This page is a complete features reference for the CA Practice Management template. It covers all functional areas, every record type, entity categories handled, and all user roles with their access boundaries.
User Roles
| Role | Who | Access Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| CA Partner | Senior partner or proprietor of the firm | Full access to all modules; approves GST returns, ITR filings, ROC forms, board minutes, and invoices; views all firm-level analytics and reports |
| CA Manager | Practice manager or senior associate | Creates and manages engagements and leads; assigns work; submits filings for review; generates obligations; runs billing; files returns after partner approval |
| CA Staff | Junior associates and articled assistants | Prepares all filings; logs time; starts and submits compliance tasks; manages document requests; cannot edit engagement settings or billing |
| CS Executive | Company Secretary in the firm | Handles ROC filings, board meetings, secretarial audits, and statutory registers; read-only access to engagement details |
| System Administrator | IT administrator or office manager | Maintains tax configuration, compliance task templates, user accounts, and system settings; no access to client filing data |
| CA Client | Client (company or individual) | Portal-only access to their own data: uploads documents, e-approves income tax returns, views filings and notices, views and pays invoices |
Entity Categories Handled
| Entity Type | Compliance Heads Covered |
|---|---|
| Private Limited Company | Income Tax (ITR-6), GST, TDS, ROC (AOC-4, MGT-7, DIR-3 KYC, ADT-1), Board Meetings, Secretarial Audit |
| One Person Company (OPC) | Income Tax (ITR-6), GST, TDS, ROC (AOC-4, MGT-7) |
| Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) | Income Tax (ITR-5), GST, TDS, ROC (LLP-11, LLP-8, Form 8) |
| Partnership Firm | Income Tax (ITR-5), GST, TDS |
| Proprietorship | Income Tax (ITR-3/4), GST, TDS |
| Individual / HUF | Income Tax (ITR-1/2/3/4), GST (if registered), TDS (if deductor) |
| Trust / AOP / BOI | Income Tax (ITR-7), applicable TDS |
| Startup | Income Tax, GST, TDS, ROC (if incorporated), DPIIT registration filings |
Features by Module
1. Client Pipeline and Lead Management
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Lead creation | Capture prospect name, entity type, contact details, and services sought in a single record |
| Pipeline stages | Six-stage progression: New, Contacted, Qualified, Proposal Sent, Won, Lost |
| Lead source tracking | Nine lead source types: Website Enquiry, Client Referral, Professional Referral, Directory Listing, Inbound Call, Walk-in, Tender/RFP, Networking, Cross-sell |
| BANT qualification | Four structured fields: Expected Fee, Decision Maker, Services Sought, and Statutory Deadline |
| Lead activity log | Dated log of every interaction: calls, meetings, emails, proposals, site visits |
| Lost reason capture | Mandatory reason field before a lead can be saved as Lost; prevents accidental closure |
| Won-lead conversion | Converts a won lead to a CA Engagement with PAN/GSTIN deduplication check |
| Duplicate prevention | System checks for an existing engagement with the same PAN or GSTIN before creating a new one |
| Idle lead alert | In-app reminder when a lead has no activity for 14 days |
| Follow-up date field | Next Follow-up date field with reminder notification when the date arrives |
| Pipeline analytics | Conversion rate chart and lead-by-stage count visible to CA Partner |
2. Client Engagements
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto-naming | Engagements named automatically in CA-ENG-YYYY-##### format |
| Client identity section | PAN, GSTIN, CIN, DIN, ROC Status, and Company Type in one place |
| Engagement type setting | CA Only / CS Only / Both - controls which statutory forms are applicable |
| Compliance flags | Is GST Registered and Is TDS Deductor checkboxes that drive obligation generation |
| Fee structure | Retainer Fee, Hourly Rate, and Billing Frequency (None / Monthly / Quarterly) per engagement |
| Fee structure notes | Free-text field for billing exceptions and special terms |
| Portal access control | Per-engagement portal enable/disable with contact email and phone |
| GST portal credential hint | GST Username and Password Hint fields (reference only; full credentials go to Vault) |
| Last filing dates | Last GST Filing, Last ROC Filing, and Last ITR Filing dates that feed the Health Score report |
| Form applicability table | Auto-derived list of applicable statutory forms with frequency override, default assignee, and active flag per row |
| Re-derive applicability | One-click refresh of the form applicability table after registrations or entity type change |
| Generate Annual Package | Back-fills a full financial year of obligations for the engagement; idempotent |
