AOC-4: What It Is, When It's Due, and What Happens If You Miss It

What is AOC-4?

AOC-4 is the form used to file your company's annual financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). AOC stands for "Accounts." These financial statements include:

• Balance Sheet (as at 31 March)
• Profit & Loss Account (for the year ended 31 March)
• Cash Flow Statement
• Notes to Accounts
• Auditor's Report

All these documents must be prepared and certified by your statutory auditor (a CA) before they can be filed. You cannot file AOC-4 without completing your statutory audit first.

The deadline — and why it's easy to miss

AOC-4 is due within 30 days of your Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM itself must be held within 6 months of the financial year end — so by 30 September for a March 31 financial year.

This means the effective deadline is typically 30 October (30 September AGM + 30 days). But here's why founders miss it:

• The statutory audit takes 4–8 weeks after the financial year ends
• Auditors are busy from July to October — your CA may deprioritise small companies
• The AGM date can shift, moving the deadline
• Nobody sends you a reminder — not the MCA, not automatically

The penalty — ₹1,000/day, no cap

Under Section 137(3) of the Companies Act 2013, the penalty for not filing AOC-4 is ₹1,000 per day with no maximum limit. This compounds quickly:

• 30 days late: ₹30,000
• 90 days late: ₹90,000
• 6 months late: ₹1,80,000
• 1 year late: ₹3,65,000

This is the highest per-day penalty in the ROC compliance framework. MGT-7 is ₹100/day. AOC-4 is 10× more expensive per day.

What you need to complete AOC-4

Your CA needs these before they can file:

• All bank statements for the financial year
• All invoices and receipts (income and expenses)
• Previous year's audited financials (for comparative figures)
• Details of any loans, investments, or fixed assets
• Director's DSC to sign the filing digitally

Start collecting these by July 1 — don't wait until September. Auditors have many clients and the best ones get booked early.

AOC-4 vs MGT-7 — what's the difference?

Both are annual ROC filings but they contain different information:

• AOC-4: Financial statements — balance sheet, P&L, cash flow. Filed within 30 days of AGM.
• MGT-7: Annual return — shareholders, directors, share capital, meetings. Filed within 60 days of AGM.

Both are required. Neither replaces the other. Most CAs file them together.