What to Do After OPC Registration: Your First-180-Days Checklist
The Certificate of Incorporation is the starting line, not the finish. A handful of deadlines kick in the moment your OPC is born — and one of them carries a ₹50,000 penalty if you miss it. Here's everything to tick off, in order.
Most founders frame and forget the Certificate of Incorporation — then discover months later that the company was supposed to do several things in its first weeks. Some of these are simple housekeeping. One, Form INC-20A, is a hard 180-day deadline you legally cannot trade without, and missing it triggers a heavy penalty plus strike-off risk. Work through the list below and you stay clean from day one.
The 10-second verdict
Within 30 days: open the bank account, deposit capital, appoint your auditor. Within 60 days: issue the share certificate. Within 180 days: file INC-20A. Then the yearly compliance clock starts. None of it is hard — it just has to actually happen, on time.
Sole Proprietorship vs OPC, on the things that actually decide it
Eight dimensions a solo founder weighs before formalising. On mobile, tap to switch columns.
Honest CA note: an OPC is not automatically more tax-efficient. At low profit, a proprietor often keeps more cash because of the personal slab and rebate. OPC wins on protection, continuity and credibility — not on tax.
Form INC-20A: the ₹50,000 deadline hiding in plain sight
Every company with share capital must file this declaration of commencement of business within 180 days of incorporation. It's short — but the cost of forgetting is anything but.
That the member has paid in the subscribed share capital, evidenced by a bank statement, and that the registered office is verified.
Within 180 days of incorporation. It must be certified by a practising CA, CS or Cost Accountant.
₹50,000 on the company and ₹1,000 per day on every officer in default — and the Registrar can move to strike the company off.
You also cannot legally begin operations or borrow until INC-20A is filed. Open the bank account early, get the capital in, and file it — don't let it drift toward day 180.
Two things you don't have to do that other companies must
No formal board meetings (if you're the only director)
Where an OPC has a single director, the board-meeting rules are relaxed — it's enough to enter each decision in the minutes book, signed and dated. If your OPC has two or more directors, you hold at least one board meeting in each half of the calendar year, with a gap of at least 90 days.
No Annual General Meeting
An OPC is exempt from holding an AGM. That changes a few due-date mechanics — your annual filings are pegged to the close of the financial year rather than to a meeting date, which we map out next.
After OPC registration: what founders ask us
Open the company's current bank account, deposit the subscribed capital, and appoint your first statutory auditor — all within 30 days. The bank account is also what lets you file INC-20A later.
It's the declaration that you've received your share capital and that your registered office is verified — the legal green light to start operating. It's due within 180 days of incorporation. Miss it and the penalty is ₹50,000 on the company plus ₹1,000 per day on each officer, with strike-off risk.
Yes. The company issues a share certificate to its sole member within 60 days of incorporation, with the applicable state stamp duty paid. It's the legal proof of ownership.
No. Where an OPC has a single director, formal board meetings aren't required — you simply record each decision in the minutes book, signed and dated. With two or more directors, you hold at least one board meeting in each half of the calendar year, at least 90 days apart.
No. An OPC is exempt from holding an AGM. Its annual filings are timed from the close of the financial year instead of from a meeting date.
The recurring set is AOC-4 and MGT-7A with the ROC, a mandatory statutory audit, DIR-3 KYC by 30 September, and the ITR-6 income tax return — plus DPT-3 where applicable. We'll run your OPC compliance end-to-end so none of it slips.
Just registered? Let's get the first 180 days right
Send us your incorporation details and a practising CA will set up your auditor, share certificate, INC-20A and the full annual calendar — so nothing is missed and no penalty ever lands. Transparent, all-in pricing.
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