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Razorpay Rize

7 resources from Razorpay Rize we point founders to, and the questions each answers.

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✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it The India edge on paper. It states plainly that "equal splits are often unfair," then does what the US pieces skip: it turns our tie-breaker advice into an actual clause set for an Indian Pvt Ltd or LLP, voting protocols, deadlock provisions, and mediation/arbitration for when two founders lock horns, plus the 4-year, 1-year-cliff vesting. A handshake 50/50 is not a founders agreement; this shows you what the document that prevents the deadlock actually contains under Indian contract law.

How to Draft a Co-founders Agreement: A Complete Guide

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 12 min read

  • A written agreement, not a verbal 50/50, is what encodes your tie-breaker: voting rights, deadlock clauses, and arbitration
  • Define roles (who is CEO with the final call) up front to prevent the power struggles that stall decisions
  • Bake in vesting, good/bad leaver terms, and IP assignment so a departing cofounder can't hold the cap table hostage
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Answers How should my co-founder and I split equity, and is 50/50 a mistake?
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Why we picked it Once you have decided a key hire gets an ESOP grant and not co-founder shares, this is the India-specific playbook for actually doing it: pool sizing (5% to 15%), the mandatory one-year minimum vesting the Companies Act imposes, exercise price at fair market value, and the DPIIT-recognised-startup carve-outs. It is the practical alternative to over-granting equity, written for the Indian cap table you are actually running.

ESOPs / Employee Stock Option Plans: Structuring for Early Startups

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 15 min read

  • Carve a 5% to 15% ESOP pool and grant a key hire from it instead of founder-level shares
  • Indian law mandates a minimum one-year gap between grant and first vesting; a four-year vest with a one-year cliff is standard
  • DPIIT-recognised startups get specific ESOP exemptions, so recognition status changes what you can grant and to whom
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Answers What's the difference between a co-founder and an early key hire, and how do I decide which I need? As a solo founder, how much equity should I give the first employee or advisor who is helping me before I can pay a salary? How do I make a compelling offer and close a candidate who has a competing offer from a big company?
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✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the piece that settles the 'do I really need an auditor from day one' question with a hard yes: it states plainly that every Pvt Ltd must have its financials audited annually by an ICAI-registered CA regardless of size or turnover, and that the first auditor is appointed by the board within 30 days of incorporation. It also separates the tax-audit turnover thresholds (1 crore, or 10 crore for digital transactions) from the mandatory statutory audit, which is exactly the distinction founders confuse. From Razorpay Rize, so it is written for Indian startup founders, not generic.

Auditing Requirements of a Private Limited Company in India

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 12 min read

  • Statutory audit by a CA is mandatory for every Pvt Ltd from day one, revenue or not, with the first auditor appointed within 30 days of incorporation (then ratified by shareholders for a five-year term).
  • Only Chartered Accountants holding an ICAI Certificate of Practice can sign your statutory audit, and they must be independent of the company.
  • It walks through the ROC forms tied to audit (ADT-1 for auditor appointment, AOC-4, MGT-7) and typical fee ranges (25,000 upwards), so you know what to budget.
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Answers Do I really need a company secretary, a CA, and an auditor for a Pvt Ltd, and when?
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✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it The India-specific counterpart to the Delaware question, from Razorpay's own founder-incorporation arm. It confirms a Pvt Ltd is fully filable yourself on the MCA portal without a CA, that platforms bundle drafting plus government liaison for less than a traditional CA's fee, and then names the exact cases where you actually need a professional: foreign directors, funding-grade financial projections, and multi-state or international GST and tax compliance.

Do You Need a CA to Register a Company in India?

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 9 min read

  • No step of Pvt Ltd incorporation legally requires a CA; the MCA portal lets founders file SPICe+ directly
  • A CA or CS becomes essential for complex structures: foreign directors, LLPs, cross-border tax, or investor-grade projections
  • DIY means owning the legal and financial nuances yourself, so the platform or CA fee is often cheap insurance against a filing error
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Answers Should I use an incorporation service like Clerky, Stripe Atlas, or an Indian filing platform, or hire a lawyer directly?
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Why we picked it Where the ClearTax piece is the hiring checklist, this Razorpay Rize guide gives you the whole compliance surface your first hire sits inside: it states the PF threshold (20+ employees earning below Rs 15,000/month), the ESI trigger (10+ employees), TDS with quarterly returns, and, crucially for a first employee, the contracts-and-IP section that spells out NDAs plus IP assignment clauses so the work belongs to the company. It connects the employment paperwork to the MCA, tax, and cap-table obligations a founder is juggling at the same time.

Startup Compliance Guide: What Every Founder Should Know

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 15 min read

  • PF is mandatory at 20+ employees earning below Rs 15,000/month; ESI kicks in at 10+ employees, so know exactly which threshold you are near before you promise anyone a start date
  • NDAs and IP assignment clauses are called out as core startup compliance, this is how you keep an early hire's work from leaving with them
  • Payroll TDS and EPFO/ESI filings are recurring obligations, not one-time registrations, so set the cadence up front
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Answers What paperwork and compliance do I need in place before my first employee's start date in India?
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✓ Link checked India Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the India-specific answer to which HR and payroll tools founders actually run: it names Keka, Zoho People, and Darwinbox as the real HRMS choices and puts the software step where it belongs (after you have written policies, not before). It also flags the statutory triggers that force a tool on you (PF, ESIC, gratuity, the POSH Act at 10-plus people) so you buy for a legal reason, not for a dashboard.

HR Policies: Best Practices For Start-Ups In India

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 14 min read

  • Keka, Zoho People, and Darwinbox are the Indian HRMS names to know; pick one only once policies exist and headcount justifies it
  • POSH compliance becomes mandatory at 10-plus employees, and PF/ESIC/gratuity obligations are what actually pull you into payroll software
  • The setup order is define goals, draft policies, set up payroll and compliance, then buy software, not the reverse
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Answers What tools does a 5 to 20 person startup actually need, and what am I overspending on?
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✓ Link checked India Free Intermediate

Why we picked it Before you shop for a payroll provider, this tells you which compliance obligations that provider has to cover: PF at 20-plus employees, ESI at 10-plus (state-varying), TDS and Professional Tax, plus a monthly/quarterly/annual filing calendar. It is the buyer's checklist for choosing between RazorpayX Payroll, Zoho Payroll, or Keka, because the only payroll tool worth paying for is the one that files all of these on time.

Labour Laws in India for Private Companies

From Razorpay Rize by Razorpay Rize 16 min read

  • PF kicks in at 20 employees and ESI at 10 (state-dependent), so your payroll tool must handle both thresholds automatically
  • Payroll and wages are the most audited and litigated area of Indian labour law, so timely PF/ESI/TDS filings matter more than any feature
  • Two offices in different states can carry very different obligations, which is a real reason to run one compliant payroll system rather than spreadsheets
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Answers What tools does a 5 to 20 person startup actually need, and what am I overspending on? How do I set up basic HR and statutory compliance in India without a full HR hire?