Company Annual Compliance Cost
Estimate what it costs to keep a Private Limited company or OPC compliant each year — ROC filings, audit, ITR and bookkeeping, itemised live.
Itemised annual compliance cost
Indicative| Compliance item | Estimated cost |
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Get your company's annual compliance handled by a CA
ROC filings, audit coordination, ITR and bookkeeping — one team, one fixed fee.
Disclaimer: This is an indicative estimate only. Actual professional fees vary by service provider, city, transaction volume and company complexity; government fees depend on authorised capital and timely filing. Use it as a planning guide, not a quotation.
Why every company pays an annual compliance cost
A Private Limited company or OPC is a separate legal entity under the Companies Act, 2013 — so it must file with the MCA / ROC and the Income Tax Department every year, whether or not it does any business. Miss a filing and penalties accrue per day, per form, so budgeting for compliance up front is far cheaper than fixing defaults later.
Mandatory annual filings for a company
These are the recurring compliances every Private Limited company and OPC must complete each financial year. The exact due dates and forms differ slightly for OPCs (MGT-7A instead of MGT-7), but the obligations are broadly the same.
| AOC-4 | Financial statements & board's report — filed within 30 days of the AGM (OPCs: within 180 days of year-end). |
| MGT-7 / 7A | Annual return — MGT-7 for Pvt Ltd, MGT-7A for OPCs & small companies, within 60 days of the AGM. |
| DIR-3 KYC | Director KYC for every DIN holder — due 30 September; free if on time, ₹5,000 penalty if late. |
| ADT-1 | Auditor appointment / ratification — filed within 15 days of the AGM. |
| ITR-6 | Company income tax return — usually due 31 October when audit applies, else 31 July. |
| Audit | Statutory audit under the Companies Act is mandatory for every company, regardless of turnover. |
| Board meetings | Minimum board meetings, minutes, registers & the AGM (OPCs are exempt from AGM & some meeting rules). |
| Books | Proper books of account must be maintained through the year — the base for AOC-4 & the ITR. |
What drives the cost
Turnover & transaction volume
The single biggest driver. A dormant company has almost nothing to audit; a trading company with high turnover means more vouchers, larger audit scope and higher professional fees. That is why the audit fee tier in this tool scales with the turnover band.
Authorised capital
Government filing fees for AOC-4, MGT-7 and other forms are slabbed on authorised share capital — a company with higher capital pays higher MCA fees on the same forms.
Bookkeeping needs
If you don't maintain your own books, outsourced bookkeeping is an added yearly cost. Clean books also reduce audit and ITR fees, so it often pays for itself.
Timeliness
Filing on time keeps DIR-3 KYC free and avoids the ₹100/day per-form additional MCA fee. Late filing is the fastest way to blow past this estimate.
Penalties for non-compliance
The cost of skipping compliance is far higher than the fee to do it. A few of the common consequences:
Late ROC filing
An additional fee of ₹100 per day, per form with no upper cap runs on AOC-4 and MGT-7 until you file — this alone can dwarf the normal cost within months.
DIR-3 KYC missed
The director's DIN is deactivated, and reactivation requires paying a ₹5,000 penalty per director.
Company struck off
Continued default can lead the ROC to strike off the company and disqualify directors from other boards for five years.
Income tax
Late or non-filing of the company ITR attracts interest, late fees and prosecution risk, plus loss of carry-forward of business losses.
What does annual compliance for a private limited company involve?
Statutory audit, filing AOC-4 and MGT-7/7A with the ROC, DIR-3 KYC for every director, income-tax return, at least four board meetings and one AGM with proper minutes, plus DPT-3 and any event-based filings.
Is compliance required even if the company has no business?
Yes. A dormant or zero-revenue company still has to get its accounts audited, file AOC-4, MGT-7A, the income-tax return and DIR-3 KYC. Non-filing attracts daily additional fees and can lead to director disqualification.
What drives the cost up or down?
Number of directors (DSC and KYC), turnover and transaction volume (audit and bookkeeping effort), whether GST and TDS filings are in scope, and paid-up capital, which sets the ROC filing fee slab.
What happens if annual filings are missed?
AOC-4 and MGT-7 attract an additional fee of ₹100 per day per form with no upper limit, and continued default can lead to the company being struck off and its directors disqualified for five years under section 164(2).
Does an OPC have lighter compliance than a Pvt Ltd?
Somewhat. An OPC files MGT-7A instead of MGT-7, need not hold an AGM, and has relaxed board-meeting requirements — but the audit, AOC-4, income-tax return and director KYC all still apply.
Disclaimer: This tool gives indicative results for general guidance only and is not professional advice. Please verify with a qualified CA before acting on the numbers.