A month-by-month accounting calendar for FY 2026–27 — what to close each month, what to reconcile each quarter, and the statutory dates for GST, TDS, advance tax and the annual audit that the books have to support.
An accounting calendar is not the same as a compliance calendar. The statutory dates are the visible part; what makes them achievable is the monthly closing discipline behind them. This calendar sets out both — the internal routine and the external deadline it feeds.
The Monthly Routine
Every month follows the same shape. The dates below repeat from April 2026 through March 2027.
| By | Task |
|---|---|
| 1st to 5th | Post all sales invoices and purchase bills for the previous month. Close the cut-off — nothing dated last month may be posted after this. |
| 5th | Compute tax deducted at source for the previous month and prepare the challan. |
| 7th | Deposit tax deducted at source. For tax deducted in March 2027, the date is 30 April 2027. |
| 10th | Reconcile bank accounts. Every account, not just the main one. |
| 11th | File the outward supply return for monthly filers. |
| 12th to 15th | Reconcile input tax credit against the auto-populated inward statement. Chase suppliers who have not filed. |
| 15th | Deposit provident fund and state insurance contributions. |
| 15th to 18th | Process payroll journal, record salary payable, tax deducted and employer contributions. |
| 20th | File the summary return and pay GST for monthly filers. |
| 25th | Review debtors and creditors ageing. Follow up on anything past terms. |
| Month end | Petty cash count, provisions and accruals, depreciation for the month, trial balance review. |
The cut-off is the discipline that matters most. A month that stays open for late entries is a month whose GST return, TDS computation and management accounts are all provisional. Fix a closing date, enforce it, and post genuinely late items to the current month with a note rather than reopening the last one.
Quarterly
| Quarter ends | TDS statement due | Advance tax due |
|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | 31 July 2026 | 15 June 2026 — 15% |
| 30 September 2026 | 31 October 2026 | 15 September 2026 — 45% cumulative |
| 31 December 2026 | 31 January 2027 | 15 December 2026 — 75% cumulative |
| 31 March 2027 | 31 May 2027 | 15 March 2027 — 100% |
Alongside those statutory dates, each quarter close should include a physical stock verification on a sample basis, a review of the fixed asset register against what is actually on site, confirmation of balances with major counterparties, and a check that advance tax paid still matches the year's projected profit.
Recompute the advance tax estimate every quarter, not once in June. Section 425 charges 3% on the shortfall at each of the first three instalments. A business that estimates conservatively in June and has a strong second quarter will be short at the September milestone unless somebody revisits the number. The recomputation takes an hour and the interest it avoids is real.
Year End — March 2027
- Physical stock count as at 31 March, with valuation at cost or net realisable value, whichever is lower.
- Depreciation recorded for the full year, on the correct basis for books and for tax.
- Provision for doubtful debts, reviewed against the ageing.
- Accruals and prepayments for expenses spanning the year end.
- Confirmation of balances from debtors, creditors and banks.
- Reconcile turnover as booked to turnover as returned under GST for the whole year. Differences found now are far cheaper than differences found in the annual return.
- Reconcile tax deducted — both what you deducted and what was deducted from you — against the credit statement.
- Close the books and lock the period.
After the Year End
| Task | Due |
|---|---|
| Deposit tax deducted in March 2027 | 30 April 2027 |
| Fourth quarter TDS statement | 31 May 2027 |
| Issue annual salary tax certificates | 15 June 2027 |
| Statutory audit, where the entity requires one | Before the AGM |
| Tax audit report under section 63 | 30 September 2027 |
| Income tax return — non-audit cases | 31 July 2027 |
| Income tax return — companies and audit cases | 31 October 2027 |
| GST annual return, where applicable | 31 December 2027 |