Which filing or deadline could we miss?
A registered company has obligations from the day it exists. Most failures are not refusals. They are forgetting: the right deadline in the wrong person’s head, or a filing nobody knew applied.
How the compliance question shows up.
Founders are busy building, so compliance is usually handled when something prompts it. That is when gaps appear.
- Nobody is sure which obligations apply: company law, GST, income tax, payroll, labour law, sector licences, grant conditions.
- Filings are handled by one founder, or by whichever adviser answered the last email.
- Bookkeeping is a few months behind, so returns depend on reconstructing records.
- Acknowledgements and receipts exist, but in inboxes, not in one place.
- A grant came with conditions that nobody has turned into dates.
- The company was registered, then the team moved on to the product and forgot it exists in law.
An illustrative scenario
A startup registers in the first year, wins a small grant and starts invoicing customers. Registrations and returns are handled by whoever has time.
A customer’s procurement team asks for compliance evidence. An investor asks the same. The founders find that one return was filed late, one registration was never needed, and nobody can show proof for most filings.
The fixes are routine, but they take weeks and attention at the moment the startup can least spare them. This is an illustration, not a real client.
What it can cost you
The cost is rarely the late fee alone. It is the confidence it removes from everyone reviewing you.
- Late fees and penalties can build up quietly when deadlines slip.
- Customers, auditors and investors treat missing evidence as a risk, even where the underlying filing was made.
- Grant conditions that are breached can affect funds and future eligibility.
- Backlogs are slower and more expensive to clear than steady monthly work.
- Founders lose time at exactly the moments, such as a round or a large order, when they need it most.
A foundation an investor, customer or auditor can check.
- One compliance calendar listing every recurring obligation, with an owner and a date.
- A monthly review of that calendar.
- Accounts and bookkeeping kept current.
- An evidence folder: for each filing, the acknowledgement, the date and who did it.
- Grant and licence conditions turned into tracked tasks.
- Clarity on which items need an authorised professional.
The usual way, and the connected way.
The Fractional Chief Compliance Officer and GRC roles keep one calendar and one evidence trail. Filings that law reserves for particular professionals go to the right authorised person, coordinated so nothing falls between them.
The usual way: separate providers
- A chartered accountant for books and returns
- A company secretary for company-law filings
- A GST or tax consultant
- A labour-law or payroll provider
- A grant or programme manager
- A consultant to pull the evidence together for diligence
Each starts from zero, each bills separately, and nobody owns the whole picture.
With IPMahir One
What you leave with
- Compliance calendar
- Filing tracker
- Evidence index
- Audit-readiness gap list
- Issue and remediation tracker
Pillars
Connected modules
TransactionVeritas. How they connect
Four things you can do now, without hiring anyone.
- List every registration your company holds and every return it must file, even if you are unsure.
- Create one calendar with an owner for each item.
- Start an evidence folder and file each acknowledgement as it arrives.
- Read your grant and licence conditions and turn each into a dated task.
See where you stand
TheEntOS Assessment checks this question under: Compliance, Governance & Risk. “Not sure” is a welcome answer. It becomes a learning note, not a penalty.
An indicative diagnostic. Not legal, tax, investment or cybersecurity advice, and not a certification.
Common questions about compliance.
Which filings apply to my startup?
It depends on your entity type, turnover, location, sector, team and funding. The first step is identifying that list with an authorised professional and putting it on one calendar. TheEntOS Assessment helps you see where you stand.
Does IPMahir file my returns?
IPMahir coordinates and tracks. Work that law reserves for a chartered accountant, company secretary or other licensed professional is done or certified only by an appropriately authorised person and may be separately scoped.
What if I am not sure about the status of my filings?
Choose “Not sure” in the assessment. That produces an explanation rather than a penalty, and a suggested first step.
Is the assessment a compliance certificate?
No. It is an indicative readiness diagnostic that needs expert validation. It is not legal, tax or audit advice and not a certification.