Annual Filing for Companies and LLPs: AOC-4, MGT-7, Form 8 & 11

What Does Annual Filing Mean?

Every company and LLP registered in India has to report its financial position and basic particulars to the Registrar of Companies once every year. This yearly reporting is what people usually call annual filing. It is built around two submissions. The first is the financial statements, together with the reports that go with them. The second is the annual return, which describes who owns and runs the entity and what it did during the year. The legal basis for companies lies in Sections 92, 129, 134 and 137 of the Companies Act, 2013, and for LLPs in Sections 34 and 35 of the LLP Act, 2008.

Annual filing is narrower than overall ROC compliance. It does not cover event-based filings such as share allotments or director changes, which arise during the year. It deals with the two year-end submissions that nearly every entity must make, whatever its size.

Annual Filing for Companies

A company makes two main filings after its Annual General Meeting.

• Form AOC-4: the filing of financial statements. It carries the balance sheet, the statement of profit and loss, the cash flow statement where applicable, notes to accounts, the auditor's report and the Board's report with its annexures. Companies with subsidiaries or associates attach consolidated statements and the related statement, and certain classes of companies file in XBRL format.
• Form MGT-7 or MGT-7A: the annual return. MGT-7 applies to companies in general, and the shorter MGT-7A applies to One Person Companies and small companies. The return reports the registered office, principal business activities, holding, subsidiary and associate companies, the shareholding pattern, details of promoters, directors and key managerial personnel, meetings held and, where applicable, remuneration and penalties. For companies above the thresholds set in the rules, the annual return has to be certified by a practising company secretary.

The timelines run from the AGM. The financial statements are generally filed within 30 days of the AGM and the annual return within 60 days of the AGM. If the AGM is not held in time, the law provides a different reference date for the financial statements and additional fees apply, so holding the meeting on schedule keeps the whole chain on track.

What Goes into the AOC-4 Filing Set?

• Audited financial statements, signed by the directors and the auditor, with the approval date.
• The auditor's report, including any reporting under the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, where applicable.
• The Board's report with the statements and disclosures that Section 134 requires, such as the directors' responsibility statement, related-party disclosures and, where applicable, CSR and energy or foreign exchange information.
• Details of the AGM date and the financial year for which accounts are adopted.
• Consolidated financial statements and the statement on subsidiaries, if applicable.

The data you enter in the form must agree with the signed documents attached. A mismatch between the form data and the attachments is one of the most common reasons for a form to be returned or for a notice to follow later.

Annual Filing for LLPs

• Form 8 (Statement of Account and Solvency): reports assets, liabilities, income and expenses, with a solvency declaration by the designated partners. It is filed once a year within the time the rules provide, generally by the end of October for an LLP with a 31 March year-end. LLPs above the prescribed contribution or turnover limits also have their accounts audited.
• Form 11 (Annual Return): reports the partners, designated partners, contribution and other particulars. It is generally due within 60 days of the close of the financial year.

An LLP has no AGM, so the dates run from the financial year itself. This makes annual filing for an LLP date-driven, and it is easy to miss when the LLP is inactive.

Why the Filing Must Reconcile with Other Records

The MCA filing is not an isolated document. The turnover and profit in AOC-4 should agree with the income tax return, the turnover in the GST annual return and the books of account. The shareholding in MGT-7 should match the register of members and any share transfers or allotments filed during the year. Director details should match the DIN records. Where these do not agree, the explanation should be on file. We check these points before filing because the department compares across systems and discrepancies tend to resurface in scrutiny or due diligence.

What Our Annual Filing Service Includes

• Applicability check: which forms apply to your entity type, size and financial year.
• Review of the audited accounts and checking that the figures and signatures are in order for filing.
• Drafting or checking the Board's report, AGM notice and minutes, so that the filing set is complete.
• Preparation and filing of AOC-4 and MGT-7 or MGT-7A, with XBRL where required, for companies.
• Preparation and filing of Form 8 and Form 11 for LLPs.
• Coordination of digital signatures of directors, auditor and professional.
• Calculation of the ROC filing fee and any additional fee for delay, shared with you before payment.
• Acknowledgements (SRN), filed copies and a note of the next due dates.

How the Process Works

You start by sharing the signed or draft audited financial statements and the key dates, namely the date of the board meeting that approved the accounts and the AGM. We review them against the checklist for your entity type and send you a list of any points to be fixed before filing. After the AGM, we prepare the forms and attachments and share the data with you for approval. Directors and the auditor sign digitally, and we file the forms and pay the fees on the MCA portal. The acknowledgement and the filed copies are then shared with you. The filing is not complete until the portal confirms it, and the Registrar can raise a query or return the form for correction, which we handle.

If Filing Is Late or Years Are Missing

Additional fees accrue for each day of delay and can grow beyond the normal filing fee. Directors of a company that has not filed for three continuous financial years can be disqualified. When several years are pending, we prepare the filings in the sequence the portal accepts, calculate the additional fees year by year and advise on the order of payment. Relief is available only when the government announces a scheme, and we do not promise any waiver.

Important Considerations

• Filing before the AGM is not allowed for AOC-4 and MGT-7, since both refer to the AGM date.
• The auditor's appointment and report must be in place. A late audit pushes the whole schedule.
• Filings are public. Anyone can purchase them from the MCA site, so check the content carefully.
• Notices from the ROC, compounding and strike-off revival are separate services.