| Reminder channel | Per-engagement reminder channel: Email, WhatsApp, or SMS |
| Reminder opt-out | Suppresses client-facing reminders without stopping internal tracking |
| Engagement lifecycle | Three states: Active (obligations generated), On Hold (paused), Inactive (ended) |
| Auto-obligation generation | Creating an Active engagement immediately triggers compliance task, GST tracker, and ROC filing creation |
| Engagement workspace section | Active engagement count, company type chart, portal-enabled list, at-risk filing date list |
3. Compliance Task Management
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Compliance task auto-generation | Obligation engine creates tasks for all applicable forms at the start of each period |
| Manual task creation | CA Manager or CA Staff can create one-off tasks outside the standard calendar |
| Task auto-naming | Tasks named automatically in CTASK-YYYY-##### format |
| Status workflow | Five statuses: Pending, In Progress, Review Pending, Filed, Archived; two side-states: Overdue, Waived |
| Start Work action | Moves task from Pending to In Progress; triggered by CA Staff |
| Submit for Review action | Moves task from In Progress to Review Pending; notifies CA Manager |
| Mark as Filed action | CA Manager records Filing Date and Acknowledgement Number; moves task to Filed |
| Reject action | Returns task from Review Pending to In Progress with Remarks note to staff |
| Archive action | Moves filed tasks to Archived status; excluded from active views and report counts |
| Waived status | CA Manager marks a task Waived (with partner approval) for genuine exemptions; stops reminders |
| Penalty Risk field | Auto-calculated daily estimate: Penalty Per Day rate from template multiplied by days overdue |
| Acknowledgement Number | Mandatory field when marking as Filed; records the authority-issued filing reference |
| Attachment field | Store the filed return, acknowledgement receipt, or challan on the task record |
| Priority field | Low, Medium, High, Critical; tasks within 3 days of due date should be set to Critical |
| Remarks field | Free-text visible to both assignee and reviewer throughout the workflow |
| Compliance Task Templates | Master records defining form number, recurrence, due date formula, penalty per day, reminder days, and applicable company types |
| Statutory Form Catalogue | Library of approximately 62 statutory forms with compliance head, periodicity, due date rule, penalty rule, and chaining logic |
| Auto-assignment | Tasks assigned by form-specific default assignee or round-robin across CA Staff and CS Executive role holders |
| Manual reassignment | CA Manager can override assignment from the task record or in bulk from the Command Centre |
| Obligation chaining | Filing a task automatically creates the next in the sequence (e.g. 26Q Q3 files, Q4 task is created) |
| Reminder cadence | Automated reminders at T-7, T-3, T-1, due day, then weekly overdue; each reminder logged to prevent duplicates |
| Partner escalation | Tasks overdue by 7+ days trigger a high-priority to-do for the CA Partner automatically |
| Command Centre | Firm-wide view of all overdue and due-soon tasks, GST returns, ROC filings, notices, and open leads; supports bulk reassignment |
| Compliance Tasks workspace shortcut | Orange shortcut tile for one-click access to the task list from the workspace home |
4. Income Tax Computations
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Multi-entity computation | Supports individuals, HUFs, partnership firms, LLPs, private limited companies, and trusts |
| All heads of income | Salary, House Property, Business and Profession, Capital Gains, and Other Sources |
| Chapter VIA deductions | All sub-sections including 80C, 80D, 80G, 80TTA, 80TTB |
| Old vs new regime comparison | Automatic comparison with recommended regime highlighted |
| Surcharge calculation | Computed automatically based on income level and applicable surcharge band |
| Health and education cess | Computed at 4% on tax plus surcharge; updates when tax changes |
| Marginal relief | Calculated where applicable to prevent surcharge from exceeding incremental income |
| Interest under 234A | Interest for late filing of return |
| Interest under 234B | Interest for shortfall in advance tax paid |
| Interest under 234C | Interest for deferment of advance tax instalments |
| Late fee under 234F | Late filing penalty applied automatically for returns filed after the due date |
| Tax Audit (Form 3CD) | Auto-generated from the linked income tax computation when section 44AB threshold is crossed; all 3CD clauses pre-populated |
| Advance Tax Planner | Estimates quarterly advance tax instalments; generates bulk Excel MIS across all clients |
| Client approval track | Separate approval status: Draft, Computed, Pending Client Approval, Approved, Filed |
