Startups

Recognition and the business are separate

A startup label does not identify the legal entity or replace its ordinary tax, employment and corporate duties. DPIIT recognition and any tax benefit have their own eligibility and application conditions; recognition should not be described as an automatic tax exemption.

Set up the evidence early

• Agree founder ownership, authority and intellectual-property assignments.
• Keep company receipts and spending separate from founder expenses.
• Maintain a cap table supported by allotment and transfer records.
• Record customer terms and the basis of revenue recognition.

Review when the business changes

Hiring, overseas customers, a new funding instrument and a second premises each introduce different questions. Assess the event when it is proposed, rather than waiting for an annual filing.

A practical starting point

For a pre-revenue product team, begin with founder documents, product ownership and a simple monthly close. For a startup preparing a round, add investor diligence, valuation coordination and a closing workplan. Scope depends on the actual stage, not the startup label.

Choose support for your next milestone

Agreeing how the founders work together

Bring the proposed ownership split, responsibilities, decision rights and any existing product-development arrangements. Founder and shareholder agreement support helps turn those instructions into an agreed document scope. Identify work created before incorporation and agreements signed personally so the ownership record can be checked.

Getting reliable monthly numbers

Once money starts moving, set a routine for collecting invoices, recording founder-funded costs and reconciling bank and payment-provider balances. Bookkeeping and monthly close provides a service path for that recurring work. A concise exceptions list helps the founders resolve missing records before they accumulate.

Preparing for an investment round

Use investor diligence readiness to organise the records behind the cap table, financials, customer contracts and product ownership. When terms become concrete, fundraising compliance addresses the transaction workstream. Keep diligence preparation and closing tasks separately assigned so document collection does not obscure a pending transaction action.

Prepare a short founder brief

Tell us the entity type, number of founders, whether trading has begun and the next milestone. List current employees or contractors, overseas activity and any proposed funding. For the initial enquiry, a summary is enough; detailed financial and ownership documents can follow through the agreed exchange process.

For example, a team preparing its first investor discussion may need to reconcile founder-funded expenses and signed product-development contracts before building a large data room. Start with the records that explain the business as it operates today, then assign gaps by owner and target date.