Karan incorporated his D2C company last March. Year one done. Then his CA mailed him a chart with four form names — AOC-4, MGT-7, ADT-1, DIR-3 KYC — and four different deadlines.
He didn't know what any of these did. He's about to. Skipping them is the most expensive mistake a small founder can make.
- AOC-4 = your audited financial statements filed with ROC. Due within 30 days of AGM (typically 30 Oct).
- MGT-7 (or MGT-7A for small co / OPC) = your annual return — members, directors, shareholding. Due within 60 days of AGM (typically 29 Nov).
- Late fee: ₹100 per day, per form, no cap. A 1-year delay on both = ₹73,000.
- Repeated non-compliance → director disqualification → company strike-off. Take this seriously.
What AOC-4 actually does
Once a year, every Pvt Ltd / OPC has to publish its audited financials with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). AOC-4 is the wrapper through which those financials are filed.
The ROC then makes them public — anyone can pull a company's balance sheet and P&L from MCA21 for ₹100 or so. Bankers, investors, vendors, journalists, competitors, your aunt — they can all see your numbers.
Bigger companies file AOC-4 XBRL (structured data). Most small Pvt Ltds and OPCs file plain AOC-4.
What goes inside AOC-4
- Audited balance sheet, P&L, cash flow, notes
- Board's Report
- Auditor's Report
- Statement of subsidiaries (Form AOC-1) — if any
- CSR report — if applicable (rare for small Pvt Ltds)
What MGT-7 does
MGT-7 is the company's annual return — a yearly snapshot of who owns it, who runs it, what changed. Not the financials. The structure.
What sits inside:
👉 Registered office, principal business activities
👉 Members (shareholders) and their shareholdings as on AGM date
👉 Directors and KMP (Key Managerial Personnel)
👉 Indebtedness — secured / unsecured loans
👉 Penalties / compounding offences (if any)
👉 Meetings held during the year (Board, AGM, EGM)
Small companies and OPCs file MGT-7A instead — shorter form, less data. A "small company" is one with paid-up capital ≤ ₹4 cr and turnover ≤ ₹40 cr. Most early-stage Pvt Ltds qualify.
The ROC year, in plain sequence
Close books. Inventory check. Bank reconciliations.
Statutory auditor signs off on the financials.
Shareholders approve accounts. (First-year: within 9 months of first FY-end.)
Typically 30 October. ROC fee ₹300–600 based on capital.
Typically 29 November. ROC fee ₹300–600.
What gets due alongside (don't miss these either)
ADT-1
Auditor appointment
Confirms auditor for the next year. Most-forgotten form — without it, the company is technically without a statutory auditor.
DIR-3 KYC
For every director
Every director files annual KYC. Missing it deactivates your DIN — you can't sign any other MCA form until revived.
DPT-3
Return of deposits
Reports loans / deposits as of 31 March. Even nil filing is mandatory if you have any outstanding loans from directors / banks / shareholders.
How much late filing actually costs
A director disqualified under Section 164(2) cannot be a director in any company for 5 years. Many founders find out only when they try to sign their next form and the system rejects them.
The 3 most-common mistakes
👉 Skipping the AGM. No AGM = financials not approved = can't file AOC-4. Many founders defer the AGM "because nothing is urgent" — and the cascading delays compound across forms.
👉 Forgetting ADT-1. Auditor re-appointment within 15 days of AGM. Without it, the company is technically without a statutory auditor.
👉 Missing DIR-3 KYC. Every director needs annual KYC by 30 September. Miss it and your DIN deactivates — you can't sign any other MCA form until you pay ₹5,000 and revive it.
ROC filings feel annoying — until you see a director-disqualification order. The compliance cost is the price of avoiding that.
Karan's actual filing day
The mechanics, once you've got your CA / CS on call:
👉 Login at MCA21 V3 with your director credentials.
👉 Open AOC-4 → fill company details (most auto-fetched from your CIN).
👉 Attach financials, auditor's report, board's report as PDFs.
👉 Director DSC-signs. Practising CA / CS / CMA DSC-signs.
👉 Pay fee (₹300–600). Submit. SRN issued.
👉 Repeat for MGT-7 / 7A within the next 30 days.
Quick answers
Yes. Every active company files annual ROC forms regardless of activity. Even dormant companies file — there's a separate provision (Section 455) for declaring dormant status, which still requires its own forms.
Within 9 months from the close of your first financial year. After that, annually within 6 months of FY end (i.e., by 30 September of the next FY).
You'll need to file all pending years' forms with cumulative late fees. The MCA status will show "ACTIVE non-compliant" or worse. Backlog clean-up is faster than waiting for a strike-off notice — start with the oldest year.
No — LLPs file Form 8 (Statement of Account & Solvency) and Form 11 (Annual Return). Different forms, simpler compliance, lower fees.
No. AOC-4 and MGT-7 both require certification by a practising CA / CS / CMA — their DSC is mandatory on the form.
When you might want a hand
The forms themselves are mechanical, once your books are clean. Where founders typically need help: drafting board minutes and the Board's Report, coordinating between auditor + CS + practising CA for the four interlocked filings, and putting a yearly calendar reminder system in place so this isn't a panic in September every year.
Want fully-managed ROC compliance?
We track due dates, draft minutes, prepare statements, DSC-sign, file. Fixed annual fee. No surprises.