Written by the firm · updated regularly
The Audit Trail.
Our working notebook - short notes, technical updates and field observations on internal audit, financial due diligence, FEMA, international tax and GST.
All
Internal Audit
Financial DD
International Tax
FEMA
GST
Companies Act
Advisory
International Tax · NRI
The RBI FCNR "leverage" scheme: why the real number is 14%, not 27%.
Influencers say 20 to 27%. Only SBI is live, the real return is about 14% before tax, and US residents keep even less.
Advisory · Industrial Policy
Viksit Gujarat Industrial Policy 2026: a promoter's guide to eligibility and incentives.
Who qualifies, how much of your capex comes back, and the decisions to settle before you commit.
Internal Audit · Cornerstone
Internal audit in India: a 2026 guide for promoters & audit committees.
What an internal audit is, why it matters, what a good IA function looks like, and how to brief your auditor.
Internal Audit
Internal audit, reframed.
Five years that changed how an audit committee should brief its internal auditor.
Internal Audit
IFC testing in India: what design effectiveness actually looks like.
A practical note on Internal Financial Controls testing - design vs operating effectiveness, sample sizes, common gaps.
Internal Audit
How to scope an internal audit for a mid-sized manufacturer.
The risk-universe exercise, calendar planning, data extracts. A real scoping memo, walked through.
Internal Audit
Reports promoters actually read: a structure that works.
Why short reports beat long ones. The one-page executive summary, observation to root cause to recommendation, in a fixed grammar.
Internal Audit
Data analytics in internal audit: replacing sampling with full populations.
When and how to run analytics on the full GL, vendor master, employee master. Tooling-agnostic, evidence-led.
Internal Audit
The audit committee calendar: what to ask your IA, when.
A 12-month calendar for an audit committee chair. What to expect quarterly, what red flags to push back on.
Financial DD · Cornerstone
Financial due diligence in India: a buyer's and seller's field guide.
The full FDD process, from buy-side QoE to sell-side packs to pre-IPO readiness. When you need each, and what to ask for.
Financial DD
Quality of earnings in a 4-week buy-side review: our approach.
How we structure a QoE. Adjustments, non-recurring items, pro-forma EBITDA, evidencing.
Financial DD
Vendor / sell-side due diligence: a primer for first-time sellers.
Why a vendor DD pack tightens negotiations, what it contains, and how it differs from buy-side.
Financial DD
Working capital normalisation: how we compute the target.
The 12-month trailing average vs seasonality-adjusted methods, exclusions, deal-doc drafting.
Financial DD
Net debt and debt-like items: what acquirers add back.
The deal-stage cheat sheet. What is debt, what is debt-like, what is a provision vs a reserve.
Financial DD
Red-flag reports: the 5 issues we look for first.
Revenue cut-off, related-party leakage, capex vs opex, contingent liabilities, working-capital window-dressing.
FEMA · Cornerstone
ODI filing in India: a practical guide (2026).
The post-2022 ODI framework: OPI vs ODI, reporting timelines, Form FC, RBI master directions, decoded.
FEMA
ECB structuring: the checklist before you raise.
Eligible borrowers, recognised lenders, all-in cost ceiling, hedging, end-use restrictions, conversion to equity.
FEMA
FDI in India: which sector caps actually bite in 2026.
Auto-route vs approval-route by sector, recent press notes, the common reporting traps.
FEMA
Compounding under FEMA: how to apply, what to expect.
When compounding is needed, the application, RBI's approach, typical penalties by contravention.
International Tax
DTAA application for foreign remittances: a decision tree.
Step-by-step. When does DTAA apply, MFN clause, beneficial ownership, TRC requirements.
International Tax · Cornerstone
Transfer pricing under the Income Tax Act, 2025.
What's required, benchmarking studies, safe harbour thresholds, ALP issues to watch for.
International Tax
Withholding tax on software and SaaS payments: the live issues.
Royalty vs fees-for-technical-services, recent Supreme Court and ITAT positions, practical compliance.
International Tax
Taxation of non-residents: NRO, NRE, FCNR demystified.
What income is taxable in India, repatriation, surcharge and cess, common NRI planning mistakes.
GST · Cornerstone
GST health check: 7 most-missed input tax credits in manufacturing.
The seven ITC categories we keep finding unclaimed in factory-floor companies. Anonymised examples and how to claim.
GST
Input tax credit on construction services: the open questions.
Section 17(5) blocked credits, the Safari Retreats fallout, what's still being litigated.
GST
E-invoicing in 2026: turnover triggers and practical issues.
Current thresholds, IRN flow, B2C QR code, common error codes and how to fix them.
Companies Act
Related-party transactions: documenting audit committee approval.
Section 188, the audit-committee approval matrix, omnibus approvals, disclosure templates that work.
Companies Act
CSR rules: what changed in 2026.
Latest amendments, computation, unspent CSR account, common reporting errors.
New notes are published every week. To suggest a topic, write to info@dsomani.in.
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