What to do first: ask for a line-item quote tied to the proposed company type, authorised capital, registered-office state, subscriber/director profile and post-incorporation scope. A low headline price is not a complete budget.
Scope: India. MCA forms and state stamp duty can change; the live MCA portal and the written professional engagement control.
Current official check:MCA’s SPICe+ and linked-filings FAQs separates Part A name reservation from Part B incorporation and linked forms. The quote should identify which filings, stamp duty, DSCs and post-incorporation tasks are included rather than hiding them under “government fees.”
Do not buy the headline price
A company-registration advertisement is not a budget. The final amount depends on the entity type, state stamp duty, authorised capital, number of subscribers and directors, document quality, professional scope, and registrations needed after incorporation.
Ask every provider to separate these buckets:
- government portal and statutory charges
- state stamp duty
- digital-signature costs
- professional fees
- taxes on professional services
- optional registrations or licences
- post-incorporation work
- annual compliance
Choose the structure before estimating cost
A private limited company, one-person company, LLP, partnership, and proprietorship have different ownership, liability, fundraising, tax, governance, and compliance consequences. The cheapest registration is not automatically the cheapest structure to operate.
Write down:
- number and residency of owners/directors
- whether outside investment is expected
- desired liability protection
- expected turnover and employees
- regulated activities or licences
- state of registered office
- accounting and audit needs
Then ask a qualified adviser to explain the trade-offs in writing.
One-time cost checklist
Your quote may include or exclude:
- digital signatures
- name reservation or resubmission work
- incorporation forms and attachments
- memorandum and articles drafting
- state stamp duty
- PAN/TAN-related processing within the incorporation flow
- registered-office documentation
- professional certification
- courier, notarisation, translation, or apostille for special cases
- GST on professional services
Do not assume every line is a government fee. Ask the provider to identify the official receipt for each statutory charge.
Post-incorporation costs people miss
Budget for tasks that may follow incorporation:
- opening and maintaining the bank account
- bringing in subscribed capital correctly
- statutory registers, resolutions, and share documentation
- accounting software or bookkeeping
- payroll and labour compliance where applicable
- GST, professional tax, import-export, shop, sector, or local registrations where applicable
- annual financial statements and tax return
- auditor and company-secretarial work where required
- annual MCA filings and event-based filings
Deadlines and penalties can change. Build a compliance calendar from the official portal and your adviser’s written checklist instead of copying a generic table.
How to compare service providers
Request a fixed, itemised proposal showing:
- entity and state assumed
- number of directors/subscribers included
- government and stamp charges versus professional fees
- documents you must supply
- number of name attempts and resubmissions included
- whether drafting is customised or template-only
- whether bank, tax, and post-incorporation tasks are included
- expected exclusions and pass-through expenses
- who will sign or certify the forms
- refund policy if incorporation does not proceed
A quote that says “all inclusive” without listing assumptions is not transparent.
A safer process
- Verify the adviser’s identity and professional credentials.
- Search the proposed name and relevant trademarks before filing.
- Review every form and attachment before it is submitted.
- Never share an OTP or digital-signature token without understanding the filing.
- Download official acknowledgements and the certificate directly from the authorised system.
- Store the incorporation documents, registers, resolutions, and receipts in controlled company storage.
- Create a 12-month compliance calendar immediately.
Red flags
Avoid providers who:
- promise approval by a fixed date
- hide the entity or capital assumptions
- quote a token amount and reveal mandatory charges later
- ask you to sign blank documents
- propose a fake office address
- refuse official receipts
- downplay ongoing compliance
- use an unofficial lookalike portal
Price the fact pattern, not a package name
A useful quotation begins with assumptions. State the entity type, registered-office state, proposed authorised capital, number and nationality/residence of subscribers and directors, whether anyone already has a DIN/DSC, the nature of the objects, and whether the office is owned, rented or used with consent. Ask the professional to list what changes if any assumption is wrong. This turns a headline fee into an auditable scope.
The quotation should separate statutory filing or stamp amounts from professional fees and third-party tools. It should also state whether name resubmission, altered objects, notarisation/apostille, additional attachments, bank-account support or state registrations are included. Do not accept “all government fees included” without the form, basis and state assumption beside each amount.
Budget the first compliance cycle
Incorporation creates an entity; it does not finish governance. Put director KYC, books, tax/accounting setup, bank operation, required board/share records and recurring professional work on a calendar with an owner. The MCA DIR-3 KYC instruction kit shows why a cheap incorporation quote that ignores later director compliance is not a complete first-year budget. Ask for handover of the certificate, constitutional documents, filed forms, challans, PAN/TAN records, DSC custody rules and portal credentials; the company should not depend on one agent’s inbox to prove what was filed.
Official sources used
- MCA — SPICe+ and linked-filings FAQs — Supports the incorporation workflow, linked forms, dashboard steps and variable filing facts.
- MCA — DIR-3 KYC instruction kit — Supports the post-incorporation DIN KYC obligation and current form instructions.