In this guide 6 sections
A well-kept Excel tracker is enough while one person owns it and the client list is small. Software becomes worth it once several people edit the tracker, papers arrive through several channels, and DSC expiry, SRNs and fee follow-ups must sit against each filing. Count your companies and editors first.
What an Excel tracker does well
Rows for companies and columns for filings make a tracker in an afternoon. It needs no new licence. For a practice with a few dozen companies and one careful owner, it can serve for years.
Excel also bends easily. A new event-based filing becomes a new column. Nobody needs training to read it.
Where the sheet starts to fail
Trouble begins when several people edit the same file. Copies multiply, statuses go stale and nobody trusts the version on screen. A filing marked pending may already be done, or the reverse.
The sheet also cannot chase anyone. It shows a blank cell where a document is missing, but sends no reminder. It gives no warning that a director’s DSC lapses next week.
- Several staff editing one file
- No record of who asked the client, and when
- DSC and DIN KYC dates kept somewhere else
- SRNs and challans left in inboxes
- Fees billed late, or not at all
What compliance software should add
Software should raise the calendar from each company’s type and year end, with an owner and status for every form. It should list the papers each filing needs and record each reminder sent.
After filing, the SRN, challan and filed copy belong against the form. A DSC register with holder and expiry earns its keep as well. Fee billing per filing or on retainer closes the loop.
- Calendar per company, with owner and status
- Document requests with reminders counted
- DSC and DIN register with expiry flags
- SRN, challan and filed copy stored together
- Fees and outstanding amounts by client
What neither one does
Neither a sheet nor software files a form on the MCA portal. Filing still happens there, with the director’s DSC. Neither decides what the law asks of a client company.
Which forms fall due, and when, is for the practice to work out from official MCA sources. Recheck the calendar rules each year. A tool only holds what someone put into it.
Deciding for a practice of your size
Count three things: companies served, people editing the tracker, and filings missed or late last year. If all three are small, improve the sheet with locked columns and one owner.
If the numbers are climbing, try software on one season’s companies first. Compare its calendar with your own sheet before trusting it. Move the rest once the two agree.
Tracker health check
A short checklist for your current sheet: who edits it, when it was last reconciled, how DSC expiry is tracked and where SRNs are kept. Add how fee follow-ups are logged. Mark each line as working or not. Several lines marked not working suggest the sheet has been outgrown.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Does compliance software file forms on the MCA portal?
No. Filing stays on the MCA portal with your DSC. The software tracks what is due, collects the papers and stores the SRN and challan afterwards.
Is GullySystem’s CA practice product suited to a CS firm?
Partly. It brings client masters, a filing calendar, document collection, job allocation and fee billing, and ROC work can be set up as a service. It holds no DSC register, so that part is built separately.
Who should see director PAN and Aadhaar details?
Only the staff assigned to that company. Access should open by role, and every download should be logged.
Can we keep the Excel tracker running alongside?
For one season, yes. Running both lets you compare the software’s calendar with your own before the sheet is retired.