The words, in plain English.

A certificate that a branch, liaison or project office of a foreign company submits each year, with its financial statements, to its authorised dealer bank. It is due by 30 September.

FEMA establishment regulations, 2016

A yearly statement of a company's members, directors, shareholding and meetings, filed with the Registrar within 60 days of the annual general meeting (form MGT-7, or MGT-7A for small and one person companies).

Companies Act, 2013, s.92

The form used to file a company's financial statements with the Registrar, within 30 days of the annual general meeting.

Companies Act, 2013, s.137

A bank authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to deal in foreign exchange. Applications to open a branch or liaison office go to one.

FEMA, 1999

Foreign direct investment that needs no prior government approval, subject to the sector's cap and conditions. Reporting to the Reserve Bank still applies.

FEMA (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019

A meeting of a company's directors. The first is held within 30 days of incorporation, then at least four a year with no more than 120 days between two meetings. Some small, one person, dormant and start-up private companies may meet once in each half of the calendar year.

Companies Act, 2013, s.173

The papers sent to directors before a meeting: agenda, notes on each item, draft resolutions and the management information they need to decide. Notice of a board meeting is at least seven days.

Companies Act, 2013, s.173(3)

A place of business of a foreign company in India that may carry on only the activities its approval permits, such as export and import, professional or consultancy services, research, and information technology services. It is not a separate legal entity.

FEMA establishment regulations, 2016

A declaration that subscribers have paid for their shares, filed within 180 days of incorporation before a company with share capital starts business or borrows.

Companies Act, 2013, s.10A

The 21-character number the Registrar gives a company on incorporation. It encodes the listing status, activity code, state, year and type of company.

Companies Act, 2013

The person or organisation that decides why and how personal data is processed, and is answerable for it under India's data protection law.

DPDP Act, 2023, s.2(i)

An indexed, access-controlled set of folders holding the documents a buyer, investor or lender reviews, with a tracker of what has been asked for and received.

Cash available to service debt divided by the principal and interest falling due. Lenders read it year by year in a project report.

A matrix, approved by the board, that says who may approve which spend, contract or hire, and up to which limit.

A partner of an LLP who is responsible for its compliance. Every LLP needs at least two, and at least one must stay in India for at least 120 days in the financial year.

LLP Act, 2008, s.7

India's data protection law, passed in 2023. Its Rules were notified in November 2025 and bring most obligations into force in phases.

DPDP Act, 2023; DPDP Rules, 2025

A unique number every director of an Indian company must hold before appointment.

Companies Act, 2013, ss.152–154

Organised fact-finding about a business before an investment, acquisition, loan or partnership. Support work gathers and organises the facts; opinions come from the professionals the transaction requires.

The return an Indian company files on the Reserve Bank's FIRMS portal after issuing shares to a person resident outside India, within 30 days of allotment.

FEMA (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019

A written case for a new unit, expansion or market: assumptions, capital and running costs, a financial model, sensitivities and risks, in the order a board or lender reads them.

The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, and the rules and regulations under it. It governs foreign investment into India and offices of foreign companies.

FEMA, 1999

The annual return on foreign liabilities and assets, filed with the Reserve Bank by Indian entities that have received foreign direct investment or invested abroad.

FEMA, 1999

A company incorporated outside India that has a place of business in India. It registers with the Registrar in form FC-1 within 30 days of establishing that place of business.

Companies Act, 2013, ss.2(42), 380

Foreign direct investment that needs prior approval from the government before it is made, for sectors or investors the policy lists.

FEMA (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019

A company that controls another company, for example through a majority of its voting power or the composition of its board. A holding company can never be a small company.

Companies Act, 2013, s.2(46)

The law that replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 from 1 April 2026. Section numbers differ from the old Act, so check older guidance against the new text.

Income-tax Act, 2025

The policies and procedures a company adopts to run its business in an orderly way: safeguarding assets, preventing and detecting errors and fraud, and keeping accurate, complete records.

Companies Act, 2013, s.134(5)(e)

A representative office of a foreign company. It may promote trade and act as a communication channel, but may not carry on any commercial, trading or industrial activity. Approval is normally for three years.

FEMA establishment regulations, 2016

A body corporate with partners instead of shareholders, separate from its partners, whose liability is limited to their agreed contribution.

LLP Act, 2008

The regular reports that tell managers and the board how the business is doing: a fixed order, fixed definitions and a fixed timetable.

The written record of a meeting's proceedings, prepared and signed within 30 days of the meeting.

Companies Act, 2013, s.118

A private company with a single member.

Companies Act, 2013, s.2(62)

The amount actually paid, or credited as paid, on the shares a company has issued. One of the two tests for a small company.

Companies Act, 2013, s.2(64)

A step-by-step drawing of how a piece of work moves: who does what, in which system, and where approvals and checks sit.

A temporary office a foreign company opens to carry out a specific contract in India. It closes when the project ends.

FEMA establishment regulations, 2016

The address where a company receives official communications. It must be in place within 30 days of incorporation.

Companies Act, 2013, s.12

The office of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs that registers companies and LLPs and receives their filings.

A person or entity closely connected with a company, such as a director, a relative of a director, or a holding or subsidiary company. Contracts with related parties need approvals and disclosure.

Companies Act, 2013, ss.2(76), 188

A director who stays in India for at least 182 days in the financial year. Every company needs at least one.

Companies Act, 2013, s.149(3)

A table listing, for each process step, what could go wrong, the check that prevents it, who performs it and what evidence it leaves.

Standards for board meetings (SS-1) and general meetings (SS-2) that companies must observe.

Companies Act, 2013, s.118(10)

A company formed to promote objects such as commerce, art, science, education, charity or the environment, which applies its income to those objects and pays no dividend. It can never be a small company.

Companies Act, 2013, s.8

Testing how a model's results change when one assumption moves: price, volume, cost or timing.

A private company, other than a holding, subsidiary, section 8 or special-Act company, whose paid-up capital does not exceed ₹10 crore and whose turnover for the preceding financial year does not exceed ₹100 crore (limits in force from 1 December 2025; earlier ₹4 crore and ₹40 crore).

Companies Act, 2013, s.2(85); G.S.R. 880(E)

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs' integrated web form for incorporating a company, which also handles name reservation, director numbers and several registrations.

Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014

Short, numbered instructions for one task, written for the person who does it.

A company controlled by another (its holding company). A subsidiary can never be a small company, whatever its size.

Companies Act, 2013, s.2(87)

The single twelve-month period used by the Income-tax Act, 2025 in place of the old 'previous year' and 'assessment year'.

Income-tax Act, 2025

Rules requiring transactions between related entities in different tax jurisdictions (services, royalties, cost recharges, loans) to be priced at arm's length and documented.

Income-tax Act, 2025

Gross amount of revenue recognised in the profit and loss account from the sale, supply or distribution of goods or services during a financial year. The second small-company test.

Companies Act, 2013, s.2(91)