Accounting for consultants and independent professionals
An independent professional has the simplest business in India to run and one of the easiest to overpay tax on. Your clients deduct TDS before paying you, so tax has already gone out before you see the money, and claiming it back depends on it being matched correctly. Presumptive taxation can remove most of the bookkeeping burden entirely if you qualify, and a great many professionals who qualify have never been told.
Where this gets specific
The things a general accounting page will not tell you.
Presumptive taxation may remove most of the work. Eligible professionals can declare a fixed share of receipts as income and skip detailed books and audit. Whether it saves you money depends on your real costs.
Your clients deduct TDS before paying you. That money is already with the government. You claim it in your return, and only if it matches what they reported.
GST once you cross the threshold. The services threshold is lower than most people assume, and it is on gross receipts, not profit.
Advance tax, four times a year. Because nobody is deducting on all of your income. Missing the instalments costs interest.
Foreign clients are exports. Zero-rated under GST, subject to the export conditions and a letter of undertaking.
Your business and personal money will mix. It happens to almost everyone working alone, and it is what makes an otherwise simple return complicated.
What we do about it
What we take over.
We check presumptive against regular. With your actual numbers, so you take the option that leaves you paying less rather than the one you fell into.
We match every rupee of TDS you are owed. Against what your clients reported, and chase the ones who deducted but did not report.
GST returns, if you are registered. Filed each period, with input credit matched.
Advance tax before each date. The amount, in a WhatsApp message, before the instalment is due.
Your return, filed. Prepared, sent to you, filed when you approve it.
The tax has already left your invoice. Getting it back is the job.
Questions
What people in your position ask.
What is presumptive taxation and should I use it?
Under the presumptive scheme for professionals you declare a fixed percentage of your gross receipts as income, and you are not required to maintain detailed books or get a tax audit. If your real expenses are lower than that percentage, you pay less tax and do far less work. If your expenses are genuinely high, the regular route is better. It takes ten minutes with your numbers to know which, and it is worth doing before the year ends rather than after.
My client deducted TDS but it is not showing in my tax credit statement.
That means they deducted and did not report it correctly, or reported it against the wrong PAN. You cannot claim credit that is not showing. It is fixable, but only by the client filing a correction, so it needs chasing early rather than in July. We check this through the year instead of at filing time.
Do I need to register for GST as a consultant?
Once your gross receipts cross the threshold for services. It is calculated on receipts, not profit, so a consultant with high receipts and modest income can cross it sooner than expected. Working for clients outside India has its own treatment and is worth setting up correctly from the start.
I work alone. Is this service too much for me?
Possibly, and we will say so. If your affairs are genuinely simple, a full monthly engagement may be more than you need. Ask us and we will tell you honestly rather than sell you the bundle.
By kind of business
Not quite you?
- D2C and ecommerce
Marketplace TCS, returns, and settlements that never match your sales.
- SaaS and software
Export paperwork, the LUT, and revenue that is collected before it is earned.
- Agencies and studios
Contractor TDS, pass-through costs, and retainers billed ahead of the work.
- Creators and influencers
Gifted products are income. Barter is taxable. Platform income is an export.