Setting the Scene India’s retail inflation has been on a steady upward trajectory through 2026. After dipping to multi-year lows in late 2025, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation has risen for several consecutive months, from around 2.7% in January to 4.45% by July 2026, with food inflation running even higher at over 5.5%. Rural India, where food and fuel account for a larger share of…
For decades, tax practice followed a predictable rhythm: gather documents, enter numbers, cross-check them against the previous year’s return, research grey areas, and hope filing season ends before burnout does. That rhythm is now changing, not because the tax code has become simpler, but because artificial intelligence is quietly transforming how the work gets done. This transformation is not merely about automation; it is about…
A balance sheet is often regarded as the most important financial statement of a business. While many business owners naturally focus on sales, revenue, and profits, the balance sheet tells a much deeper story about the financial strength and stability of the business. It provides a clear snapshot of the company’s financial position at a given point in time by answering three important questions: Understanding…
Every business generates financial data, but not every business transforms that data into meaningful business intelligence. While many organizations prepare financial statements as part of their statutory obligations, far fewer develop meaningful Financial MIS reports. The difference often determines how quickly management can identify challenges, capitalize on opportunities, and make informed decisions. In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations generate vast amounts of financial data every…
With GST 2.0’s rate rationalisation largely complete, the GST Council is now turning its attention to a far more complex, but equally significant issue that has quietly strained the finances of businesses across India — the accumulation of Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the Inverted Duty Structure (IDS). As the Council prepares for its 57th meeting, expected in late July or August, government sources indicate…
The statutory audit is often perceived as an annual compliance requirement. However, for a well-managed finance function, it should represent the outcome of disciplined accounting, systematic documentation, timely reconciliations, and robust internal controls maintained consistently throughout the financial year. One of the primary statutory audits get delayed is not the complexity of accounting matters but inadequate preparation. Missing documents, unreconciled balances, unsupported journal entries, and…
With the financial year now concluded and the annual audit season underway, businesses are primarily focused on finalising their financial statements and completing the statutory audit. Alongside the financial audit, this is also the ideal time to undertake a comprehensive review of GST compliance to ensure that all GST-related matters pertaining to the previous financial year are appropriately addressed before the statutory deadlines expire. The…
Before the insertion of section 139(8A), the Income-tax Act did not provide taxpayers with any mechanism to voluntarily disclose additional income once the prescribed time limit for filing a revised return had expired. The absence of such a remedial provision discouraged voluntary corrections and limited taxpayers’ ability to rectify genuine mistakes. Recognizing this practical challenge, the Government introduced a significant compliance-oriented reform through the Finance…
Global conflicts have increasingly demonstrated that economic boundaries are far more porous than geographical ones. India, the world’s third-largest economy by purchasing power and one of the fastest-growing major economies, does not exist in isolation from global geopolitical developments. As 2026 has starkly demonstrated, conflicts thousands of kilometres away — particularly in West Asia — can ripple through Indian petrol pumps, stock exchanges, export terminals,…
As a business owner, revenue growth is often viewed as the ultimate measure of success. However, as operations expand, so does the complexity of managing financial processes and with it, the risk of control gaps. Businesses that continue to rely on informal oversight mechanisms, intuition-driven decision-making, or excessive dependence on a single individual for financial management may inadvertently expose themselves to material errors, inefficiencies, and…
