The triangle every Indian SME sits inside
If you are running a sub-₹5 Cr turnover Indian business, you have three options for finance and compliance, and all three have visible flaws:
- A bespoke CA firm. Senior partner attention, deep judgement, but priced for ₹20+ Cr companies. Most SMEs end up under-served because the engagement economics don't fit.
- A Big Four / mid-tier firm. Excellent for audit, transaction work, and tax controversy. Not interested in monthly compliance retainers below ₹50 lakh of fee. Often refers SMEs out.
- An accounting software platform. Software-only solutions — Zoho Books, ProfitBooks, ClearTax-style platforms — are fast and inexpensive, but brittle the moment a real CA judgement call is needed. Tax classification, GST place of supply, transfer pricing on related-party transactions, statutory audit prep: none of these are software-solvable problems.
numbrs sits in the gap. It is the productised, lower-priced sibling of BCL India — a 35-year-old full-service consultancy with 1,000+ clients across India and the UAE, 350+ team members, and eight partners across tax, FEMA, international taxation, and transaction structuring.
Same standards, different economics
Over 35+ years across India and the UAE, BCL has built a deep operating playbook — how to close monthly books cleanly, how to handle statutory deadlines without missing one, how to prepare books to audit standard, how to handle payroll for 10–30 person teams without manual reconciliation drift. That playbook was designed for bespoke engagements with bespoke fees.
numbrs takes that exact playbook and runs it through a productised delivery model:
- Three tiers, transparent monthly fees (₹10K / ₹15K / ₹20K + GST)
- Software included (Zoho Books or Tally + Payroll)
- Unlimited transactions, no metering
- A structured delivery team (manager + team lead + executives) trained on BCL Group standards
- AI-augmented routine work to keep cost-to-serve low
The trade-off is honest: you don't get a senior partner on every weekly call. You get a senior partner setting the standards, supervising the team, and stepping in for the edge cases. For a 9–30 person SME that is the right level of attention.
Why "Human + AI" actually matters here
The phrase is overused in the market. The way numbrs uses it is concrete:
- AI handles the routine: bank reconciliation, transaction categorisation, anomaly flagging, deadline tracking. Tools we've calibrated on years of CA work.
- Humans handle the judgement: tax positions, GST classification, audit-ready treatment, statutory ambiguity. Reviewed by a senior team member trained on BCL Group standards.
- You get both at one fee: the combination compresses internal cost, which we pass through as the numbrs price-point.
Most "AI accounting" tools are software-only — fast and cheap but break on judgement. Most traditional firms run on pure manual effort — capable but operationally stretched. numbrs is neither.
Where numbrs fits and where it doesn't
We are direct about this because mismatched engagements are bad for everyone.
numbrs is built for: sole proprietors, partnerships, LLPs, and private limited companies up to 30 employees and roughly ₹5 Cr turnover. First-time founders, SMEs, freelance consultancies, small e-commerce brands.
numbrs is not built for: statutory audit (we prepare for it but don't sign), complex tax controversy and appeals, M&A and deal advisory, transfer pricing studies, FEMA-heavy advisory, listed-company secretarial work. For these, we route you to BCL India's full-service practice or to an appropriate independent specialist.
What's actually included
Every numbrs plan includes accounting and bookkeeping in Zoho Books or Tally, monthly close, bank reconciliation, payroll processing (up to 9/19/30 employees by tier), PF/PT/ESI labour compliance, TDS computation and quarterly returns, annual ITR filing, GST monthly returns (Grow and Advanced), audit-ready documentation, and a software licence. Full plan comparison. Add-on services like 15CA/CB, ROC filings, trademark registration, and incorporation are quoted separately.
How to evaluate the fit
If you can answer "yes" to all four of these, numbrs is the right partner:
- You're under 30 employees and below ₹5 Cr turnover
- You want predictable monthly fees over hourly billing
- You're willing to work with a delivery team supervised by partners, rather than partners directly
- You want one team handling accounting, payroll, GST, TDS, and labour compliance under one contract
If you fit, book a free 30-minute consultation. A team member will walk you through the plan that fits your stage and answer onboarding questions. Response within 24 working hours.