Changing your CA
Your CA is not replying. Here is how to move.
You are not the only one dealing with this. Dates get missed and nobody tells you. PageX is an accounting firm. We do your books, GST, TDS, income tax and ROC filings every month. Moving to a new accountant takes less time than most owners expect, and almost all of it is our work, not yours.
- Every filing is checked before you approve it
- A reply the same working day
- One fixed fee, every month
- Late because of us? That month is free
Is it time?
Six signs it might be time to move.
“A notice arrived before any reminder did.”
The filing date passed weeks ago. You found out from a government notice, not from your accountant.
“You send the reminder, not the other way round.”
The date is the same every time, yet you are the one keeping track of it and asking for a reply.
“You could not say what has been filed this year.”
Ask which returns are done so far and you would have to check. Nobody sends you a list.
“The fee changes and nobody tells you why first.”
One year it is one number. The next year it is more, and you find out when the bill arrives.
“Nobody can explain your own numbers to you.”
You ask what your profit was last month and wait days for an answer, if one comes at all.
“You have never met the person doing the work.”
The person you signed up with checks it at the end. Someone else prepares the return, and you have never spoken to them.
What moving takes
Four steps. You do three small ones.
Tell your current accountant, on your own timeline.
There is no fixed date for this. Tell them when you are ready to move.
Send us three things.
Add us on the GST portal as an authorised signatory. Then send your last filed returns and your books as they are today, in whatever software they are in.
You get an engagement letter first.
It sets out the scope, the fee, and who does what. You see it before any work starts.
After that, send bills any way you like.
Email, WhatsApp, a Drive folder, or a direct link to your Tally, Zoho or ERP. Whatever is easiest for you.
Almost all of the work of changing is ours.
What about the months before us
The months before us stay inside the same year.
A financial year gives one income tax return and one audit if your business needs one. A company or an LLP also files one set of ROC forms. Moving partway through does not restart that year. Here is how we handle the months before us.
We start from what was filed last.
We take your opening balances from your last filed balance sheet, and your GST and TDS position from the last returns filed. If your business needs an audit, an independent CA firm you appoint does it, and we prepare everything they ask for.
We look at the earlier months on the first call.
If anything from before us needs a closer look before the year ends, we tell you then.
Anything extra is quoted before it starts.
Old months that need cleaning up are a separate job. You see the price first.
The year has to add up.
Your yearly return covers the whole year, so the months your old accountant did must match what was filed. Checking that is part of moving over.
Your logins and your files
Your logins and your files stay with you.
- Your GST and income tax portal logins stay in your name. You can change the password any time.
- Your files sit in a Google Drive folder in your own account, not ours.
- You can leave any time. There is no lock-in, and we hand your books to your next accountant in a form they can use.
Questions
About changing your CA.
Do I have to tell my current CA?
There is no legal requirement to ask permission before you move. Telling your current accountant is a courtesy, and most owners do it once the decision is made. If a CA is also your company's appointed auditor, changing that appointment follows a separate company law process, and we tell you what it involves. Your own records belong to you. A fee dispute is settled separately from getting them back.
Will my old CA hand over my files?
You can already get some of it yourself. Your filed GST and income tax returns sit on the portals under your own login, and you can download them any time. It is worth asking your old accountant for the books file from Tally or Zoho, your last balance sheet, and the fixed asset register. If they do not send these, we can rebuild the position from your bank statements and the portal data. We quote that separately before it starts.
Can I move in the middle of the year?
Yes. Most owners move partway through the year. The financial year does not restart. We start from the month you join, and your yearly return still covers the whole year: part filed before us, part filed by us.
Do I lose anything filed already?
No. Whatever is already filed and paid stays as it is. We do not change what has already been filed. If something has to be corrected, we tell you first and you decide.
What if a notice comes for an old period?
Send it to us anyway, even if it is about a return filed before we started. We read it, tell you what it means, and prepare the reply. You add us on the portal and approve the reply before it goes. If we need old records for that period, we ask your previous accountant or rebuild the position from the portal.
How long does moving take?
It depends on how fast your old accountant replies and how ready your records are. The parts that take the longest, waiting for logins and old files, are not the parts you have to do.
Next step
Tell us about your business. Let us talk today.
Send one message with what your business does and what you are dealing with now. We reply the same working day with what we would take over and how we would start.
Or fill in the short form and we reply the same way.
We reply the same working day. A real answer, not a calendar link.