Accounting & Bookkeeping

What is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting?

Bookkeeping is the systematic recording of all financial transactions — invoices, receipts, payments, and bank entries. Accounting is the broader function: interpreting, classifying, and summarising bookkeeping data into financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow), ensuring compliance with accounting standards, and providing financial insights for decision-making. At OnlineTaxGuru, we provide both — your books are maintained daily/weekly, and monthly financial statements (the accounting output) are prepared and shared.

Why is monthly bookkeeping important?

Monthly bookkeeping enables: (a) Accurate GST return filing (GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B require invoice-level data); (b) Timely TDS compliance (TDS must be deducted at source on each payment); (c) Management decisions based on current financial position rather than year-end surprises; (d) Clean audit trail (statutory auditors find year-end bookkeeping unreliable and expensive to rectify); (e) Tax planning (quarterly advance tax requires accurate income estimate).

Can you maintain books for businesses with high transaction volumes?

Yes. Our team handles clients ranging from 50 to 50,000 transactions per month. For high-volume businesses, we implement systematic processes: API connections with payment gateways (Razorpay, PayU) for auto-import of receipts, Tally XML imports for bulk invoices, automated bank statement processing. Our CA supervision ensures accuracy regardless of volume.

What accounting software do you use?

We work on whichever software you prefer: Tally Prime (most common in India), Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online, Microsoft Business Central, Busy Accounting, Marg, or custom ERP systems. If you don't have software, we set up Tally Prime or Zoho Books — Zoho Books is GST-compliant and provides excellent integration with GSTN for return reconciliation. We provide read-only access to your books at all times.

Is my financial data secure with OnlineTaxGuru?

Absolutely. We use: cloud storage with AES-256 encryption, two-factor authentication on all portal access, non-disclosure agreements with all team members, role-based access (your accountant sees only your data), and regular security audits. We never share client financial data with third parties. For cloud accounting platforms (Zoho Books, QuickBooks), you retain admin access and can revoke our access at any time.

What financial reports do I receive monthly?

Standard monthly reports: (1) P&L Statement (revenue, expenses, net profit for the month and YTD); (2) Balance Sheet (assets, liabilities, equity as at month-end); (3) Cash Flow Statement (for businesses above ₹10 crore turnover); (4) Accounts Receivable aging (outstanding invoices); (5) Accounts Payable aging (vendor dues); (6) GST liability summary (matching GSTR-3B data); (7) Bank reconciliation statement. Customised reports available on request.