Due Diligence Services in India
Chartered Accountant for Due Diligence, Financial & Regulatory Review

Businesses typically look for a CA for due diligence at the exact moment a transaction turns serious: an NBFC takeover is on the table, an investor is entering or exiting, a funding round is closing, or a merger is being structured. That is precisely when an independent professional review matters most. Our due diligence work supports buyers, investors, and promoters across regulated and unregulated businesses, with particular depth in NBFC and financial-sector transactions.

This guide covers everything — what due diligence is, why a Chartered Accountant should lead it, when due diligence is required, how it differs from a statutory audit, and the step-by-step process we follow. It also connects with our focused pages on due diligence for investors and due diligence for exit support, so every side of a transaction is covered.

Due diligence is a structured, independent review of a company's financial health, regulatory compliance, legal standing, and operational practices, carried out before a transaction is signed. For NBFCs and other regulated entities, the review extends into RBI compliance, prudential norms, and governance standards. The objective is simple: give the decision-maker a true picture of the business before money or control changes hands.

A proper exercise ends in a due diligence report — a risk-classified document with impact analysis, actionable recommendations, and clear go / no-go insight, written for decision-makers rather than just auditors. Done well, due diligence is the difference between buying a business and buying its problems.

A Chartered Accountant for due diligence brings three things a generic checklist review cannot: the ability to read financial statements critically, working knowledge of the income tax, GST, ROC, and RBI frameworks the target operates under, and professional independence backed by ICAI standards. A CA does not merely confirm that documents exist — a CA tests whether the numbers, filings, and disclosures actually hold together.

This is why buyers, investors, and lenders routinely insist on a CA-led review before committing. Hidden tax demands, under-provisioned loans, related party leakages, and compliance defaults rarely announce themselves; they surface only when someone who knows where to look examines the books. When you hire a Chartered Accountant for due diligence, you are buying judgment — a professional opinion on the risks that matter, not a stack of photocopies.

If control, capital, or responsibility is changing hands, due diligence is not optional. In practice, a due diligence review is required for:

The scope is always tailored to the transaction and the risk profile — a lender's review differs from a buyer's, and an NBFC review differs from a trading company's.

Both are performed by Chartered Accountants, but they answer different questions. A statutory audit is a backward-looking, compliance-driven opinion on whether the financial statements present a true and fair view of a completed year, prepared under formats and standards fixed by law. Due diligence is a forward-looking, transaction-driven investigation: its scope is set by the deal, it digs into asset quality, tax exposure, compliance gaps, and the sustainability of earnings, and it ends in risk classification rather than an audit opinion.

That is why an audited balance sheet is never a substitute for due diligence. The audit tells you the accounts were prepared properly; due diligence tells you whether the business is worth buying, funding, or partnering with — and at what price. The two complement each other, but only one is designed to protect a transaction decision. We help you scope the right review before you commit.

A due diligence engagement follows a clear, structured path, and a typical review takes around two to four weeks depending on scope and data availability. Here is how our Chartered Accountants run the process, so you always know the next step.

Step 1 — Define the scope and objective: we identify the transaction — acquisition, investment, NBFC takeover, or funding — and tailor the due diligence checklist to its risk profile. Step 2 — Collect and organise the data: the document request list and data room cover financial statements, audit reports, ROC records, RBI correspondence, tax filings, contracts, and litigation. Step 3 — Perform the financial review: financial statements, asset quality and the loan book, capital adequacy and Net Owned Fund, revenue sustainability, expense structure, and cash flow stress indicators.

Step 4 — Review regulatory, legal, and tax positions: RBI compliance and licence conditions, prudential norms, ROC filings, shareholding and related party transactions, income tax, GST, and TDS exposures, and pending litigation. Step 5 — Assess operations and discuss with management: internal controls, documentation, the risk management framework, and clarifications on open findings. Step 6 — Deliver the report and recommendations: a risk-classified due diligence report with impact analysis, actionable recommendations, and go / no-go insight — followed by post-review support wherever the findings need fixing.

At N D Savla & Associates, our Chartered Accountants provide end-to-end due diligence services covering every dimension of the target:

Good diligence requires judgment, and judgment comes from experience with regulated entities. As a CA firm for due diligence with strong RBI-facing experience, we focus on the material risks rather than checklist reviews — we don't over-document; we surface what matters to the decision.

Clients choose us because the findings are clear, structured, and independent. You get a report written for decision-makers, strict confidentiality throughout the engagement, and continuity after the review — from transaction support and structuring to compliance correction and RBI approvals. Whether you need a Chartered Accountant for due diligence on a single acquisition or a partner across your entire investment pipeline, we make sure you know exactly what you are stepping into.