| Client e-approval | Client reviews and approves their computation via the portal using OTP or DSC |
| E-Signature record | Tamper-proof record capturing approval method, document hash, and timestamp |
| Filing record | Created on completion with acknowledgement number and ITR-V attachment |
| Tax Configuration master | Annual slab, surcharge band, and rebate data stored as configurable records; updated each budget year without code changes |
| Income Computation Summary report | Firm-wide view of ITR status, taxable income, total tax, and net payable or refund for all clients this assessment year |
5. GST and Indirect Tax
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| GST Return Tracker | Tracks preparation, review, approval, and filing for every GST return type per client per period |
| GSTR-1 management | Monthly and quarterly outward supply return tracking |
| GSTR-3B management | Monthly and quarterly summary return tracking |
| GSTR-9 management | Annual return tracking |
| GSTR-9C management | Reconciliation statement tracking for applicable businesses |
| GSTR-4 management | Annual return for composition scheme dealers |
| CMP-08 management | Quarterly statement-cum-challan for composition dealers |
| GST Return workflow | Five-stage workflow: Data Prepared, Submitted for Review, Partner Approved, Filed, Archived |
| ITC Reconciliation | Compares Input Tax Credit available in GSTR-2B against ITC recorded in books |
| Mismatch flagging | Differences exceeding Rs. 1,000 flagged as Mismatch; within tolerance flagged as OK |
| GSTR-3B filing block | Reconciliation must be cleared before GSTR-3B can move to Approved status |
| GSTR-1 to GSTR-2B chaining | Filing GSTR-1 automatically creates the GSTR-2B follow-up task |
| GSTR-3B period chaining | Filing GSTR-3B automatically creates the next period’s tracker |
| GST Return Tracker workspace shortcut | Purple shortcut tile for one-click access from the workspace home |
| GST/TDS Reconciliation Summary report | Firm-wide ITC mismatch table with Mismatch/OK flag per client per return period |
6. TDS and TCS Returns
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Form 24Q management | Quarterly TDS return for salary deductions |
| Form 26Q management | Quarterly TDS return for non-salary deductions |
| Form 27Q management | Quarterly TDS return for deductions from payments to non-residents |
| Form 27EQ management | Quarterly TCS (Tax Collected at Source) return |
| Deductee line entry | Captures deductee PAN, section, amount paid, and TDS deducted per line |
| Challan deposit validation | Matches TDS deducted against challans deposited to prevent under-deposit notices |
| Late filing fee tracking | Section 234E fee calculated and displayed for overdue TDS returns |
| Form 16 issuance task | Auto-created when Form 24Q is filed; prompts staff to generate and issue salary TDS certificates |
| Form 16A issuance task | Auto-created when Form 26Q or 27Q is filed; prompts staff to generate non-salary TDS certificates |
7. ROC and Company Law
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| ROC Filing management | End-to-end workflow for MCA/ROC statutory forms |
| AOC-4 filing | Annual financial statement filing with attachment management |
| MGT-7 filing | Annual return filing with shareholder and director details |
| ADT-1 filing | Auditor appointment form management |
| DIR-12 filing | Director appointment and resignation form management |
| DIR-3 KYC filing | Annual director KYC verification management |
| LLP-11 filing | Annual return for LLPs |
| LLP-8 filing | Statement of account and solvency for LLPs |
| MGT-14 filing | Filing of special and ordinary resolutions with the ROC |
| ROC Filing workflow | Five-stage workflow: Drafted, Review, Client Approval, Filed, SRN Received |
| SRN recording | Service Request Number field mandatory before closing an ROC filing |
| Board Meeting records | Tracks AGMs, EGMs, postal ballots, committee meetings |
| Meeting notice dispatch | Records date and mode of notice dispatch to board members |
| Quorum tracking | Confirms quorum achieved before proceeding to agenda |
| Agenda management | Structured agenda items with resolution text |
| Minutes management | Draft and final minutes with version history |
| SS-1 compliance | Secretarial Standard 1 compliance fields for board meetings |
| SS-2 compliance | Secretarial Standard 2 compliance fields for general meetings |
| MGT-14 auto-trigger | Filing task created automatically when minutes are approved where resolutions require registration |
| Secretarial Audit | Structured area-by-area checklist for section 204 audits; includes qualifications and observations |
| Secretarial Audit report | Final report attachment and filing workflow for listed and large companies |
| Statutory Registers | Maintains and versions MGT-1 (Members), Directors and KMP, Charges, Contracts and RPT (MBP-4), Loans, and Investments |
