For agencies and studios
Run an agency? Your books go wrong in three places. We fix all three.
Most agency owners say the same thing: the numbers swing so much month to month that they cannot tell if they are making money. The cause is almost always the same three things. Freelancer payments carry TDS at different rates. Ad spend and print billed to a client get counted as your income, so you pay tax on money that was never yours. Retainers billed for a quarter make one month look great and the next two look bad. We keep all three straight, every month, so your profit figure is one you can act on.
- Every filing is checked before you approve it
- A reply the same working day
- One fixed fee a month
What is different for you
What a general accounting page will not tell you.
Every freelancer payment carries TDS.
At different rates depending on whether it is contract work or professional work. Picking the wrong one is the most common agency mistake.
Client costs must stay out of your revenue.
Ad spend, print, media and licences billed on to a client are not your income. Recorded as income, they inflate your turnover and you pay tax on money that only passed through you.
Retainers are billed before they are earned.
A quarter invoiced in advance is not one month's revenue. Books that ignore this make agency profit swing wildly.
Foreign clients change the GST position.
Work for a client outside India is an export and carries no GST, with the same paperwork any exporter needs, including a letter of undertaking.
Services bought from abroad can flip the GST onto you.
For some overseas services, you have to pay the GST yourself under what is called reverse charge. It is easy to miss because there is no tax on the invoice.
Work delivered but not yet billed is still real.
It is an asset in your books. Agencies that ignore it cannot tell a cash problem from a profit problem.
What we do for you
Every month, this is what we take over.
- Freelancer TDS at the right rate. Deducted, paid every month, returned every quarter, and Form 16A issued so your freelancers can claim it. Form 16A is the certificate that shows them the tax you cut.
- Client costs kept out of your income. Your revenue is what you earned. Your tax is on what you kept.
- Retainers spread across the months they cover. Your monthly profit report shows the month it describes.
- Export treatment for foreign clients. Including the letter of undertaking and the paperwork behind it.
- Everything beyond retainers and TDS. Books, GST, income tax, ROC where it applies, and notices. One fixed fee.
Billing a client for ad spend and calling it revenue is the fastest way to pay tax on somebody else's money.
Software does the routine work. Our team reviews every return. You approve, then we file. How it works
Read more
The filings that matter most for you.
Questions
Things people in your position ask.
What TDS do I deduct on a freelancer?
It depends on the work. Contract work and professional work fall under different rules, with different rates and different limits. A designer, a developer and a videographer will not always sit under the same one. We classify each freelancer once, at the start, so every payment after that follows the right rate.
I bill clients for ad spend. Is that my revenue?
No. Money that passes through you to a media platform is not your income. Recorded as income, it inflates your turnover, can push you over limits you should be under, and has you paying tax on it. We set this up correctly in the books and on your invoices.
Do I charge GST to a client outside India?
No, if the export rules are met and you have a letter of undertaking in place. Without the paperwork it is treated as a normal taxable sale and the tax is yours. We keep the letter current and the proof in order.
My revenue is lumpy. Can you tell me if I am making money?
That is what monthly books are for. Once retainers are spread across the months they cover and client costs are out of your income, the monthly profit figure becomes one you can trust.