AOC-4 is the annual form for filing financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) under Section 137 of the Companies Act, 2013. It is one of the two mandatory annual return filings every company must make — the other being MGT-7 (or MGT-7A for small companies).
Filing AOC-4 late is expensive. The government fee multiplies by up to 12x for significant delays, and in cases of continued default, directors can face disqualification under Section 164(2).
Who Must File AOC-4?
Every company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 must file AOC-4 annually. This includes:
- Private limited companies
- Public limited companies
- One Person Companies (OPC)
- Section 8 companies (not-for-profit)
Companies that are required to prepare consolidated financial statements must also file AOC-4 CFS in addition to the regular AOC-4.
Due Date
AOC-4 must be filed within 60 days of the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
| Company Type | AGM Deadline | AOC-4 Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Private / Public (existing) | 30 September 2025 | 29 November 2025 |
| One Person Company (OPC) | No AGM required | 27 September 2025 (180 days from 31 March) |
| New company (first FY) | Within 9 months of FY end | 60 days after AGM |
Late Fee (Government Fee Multiplier)
The AOC-4 government fee is based on the company's authorised share capital. If filed after the due date, the additional fee is a multiple of the normal fee:
| Period of Delay | Additional Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to 30 days | 2× normal fee |
| 31–60 days | 4× normal fee |
| 61–90 days | 6× normal fee |
| 91–180 days | 10× normal fee |
| Beyond 180 days | 12× normal fee |
For a company with ₹1 lakh authorised capital, the base AOC-4 fee is ₹200. A filing 200 days late would attract a fee of 12 × ₹200 = ₹2,400 — plus the ₹200 base fee. For companies with higher capital, the numbers scale up significantly.
Use Leagully's free MCA fee calculator to compute the exact fee for your filing date and share capital.
Documents Required
- Audited Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Account (signed by the auditor and at least two directors)
- Cash Flow Statement (mandatory for all companies except small companies)
- Auditor's Report
- Board's Report with all required annexures (including MGT-9 extract for applicable companies)
- Statement of subsidiaries (Form AOC-1) if the company has subsidiaries
- DSC of the authorised director
Step-by-Step Filing Process on MCA V3
- Finalise and adopt the financial statements at the AGM
- Log in to mca.gov.in using the company's director credentials
- Navigate to e-Forms → Annual Filing → AOC-4
- Enter the CIN — the form pre-populates basic company details from the MCA database
- Enter financial data: authorised capital, paid-up capital, turnover, net profit/loss
- Upload the signed financial statements and auditor's report as PDFs
- Affix the DSC of the director and (if applicable) the company secretary
- Pay the government fee
- Submit — the SRN is generated and the portal confirms receipt
AOC-4 vs AOC-4 XBRL
Certain listed companies and large public companies must file financial statements in XBRL format using AOC-4 XBRL instead of the regular AOC-4. The threshold currently applies to:
- Companies listed on any recognised stock exchange in India
- Companies with paid-up capital of ₹5 crore or more, or turnover of ₹100 crore or more
Most private limited companies file the standard AOC-4 PDF form.
Common Mistakes That Lead to Rejected SRNs
- Mismatch between financial data and the uploaded PDF — the figures in the form must exactly match the audited statements. MCA's back-end verification flags discrepancies.
- Wrong financial year selected — AOC-4 is for the financial year ending 31 March; selecting the wrong year is a common error during December filings.
- Unsigned or undated auditor's report — the report must be signed and dated before the AGM date.
- DSC of the wrong director — the DSC must belong to a current director whose DIN is active.
- Missing AGM date — filing AOC-4 without entering the correct AGM date causes SRN rejection.
What Happens If You Miss the AOC-4 Deadline Entirely?
Beyond the fee multiplier, prolonged non-filing has serious consequences:
- The company's status on the MCA portal changes to Active (non-compliant)
- Directors become disqualified under Section 164(2) after 3 consecutive years of default — disqualified directors cannot be appointed to any company for 5 years
- The ROC can initiate strike-off proceedings under Section 248
Simplify AOC-4 Filing with Leagully
Leagully pre-fills AOC-4 from your company's live MCA data, calculates the correct government fee (including any late fee based on the filing date), generates the board resolution required for financial statement adoption, and submits directly to MCA V3 — reducing AOC-4 from a half-day process to a 10-minute review.