx) — not CSV.
6. Upload the exported file here.

With the opening balance and the year's debits / credits, SignReady reads each fixed asset's additions and depreciation, shows term loans taken and repaid in the cash flow, and checks ledger by ledger that this year opens where last year closed — instead of working them out. A TB with only closing balances still works.

Any Excel trial balance (.xlsx, or the older .xls that Tally ERP 9 exports) with ledger names and closing Debit / Credit (or one closing-balance column with Dr / Cr) works. CSV is not accepted: it can lose the Debit / Credit side, which some Tally exports show only through the cell format. 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.

A ledger moved to another Tally group in the revised TB is listed too, even when its balance is unchanged ("Group changed", with the earlier group): a regrouping can move it to another line of the statements.

Checks on individual ledgers, read from the trial balances: this year's opening balances against last year's closing (by area and ledger), ledgers moved to another Tally group since last year, Balance Sheet balances with no transaction during the year, and the group changes between versions of this year's TB.

Material items also appear as review points, from where they can be sent to the client as queries.

SignReady maps a ledger once for the client, so both years are shown on the same line. When the ledger moved to a Tally group that points to another area, last year's statements may have shown it elsewhere: the comparatives are then regrouped, and the statements should say so ("Previous year's figures have been regrouped / reclassified wherever necessary").

Needs a TB with the year's debits and credits (in Tally, F12 → Show Transactions: Yes). A balance carried for a whole year without a transaction — an old advance, deposit or creditor — needs a confirmation and a look at whether it is still recoverable or payable.

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.

Emails to the client show your firm's name as the sender ("Your firm via SignReady") and go out from SignReady's address — a mail service rejects or bins an email that claims to come from your own domain without your mailbox sending it.

Your firm's email (on the Share card; the email in Firm profile if left blank) is copied on every email, and when the client replies to the email, the reply comes to you.

Reminders for overdue queries (a due date that has passed) go every day, every 2 days, every 3 days or once a week, as chosen for that client — only while queries are overdue, and never twice on the same day.

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.

Your own record of this audit, kept with the finalisation and in the finalisation file pack. SignReady keeps what you record — it does not decide which laws apply or whether they are complied with, and no figures are entered here.

Four tabs: Summary, Business & management, Laws & compliance and Meetings.

One page you can print: the client, the audits, the signing partner, the team on this finalisation, the key dates, materiality, the Partner sign-off, and how much of the Standards, Tax audit, laws and meetings records is filled in.

It is read from the rest of the finalisation — change each item on its own page (the Open / Edit links).

A note on the nature of the business (products, locations, customers and suppliers, changes in the year) and on its management (directors or partners, who keeps the books and on what software, who approves payments, internal controls) — the understanding of the entity under SA 315.

Written once and brought forward to next year's finalisation as the starting point, marked to be reviewed.

The common laws are listed — company / LLP law, income-tax, TDS / TCS, GST, provident fund, ESI, professional tax, other labour laws, MSMED Act, FEMA, pollution control and industry licences — and you can add up to 10 laws of your own.

For each: does it apply, the registration number, whether the client complied (Complied / Partly / Not complied — your own record from what you have seen), remarks and the evidence. Attach returns, challans or certificates against the row; they go in folder "07 Laws and compliance" of the file pack.

SignReady does not check due dates or compute any tax here. The register is brought forward to next year; files are not.

Board, committee, annual and extraordinary general meetings (partners' meetings for firms and LLPs) held in the year and up to the approval of the accounts: the date, an optional title and the main business in a line. Attach the minutes below the table; they go in folder "08 Minutes of meetings" of the file pack.

Companies: the Board's report takes the number and dates of the Board meetings held in the financial year from here, unless you enter them on the Board's report yourself.

Five blank rows are added each time you save. Meetings are not brought forward to next year.

A place to keep your own record for the year: for each Accounting Standard and each Standard on Auditing, whether it applies to this client, your comments and the working papers. SignReady does not decide applicability or compliance here; it only keeps what you record. What applies to the client is worked out on Finalisation details.

