The Silent Drop-Off Problem Here’s something I’ve watched play out hundreds of times at ProfitBooks. A small business owner signs up for an accounting software trial. They’re motivated. They’ve finally decided to move past spreadsheets. They log in, see the dashboard, glance at a few menu items… and close the tab. They never come back.…
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“Why is GST different on this invoice compared to last month?” I’ve watched small business owners freeze when they hear this question. The calculation is correct. The compliance is perfect. But the customer’s confused—and now there’s a 15-minute phone call explaining something that should’ve been clear from the start. Here’s what most businesses miss: GST…
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Your pitch deck was flawless. The chemistry call went better than expected. They loved your case studies, nodded at your rates, and verbally committed to the retainer. Then you sent the invoice. Radio silence for 47 days. Here’s the uncomfortable truth I’ve seen play out dozens of times: high-ticket clients (the ones cutting $25K+ checks)…
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I opened my email last Tuesday to find a client’s panicked message: “My GSTR-3B shows ₹47,000 due, but I only collected ₹52,000 in GST. Where did I go wrong?” She hadn’t gone wrong. She’d just confused tax collected with tax liability—a mix-up that trips up even seasoned business owners during their third year of GST…
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I remember sitting across from a freelance graphic designer last year who’d just received a notice for advance tax penalties. She’d earned ₹12 lakhs, paid zero quarterly instalments, and genuinely believed “tax filing happens in July.” The ₹18,000 penalty felt like a punch—not because she tried to dodge taxes, but because no one explained how…
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You’re staring at your accounting software. Profit shows ₹2 lakhs for the month. Your bank balance? ₹47,000. Something doesn’t add up, and honestly, this confusion has torpedoed more startups than bad products ever have. Here’s the straight answer: Yes, cash is an asset—specifically, a current asset. It’s an economic resource your business owns that provides…
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I’ve reviewed hundreds of small business P&Ls over the last decade, and here’s what surprises me every time: founders can tell me their monthly revenue down to the dollar, but ask them about their operating income, and I get this nervous laugh followed by “Uh, that’s after expenses, right?” Close. But not quite. Here’s the…
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I remember the first time a client called me in panic. “Mohnish, the MCA portal rejected my company registration. Something about DIN not matching. What even is a DIN?” This happens more than you’d think. Here’s the thing: DIN—Director Identification Number—is the first compliance step most founders encounter, yet it’s where 40% of incorporation delays…
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You’re three months into your startup. Revenue is trickling in. You’ve got five SaaS subscriptions charging different cards, a contractor billing you in USD, and payment gateway settlements landing in your account two days after customers pay. Your co-founder just Venmo’d you for that AWS bill they covered. And now your investor wants to see…
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