8. Notices and Assessments
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Notice creation | Tracks statutory notices from Income Tax, GST, TDS, and ROC authorities |
| Authority tracking | Records which authority issued the notice and the section or reference number |
| Response deadline | Tracks the deadline by which the firm must respond |
| Demand amount | Records the tax demand or penalty amount stated in the notice |
| Hearing date management | Multiple hearing date entries with outcome notes |
| Final outcome | Records the final resolution: Favourable, Partially Favourable, or Adverse |
| Notice workflow | Three stages: Received, Response Drafted, Filed, Closed |
| Client-visible notices | Notices marked as client-visible appear in the client’s portal |
| Partner escalation | Notices approaching their response deadline escalated to CA Partner |
9. Document Management, DSC, and Credentials Vault
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Document Request auto-creation | Created automatically when a compliance task is generated; uses per-form checklist template |
| Document checklist | Per-form list of required documents pre-loaded from the template |
| Status auto-update | Open, Partially Received, Received status updates automatically as client uploads documents |
| Version history | Every uploaded document retains its full version history |
| Client portal upload | Client uploads documents directly from their portal into the firm’s document request queue |
| Manual document request | Can be created independently from a compliance task by CA Staff or CA Manager |
| Document Status report | Outstanding document requests sorted by due date with days overdue |
| DSC tracking | Tracks class, serial number, validity period, and holder for every Digital Signature Certificate |
| DSC auto-status update | Status (Active, Expiring Soon, Expired) refreshed automatically every day |
| DSC Expiry Alert report | Lists all DSCs expiring within a configurable window (default 60 days) sorted by days remaining |
| Portal Credentials Vault | Encrypted storage of GST portal, MCA21, and income tax e-filing credentials per client |
| Vault access restriction | Credentials hidden in list views; only CA Managers and CA Partners can reveal them |
| E-Signature record | Records OTP or DSC-based client approval with method, document hash, and timestamp |
| E-approval required gate | ITR cannot be marked as Filed by the manager until the client’s e-approval is recorded |
10. Time Tracking and Billing
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Time Log creation | Staff log date, hours, activity type, and billable flag against each compliance task |
| Billable flag | Each time log line marked billable or non-billable; only billable hours go to invoices |
| WIP visibility | Work in progress view showing unbilled hours per client and per staff member |
| Staff utilisation tracking | Total hours vs billable hours per staff member for a period |
| Billing Engine | Generates GST-compliant Sales Invoices for retainer and time-and-materials engagements |
| Retainer billing | Monthly or quarterly fixed-fee invoices generated automatically on schedule |
| Time-and-materials top-up | Unbilled billable hours automatically added as line items to the retainer invoice |
| Duplicate invoice protection | Idempotent billing: running the billing job twice in a month never creates a duplicate invoice |
| Draft invoice review | Draft invoice reviewed by CA Manager, submitted by CA Partner |
| GST on professional fees | Invoices include correct SAC code and GST rate for professional services |
| Invoice on client portal | Filed invoice visible to the client in their portal billing section |
| Online invoice payment | Clients pay online through Razorpay if the payment gateway is configured |
| Revenue vs Effort Analysis report | Revenue per billable hour by engagement; top 10 clients bar chart |
11. Workspace, Dashboard, and KPIs
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Computations Filed card | Real-time count of income tax computations filed this month |
| Pending Filing card | Count of computations in Computed status awaiting filing |
| Open Document Requests card | Count of all open document requests across all clients |
| Active Engagements card | Total active client engagements for capacity planning |
| Compliance Tasks by Status chart | Donut chart: split of all tasks across Pending, In Progress, Filed, Overdue, and other statuses |
| Computations by Status chart | Bar chart: ITR filing season progress by Draft, Computed, and Filed counts |
| Statutory Forms shortcut | Green shortcut tile to the CA Statutory Form catalogue list |
| Computations shortcut | Blue shortcut tile to the CA Income Computation list |
| Engagements shortcut | Cyan shortcut tile to the CA Engagement list |