Auditing standards also have a Compliance column — Complied, Partly or Not complied, your own record — with comments on how you complied and where the evidence is. Where SignReady keeps a related record (Letters, Materiality, Work programme, Audit file for SA 250) the row links to it.

Decisions and comments are brought forward to next year as the starting point; files are not. Files go in folders 04 and 06 of the file pack. Form 3CD is on Tax audit (3CD).

For each Form 3CD clause: whether it applies to this client, your comments and the working papers, kept with the finalisation (folder 05 of the file pack). SignReady does not decide applicability or compliance here.

Record first whether the tax audit applies this year; when it does not, the clauses are hidden.

Clauses that need information compiled from the books have a Blank template (Excel) link, with the column headings of Form 3CD:

1. Clause 20(b) — employees' contributions to PF / ESI and other funds (due date and date paid)
2. Clause 22 — micro and small suppliers (also for section 43B(h) under clause 26)
3. Clause 26 — section 43B, and the statutory dues outstanding at the year end
4. Clause 34 — TDS / TCS: 34(a), 34(b) and 34(c)
5. Clause 44 — break-up of expenditure by GST registration

Fill the template from the books, check the columns against the Form 3CD utility in use, and attach the filled copy against the clause. SignReady does not read, total, reconcile or check these files — there are no TDS or GST calculations in SignReady.

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.

Tax and GST records: last year's return, Form 26AS / AIS, bank accounts and refunds for every client; the GST returns, credit and ledgers when the trial balance has GST ledgers; rent and TDS on rent when it has a rent ledger.

Add an item for this client at the bottom. A Partner can tick "Apply to all clients of the firm" — it is added to every finalisation not yet signed off and every new one, and is listed in Firm profile → Our checklist items (edit or switch off there). Signed-off files are never changed.

One client with several businesses (a separate Tally company for each) — a proprietor's or HUF's businesses, a firm's branches, or a holding company with its subsidiaries. Each business has its own finalisation (trial balance, mapping, checks, statements); a combined finalisation adds them up. It is free: not counted in your plan.

Start it from New finalisation with "Combined / consolidated statements" ticked, using the client's name (or the group's). Choose a company as the entity type for a group of companies (consolidation under AS 21).

Balances between the businesses (e.g. "Works A/c" in the shop's books and "Shop A/c" in the works' books) are removed from both sides once a Partner confirms the pair and the two balances agree. When they do not agree, nothing is adjusted: it is a Must fix with both figures, until the books are corrected.

Sales from one business to another are removed from revenue and from the buyer's purchases when the figure from each set of books agrees — otherwise turnover is counted twice. Profit in closing stock on goods bought from another business is entered and taken out of stock and profit.

SignReady suggests ledgers named after another business (or branch / head office accounts); a Partner confirms or dismisses each.

On the Businesses page, answer What are these? — branches of one entity, separate businesses of one person or firm, or a group of companies. They are treated differently.

Branches (each with its own Tally company): mark the head office — the statements take its name, PAN, address and, for a company, CIN and share capital. There is no goodwill or minority interest, and the statements are the entity's own, not "combined".

Head office and branch accounts are removed from both sides. If goods or cash sent by one side had not reached the other by the year-end, enter it as in transit on that pair: goods in transit go into inventories (closing stock), cash in transit into cash and bank.

Enter the goods sent between them (the sender's figure and the receiver's) so the transfer comes out of turnover; the two figures may differ by the goods in transit.

If all branches are in one Tally company (as cost centres or groups), no combined file is needed — finalise that one company.

For each subsidiary a Partner enters the parent's holding, the parent's investment ledger(s), and the subsidiary's share capital and reserves on the date it became a subsidiary. The investment is set against them: the excess is goodwill on consolidation, a shortfall is capital reserve; the minority's share of net assets and profit is shown separately.

A change in the holding or in the subsidiary's share capital after acquisition, or a subsidiary acquired during the year, is prepared outside SignReady.

