Internal Audit Services in Ahmedabad for Owner-Managed Businesses

Who it's for

This is for the owner who still signs the cheques but no longer sees every transaction: the distributor with stock in several godowns, the manufacturer in Vatva or Odhav GIDC buying from dozens of suppliers, the family business where the next generation now runs purchase. It also suits companies whose board wants an outside review between statutory audits, and companies that section 138 of the Companies Act requires to have an internal auditor. If stock never quite matches the books, or payments go out without clear approval, a periodic internal audit shows you where the gaps are.

What's included

• Purchase-to-payment checks: purchases approved by the right person, goods received in the quantity billed, agreed rates applied, each bill paid once.
• Sales-to-collection checks: every dispatch invoiced, discounts and credit notes approved, credit limits followed, payments received in the business bank account.
• Stock verification: a physical count of selected items at your godown or factory, matched to the stock register and the books, with differences traced.
• Receivables and payables ageing: who owes you, whom you owe and for how long, with old balances and unadjusted advances flagged.
• Expense and cash controls: surprise cash counts, petty cash, staff claims, and payments to new vendors or related parties checked against approvals.
• Statutory compliance checks: GST, TDS, PF and ESI deposited correctly and on time, with matching returns filed and the cost of any delay worked out.
• A written report to the owner or the board: each finding with its evidence, risk, fix, person responsible and target date, followed up at the next review.

Documents required

• Accounting data for the review period: a Tally backup or read-only access to your software.
• Bank statements for every business account, the cash book and petty cash records.
• Purchase orders, goods received notes or inward registers, supplier bills and payment approvals.
• Sales orders, delivery challans, invoices, credit notes and receipt records.
• Stock registers, godown-wise stock statements and the last physical count sheets.
• GST returns, TDS challans and returns, PF and ESI challans, and the salary register.
• Written approval limits, if any, and observations from earlier audits.

Typical timeline

The first review takes the longest. It starts with a meeting to understand how your business really runs: who orders, who receives goods, who approves bills and who releases payments. We then agree the areas to cover and the period to test. For a business with one or two locations, the first review usually takes a few weeks from the start of fieldwork to the draft report, stock count included, depending on how quickly records come in. Later reviews follow the cycle you choose, and each one opens with the action points from the last report.

Why Ahmedabad businesses work with us

Our office is in Parswanath Chambers on Ashram Road, near New Reserve Bank at Income Tax, but most of the work happens at your premises. We work with businesses across Ahmedabad, and take on reviews elsewhere in India when most of the testing can be done from records online. Stock and cash counts need someone on site, sometimes without notice, which is easier with a firm in the same city, and meetings to go through a draft report are fixed in advance. The senior partner has more than 15 years of experience in accounting and tax, the other partner more than five. The firm also handles bookkeeping, GST, TDS and payroll, the same areas an internal audit tests.

Frequently asked questions

Is internal audit compulsory for my business?

Only for some companies. Section 138 of the Companies Act, 2013 and rule 13 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 require every listed company to appoint an internal auditor. So must a private company that, in the previous financial year, had turnover of ₹200 crore or more, or loans and borrowings from banks or public financial institutions of ₹100 crore or more at any point. Unlisted public companies face those two tests and two more: paid-up share capital of ₹50 crore or more, or deposits of ₹25 crore or more at any point. The board appoints the internal auditor by resolution at a board meeting. Producer companies follow a separate section, 378ZF, and some regulators set their own rules, such as RBI for many NBFCs and SEBI for stock brokers. Proprietorships, partnership firms, LLPs and smaller companies have no legal requirement, though a bank or investor can still ask for one.

How often should an internal audit be done?

Where the rule applies, the audit committee or the board sets the frequency, scope and method in consultation with the internal auditor. Otherwise it depends on how fast money and stock move. Fast-moving stock, heavy cash sales or several locations justify a quarterly review; a smaller, steadier business may manage with two a year.

How is an internal audit different from the statutory audit?

A company's statutory audit ends in a report to the members (the shareholders) on whether the financial statements give a true and fair view, as section 143 of the Companies Act, 2013 requires. An internal audit reports to the owner or the board on how the business runs, with findings and fixes rather than an opinion on the accounts. One does not replace the other, and section 144 of the Act bars a company's statutory auditor from providing internal audit services to it, its holding company or its subsidiary.

Will an internal audit catch fraud?

It can find the gaps that make fraud easy and turn up its signs: a bill paid twice, a supplier nobody can trace, goods billed but never received, cash sales that never reached the bank. It is not a guarantee. The audit tests samples and relies on the records it is given, so it lowers the risk rather than ruling it out. If something looks deliberate, we tell the owner or the board directly.

Who can carry out an internal audit?

Where section 138 of the Companies Act, 2013 applies, the board appoints a chartered accountant, a cost accountant or another professional it decides on to carry out the internal audit. The rules allow an individual, a partnership firm or a body corporate, and the person may be an employee of the company or an outsider. A chartered or cost accountant need not be in practice. The company's statutory auditor cannot do it. Outside section 138, the Act sets no qualification, so the owner or board decides.

Tell us on WhatsApp which numbers don't add up, and we will suggest where to start.

Send your line of business, the number of locations and the accounting software you use. Documents can wait until the scope is agreed.