Every form of a company be it a Private Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership, one person company etc, are required to maintain their books of Accounts as per the related acts. There are different rules regarding how to maintain company books of Accounts. The books of accounts of every company shall be maintained on accrual basis and double entry basis. Further, all the accounts of the company shall be kept at the registered of the company or at such other place in India as approved by the Board Of Directors of the Company.
What do books of Accounts include:
The books of the Accounts of the company include the deeds, vouchers, writings, documents, minutes, and registers maintained on papers or in Electronic form pertaining to the transactions of the company.
Rules regarding maintaining company accounts:
- As per Companies Act, 2013 every company is required to end its financial year on 31st March every year and prepare the Books of Accounts accordingly.
- The Books of Accounts of Company prepared must give the true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company including its branches if any.
- The accounts of the company shall be maintained manually or in electronic form.
- It is mandatory for every company to prepare financial statements. Financial statements include Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss account/Income Expenditure account, cash flow statement of changes in equity.
Time period for preserving company Accounts:
As per the Companies Act, 2013 it is mandatory for every form of company to preserve in good condition the books of Accounts together with relevant vouchers for any entry for up to 8 years. Further, the freshly incorporated company are required to maintain their accounts and vouchers for up to 8 years from the date of incorporation. However, in case any other regulations requires books to be maintained or a longer period then it will be the obligation of the company to maintain books for a longer period.
Consequences of failing to maintain the Company Accounts:
It is the responsibility of the Managing Director, the whole time Director, in charge of finance, chief financial officer or any other person of a company nominated of the Board of Directors to ensure that the books of accounts of the company is maintained properly.
It is very significant for the Directors to fulfill their responsibility as in case they fail to do so a hefty penalty can be levied and the imprisonment can also be levied. In case of violation the amount of penalty range from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs 5,00,000/- and/or imprisonment up to one year.
So in case you are looking for expert assistance in annual compliance for your company , then you should hire BIATConsultant experts who can guide you throughout the process and can even assist you in maintaining the company accounts to .