Balance Sheet, Statement of Profit and Loss, cash flow and notes — plus a Combination (Consolidation) sheet showing each line business by business, what was removed, and the combined figure, with a register of every removal; for a group, the Schedule III additional information on each entity's share.

If a business's figures change after the combined statements are signed off, the sign-off is withdrawn for the Partner to review again.

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.

Ageing — section 5 takes the trade receivables and trade payables ageing in the Schedule III buckets; fill it from the Tally ageing report or type it in. Left blank, the draft shows "INPUT REQUIRED".

Dues to micro and small enterprises — enter the amount within trade payables; the draft splits trade payables on the face and adds the MSME note.

Ratios — the eleven Schedule III ratios with their formulas, this year and last year, the variance %, and a column for the reason where the change is more than 25%.

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.

Security deposits given (rent, electricity, tender EMD) start under Other non-current assets, where Schedule III has put them since 2021. Move a deposit due back within 12 months to a current line here.

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.

The Party-wise debtors & creditors box lists the debtor and creditor ledgers of this year's trial balance. Choose how the draft shows them: in the note, as one line (the first 40 parties, then "and N more"), or in an Annexure sheet ("Annexure - Parties") with every party, this year and last year, and totals that agree with the note.

Tick the creditors that are micro or small enterprises (from the supplier's Udyam registration; not medium). The Annexure marks them "MSME" and shows their total — compare it with the principal unpaid entered under Dues to micro & small enterprises. The ticks and the choice are kept for next year.

The balances come from the trial balance, ledger by ledger — nothing is typed. A trial balance with only one "Sundry Debtors" or "Sundry Creditors" line has no parties to list: export it from Tally with the party ledgers shown.

Property, plant and equipment, goodwill and other intangible assets class by class (land, buildings, plant and equipment, furniture and fixtures, vehicles, office equipment…) with gross block, accumulated depreciation and impairment, and net block, for this year and the previous year — the format of Schedule III (Division I) and AS 10.

For companies also: the ageing of capital work-in-progress and intangible assets under development (projects in progress / temporarily suspended), the completion schedule of overdue projects, title deeds not in the company's name and revaluation. They appear in the PPE Schedule sheet of the statements and answer those items of the additional regulatory information.

Class: confirm the class suggested for each asset ledger. An accumulated depreciation ledger is set against its class. A ledger holding several classes (e.g. "Tangible Assets") is split: each class's share of its opening and closing balance.

Gross block at the start of each class, from the fixed asset register — needed once: accumulated depreciation at the start is then gross less the net block in the books, and next year starts from this year's closing. With accumulated depreciation ledgers in Tally, nothing is needed.

Disposals: the cost of assets sold or written off; accumulated depreciation on them is cost less the net book value. Additions and depreciation come from the books (or Fixed assets movement on Draft statements).

Each class must agree with the net block in the books; a difference is shown to fix.

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)).

The Directors' report under section 134 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 8 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014, for an unlisted company. The financial results table comes from the draft statements; the directors from Client details; the auditor's name and FRN from your Firm profile.

Every company-specific answer starts "not confirmed" and the Word / PDF download stays locked until each is answered. It is the Board's report: the directors approve and sign it (s.134(6)) — chairperson if authorised, otherwise two directors (one the MD, if any), or the only director.

Includes the 2025 additions (G.S.R. 357(E), for reports from 14 July 2025): POSH complaints received, disposed of and pending over 90 days, the Maternity Benefit Act statement and the number of employees by gender (full report). For a report of an earlier year, enter its date: these apply only if it is dated on or after 14 July 2025. Directors signing must include the Managing Director where there is one — mark the MD's role as "Managing Director" in Client details.

Listed companies are not covered — they need the corporate governance report, management discussion and analysis and the Rule 5 particulars.

A small company or a One Person Company gets the shorter report under Rule 8A: annual return link, number of Board meetings, directors' responsibility statement, frauds reported by auditors, explanation on auditors' qualifications, state of affairs, financial summary, material changes, directors appointed or resigned, significant orders, and the AOC-2 for related-party contracts.