| Compliance Tasks shortcut | Orange shortcut tile to the CA Compliance Task list |
| GST Returns shortcut | Purple shortcut tile to the CA GST Return Tracker list |
| Leads shortcut | Pink shortcut tile to the CA Lead list |
12. Reports and Analytics
| Report | Business Question Answered | Primary Users |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance Ageing | Which tasks are overdue and by how many days? Shows Penalty Risk per task and a donut chart of firm health. | CA Manager (daily), CA Partner (weekly) |
| GST/TDS Reconciliation Summary | Where do ITC figures in the books differ from GSTR-2B? Mismatch/OK flag per client per period. | CA Staff (before filing), CA Manager (before submission) |
| Penalty Avoidance | How much penalty did the firm save clients this period? Rupee-denominated penalty avoided and penalty paid per task. | CA Partner (client reviews), CA Manager (team performance) |
| Revenue vs Effort Analysis | Which clients generate the best revenue per hour of staff time? Revenue per billable hour by engagement. | CA Partner (quarterly fee review before renewals) |
| Client Compliance Health Score | Which clients are at risk? Five-dimension score (Filing, ITC/GST, ROC, Meeting, KYC) with Green/Amber/Red bands. | CA Partner (monthly), CA Manager (client visit prep) |
| Income Computation Summary | What is the ITR status and tax position for every client this assessment year? | CA Manager (ITR season monitoring), CA Partner (progress view) |
| DSC Expiry Alert | Which Digital Signature Certificates expire within the next 60 days? | CA Manager (weekly), CA Partner (renewal decisions) |
| Document Status | Which document requests from clients are still outstanding and how overdue are they? | CA Staff (daily follow-up), CA Manager (portfolio review) |
13. Automation Engines
| Engine | What It Does | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Obligation Engine | Generates compliance tasks, GST Return Trackers, and ROC Filing records for all active engagements at the start of each period. Idempotent: re-running never creates duplicates. | Daily |
| Reminder Engine | Sends client deadline reminders at T-7, T-3, T-1, due day, then weekly overdue. Respects each client’s preferred channel (Email, WhatsApp, SMS) with in-app fallback. Each reminder logged to prevent duplicates. | Daily |
| Escalation Engine | Creates a high-priority to-do for the CA Partner when any obligation is more than 7 days overdue with no filing action taken. | Daily |
| DSC Status Engine | Refreshes the status (Active, Expiring Soon, Expired) of every Digital Signature Certificate record. | Daily |
14. Client Portal
| Feature | Who Uses It | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | CA Client | Client’s own compliance status and pending actions at a glance |
| Task queue | CA Client | View tasks assigned to them; approve income tax return |
| ITR Review and e-approval | CA Client | Review the computation memo and e-approve using OTP or DSC |
| Notices view | CA Client | View notices the firm has marked as client-visible |
| Filings view | CA Client | See all filed returns, ITR acknowledgements, and ITC status |
| Document upload | CA Client | Upload requested documents directly into the firm’s document request queue |
| Document version history | CA Client | View all uploaded versions of a document |
| Downloads | CA Client | Download filed returns, computation memos, and certificates |
| Billing view | CA Client | View all issued invoices with amount and GST breakdown |
| Online payment | CA Client | Pay invoices online via Razorpay (if configured) |
| Self-service profile | CA Client | Update contact details and preferred reminder channel |
| Onboarding checklist | CA Client | Complete the initial onboarding steps as a new client |
| Support request | CA Client | Raise a support request to the firm |
| Command Centre | CA Staff, CA Manager, CA Partner | Firm-wide view of all overdue/due-soon obligations; supports bulk task reassignment |
| Deadlines calendar | CA Staff, CA Manager | Calendar view of all upcoming filing deadlines across the firm |
| Practice MIS | CA Partner | Filings donut, risk-ranked client list, and management information summary |
| Utilisation and WIP | CA Partner | Staff hours, billable utilisation, and work in progress |
| Compliance Heatmap | CA Partner | Visual calendar heatmap of all upcoming deadlines |
| Staff Workload view | CA Partner | Task load per staff member; identifies overloaded team members |
| Firm Overview | CA Partner | Top-level summary of the firm’s compliance status |
Summary Counts
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| User roles | 6 |
| Entity types handled | 8 |
| Statutory forms in catalogue | ~62 |
| Functional modules | 14 |
| Built-in reports | 8 |
| Automated engines | 4 |
| Workflow types | 5 |
| Total record types | ~45 |