Other companies get the full report under section 134(3) and Rule 8. The POSH statement and complaint numbers (POSH Act s.22), CSR (where it applies) and the Secretarial Standards statement are in both. The Maternity Benefit statement and the Rule 8(4) Board evaluation (public companies) are in the full report only.

The format follows the small company / OPC answer in Client details.

When the meetings register on Audit file → Meetings has Board meetings held in the financial year, their number and dates fill in here by themselves. Enter a different number or dates on this page and yours are used instead.

The notice of the annual general meeting under sections 101 and 102 of the Companies Act, 2013, for an unlisted company: ordinary business (adoption of the financial statements and the Board's and auditors' reports, dividend, directors retiring by rotation, appointment of the auditors), any special business with its explanatory statement, and the notes — proxy (s.105 and Rule 19), corporate representatives (s.113), registers open at the meeting (s.170, s.189) and the route map (SS-2).

The company name, CIN, registered office, financial year and directors come from Client details; your firm is offered as the auditor to be appointed, and the dividend from the Board's report. Every answer starts "not confirmed" and the Word / PDF download stays locked until each is answered.

Checks: at least 21 clear days between the notice and the meeting unless shorter notice is chosen (with the consent of a majority in number of members holding 95% of the paid-up capital — proviso to s.101(1)); the last date for the AGM — 6 months from the year end, 9 months for the first AGM (s.96(1)); a public company with no director retiring by rotation is flagged (s.152(6)).

An annexure lists the particulars of each director seeking re-appointment (SS-2) with the name and DIN filled in — complete the rest. Attach the proxy form (MGT-11), the attendance slip and the route map yourself.

Not built for a One Person Company (no AGM, s.96(1)), a listed company, or a company that must offer e-voting (Rule 20: listed, or 1,000 or more members). A meeting through video conferencing follows the MCA circular in force — add that wording yourself.

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 and borrowings from banks, financial institutions and bodies corporate below ₹25 crore at all times in the year (both tests — the notification's "or" was corrected to "and" on 13 July 2017) — 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.

Every login always belongs to one firm. Leave firm is for someone who joined another firm: they go back to their own workspace as it was. It is not shown when you are the only member — there is nothing to leave — or the only Partner: first make another member a Partner.

Joining a different firm needs no leaving: accept that firm's invitation and you move there automatically. To remove your firm's client data, use Subscription & data → Delete everything.

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.

Enter the client name, the entity type and the financial year. SignReady sets up the journey for that entity — letters, review, statements, checklist and sign-off. Tick only what applies to this client; the rest stays out of the way.

Opening or setting up a finalisation does not count it: it is counted when you first upload a file or create a document. If the client and year already exist, Or open an existing finalisation takes you to it instead of making a second one.

For a client with several businesses (a separate Tally company for each) — a proprietor's or HUF's businesses, a firm's branches, or a holding company and its subsidiaries — first make one finalisation per Tally company. Then start one more for the same client and year and tick Combined / consolidated statements: it adds them up into one set of statements.

The combined finalisation is free — not counted in your plan. You choose its businesses on the next page.

The firm's name, firm registration number (FRN), constitution, address and partners (with membership numbers) are used in engagement letters, reports and statements. Each finalisation chooses its signing partner in Set up. A proprietorship signs as "Proprietor", others as "Partner".

Only a Partner can change the firm profile.

Items your firm adds to every client: in a finalisation's checklist or work programme, a Partner adds an item and ticks Apply to all clients of the firm. It is then added to every finalisation not yet signed off and to every new one, and is listed here, where a Partner can change or remove it.

Your plan, its end date and the finalisations used this year. Upgrade or renew pays only the difference when you move up during the plan year. Every payment has an invoice — download it as a PDF from Invoices.

Partners are reminded by email 30, 15, 7, 3 and 1 days before the plan ends. After it ends, finalisations stay viewable and downloadable for 90 days.

Alerts and summaries: a client replied, a file is ready for sign-off or changed after sign-off, due dates 7 days and 1 day away; in July – November a Saturday digest and a monthly recap. Tips and product news: a few short emails in your first days, a reminder if SignReady has not been used for a while, and the occasional announcement.

Emails about your plan and your data (renewal, deletion) always come — they are part of the service. Every other email has a one-click unsubscribe link.

SignReady can show a notification on your computer or phone even when it is closed. Turn it on in each browser you use: Turn on in this browser, allow notifications when the browser asks, then Send a test.

They are sent only between 11 am and 8 pm, at most 3 a day. If your laptop was closed, they appear when you open it (for up to 2 days). Clicking one opens the right page.

1. Alerts: a client replied; a file is ready for sign-off (and still waiting after 3 days); a change after sign-off; a file's next date 7, 3 and 1 day away.
2. Tips: the next step in your free trial; a reminder after 3, 7, 14 and 30 days away, naming the file that needs you most.
3. Plan: your plan ends in 7 days, tomorrow, or today.

Alerts and tips follow your email choices above; plan reminders always come. Turn off in this browser stops them on that browser.

Not seeing the test? Check that the browser allows notifications for this site (the icon left of the address bar), and on a Mac: System Settings → Notifications → your browser → Allow notifications, with Focus / Do Not Disturb off. On iPhone / iPad, first add SignReady to the Home Screen (Share → Add to Home Screen) and open it from there.

Original uploaded files are kept until you delete them or their finalisation. If your plan ends and is not renewed, client data is deleted 180 days after the end (Partners are emailed 30, 7 and 1 days before). A Partner can delete all the firm's client data here — type DELETE to confirm. Your data explains where data is kept and who can see it.

Refer a firm: share your link; when that firm buys a plan, your firm gets 3 free finalisations.

The dates that follow from finalising and auditing the accounts, for the finalisations you are working on (audits started and files started early): your Board meeting date, the AGM, ADT-1, AOC-4, the tax audit report, the income-tax return for audit cases and the UDIN. GST, TDS and the other MCA forms are not included.

The dates come from each file's Key dates (on its progress page): enter the Board meeting, the AGM once held, tick Auditor appointed / re-appointed at this AGM for ADT-1 (within 15 days of the meeting) and the date the audit report was signed for the UDIN (within 60 days — until it is entered, the Partner sign-off date is used). The tax audit date follows What applies.

Mark a date done with the date and the SRN, acknowledgement number or UDIN; it then leaves the list (tick Show done to see it). A signed-off file stays in the calendar until its AOC-4, UDIN and other dates are done.

Reminder emails go 7 days and 1 day before each date not marked done.

Net worth, turnover and other certificates you sign, each worked through the same steps: Acceptance (a Partner decides), Details & figures, Evidence, Checks, Draft, then Approve & issue with the UDIN.

The Register lists every certificate with its number, date, signer, UDIN and status. Filter it, or download it to Excel for peer review and for matching your UDINs on the ICAI portal.

Certificates are separate from finalisations and are not counted as one. The free trial includes 5 certificates; paid plans have no limit.

Only an active Partner (or proprietor) holding a full-time Certificate of Practice can approve and sign. Set each one up under Signers & access with the name and membership number printed on the certificate. The UDIN entered is checked against that membership number.

Partners see every certificate. Staff see those they start or are added to (on the certificate's Details step), or every certificate if a Partner allows it.

Firm's standard items: documents and checks your firm always wants for a type (e.g. "tender page with the turnover clause"). They are added to every new certificate of that type, after SignReady's own list. A certificate keeps the items it started with.

Reminders: a certificate signed without a UDIN shows on Home → Needs attention and in the Calendar with its due date (60 days from signing), and — with notifications on — reminds the Partners and the people on it 7, 3 and 1 days before and on the day. Approved certificates waiting to be signed, and open ones untouched for 14 days, also show on Home.

Each type carries its own guidance: who usually asks for it, what kind of certificate it is, references, the documents to collect, the checks before signing and the don'ts.

The guidance is copied into the certificate when you start it, so later updates never change a certificate already in progress or issued. If newer guidance comes out before approval, the certificate offers Update to latest guidance.

Before any work: purpose and intended user, independence and conflict of interest (write the conclusion where the client is also an audit client), competence and time, any sign of misuse, the client's acknowledgement of its responsibility, the prescribed format, and a fee that does not depend on the outcome.

A Partner then accepts or declines (with a note). A declined certificate is kept as a record.

Mark each document Received (note how you verified it) or Not applicable (with the reason), and upload copies. Items marked * are needed before approval.

A red flag answered "Yes" needs a note on how it was resolved. The draft is filled from the details and the documents marked Received; edit it freely, but keep the {{udin}}, {{date}}, {{signer_name}} and {{membership_no}} placeholders — they are filled at signing.

Draft PDFs and Word files are marked DRAFT. The request letter and the management representation letter are on the Draft step.

Prescribed format (stock statements, utilisation certificates): when the bank or the sanction gives its own format, upload the document on the Evidence step, paste the format's text on the Draft step and choose that document. The format becomes the certificate text (its original is kept unchanged with a fingerprint); at approval the signer confirms the text follows it. If it has no lines for the UDIN, date and signer, a standard signature block is added.

For a payment to a non-resident that is chargeable to tax and above ₹5 lakh in the tax year (Form 145 Part C), with no Assessing Officer certificate. Remittances from 1 April 2026 use Form 146 under the Income-tax Act, 2025; earlier ones Form 15CB. The income's taxability follows the Act of the year it accrued — SignReady switches both from the dates you enter.

SignReady keeps the working paper (the seven panels, taxability under the Act and the DTAA, the tax worked out). A DTAA rate is applied only with the TRC and the remittee's Form 41 (Form 10F before April 2026) on file and the article-specific questions answered.

After approval, you file Form 146 yourself on the e-filing portal with your DSC, then Record portal filing: the filed-form PDF from View Filed Forms, the acknowledgement number and transaction ID. Validate the UDIN under View and Update UDIN on the portal and record it here (60 days, with reminders, if not done at filing). Later record when the remitter used it in Form 145 Part C, or a withdrawal (the certificate is then Cancelled). Add your PAN under Signers & access first.

Before approval, files go on the Evidence step as the evidence examined. After signing they cannot be added there: the evidence is what the partner saw.

A working paper put on file later — e.g. assembled for a peer review — goes under Evidence → Added after signing, with a note on what it is and why it is added now. It is shown apart from the evidence, marked Added after signing with the date and who added it, and the issued certificate is not changed.

A Partner can take a wrong file off that list with a reason; it stays in the certificate's record and History.

A certificate gets its number when it is signed, never earlier, and a number is never given twice — a cancelled certificate keeps its number.

Your own format (Certificates → Numbering, Partners): {N} is the running number, {FY} the financial year of signing (2026-27), {FY2} the short year (26-27). With a year, the series starts again each April; without it, one series runs on.

Numbers given outside SignReady: set the last number used for that year (e.g. 14) and the next certificate is 015. Or, on the signing form, type the number you want: if it follows your format and is beyond the last number, later certificates continue from it.

Each change to the format, to a last number or a number typed at signing is listed on the Numbering page with who and when. An issued certificate's number cannot be edited — it is on the frozen copy; issue a corrected certificate instead.

An authorised signer approves; the text is then locked (reopen it to change anything). Sign the certificate, generate the UDIN on the ICAI portal, and enter it with the date of signing. SignReady checks the UDIN's format and that digits 3–8 are the signer's membership number — not the portal itself.

On issue the certificate gets the next number in your firm's series (CERT/FY/001… unless you set your own format under Numbering), and the PDF and its text are frozen: kept unchanged for 7 years and checked against their fingerprint each time they are downloaded.

If the UDIN truly cannot be generated at signing, record the signed copy and its delivery as UDIN to follow. Generate it within 60 days; entering it makes a UDIN letter to the addressee.

After issue: a duplicate copy keeps the same UDIN; a corrected certificate is a new one with its own number and UDIN (the old one becomes Superseded); a UDIN revoked on the portal (possible only within 48 hours of generation) is recorded here; a cancelled number is never reused.

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.