IPO Advisory Services — What to Get Right Before You Start
Going public is the single largest disclosure, governance, and financial-reporting event most Indian companies ever undergo. At PNPC Global, we prepare companies for that transition — restating financials to Ind AS, closing governance gaps, coordinating the merchant banker, legal counsel, and Registrar, and standing behind the numbers that go into the Draft Red Herring Prospectus. We are practising Chartered Accountants, not listing agents chasing a mandate fee: our role is to make sure the company is actually ready before SEBI, the stock exchanges, and public shareholders start asking questions.
What This Actually Covers
IPO Advisory is the end-to-end professional engagement through which a Chartered Accountancy firm prepares a company for an Initial Public Offering and supports it through the SEBI filing, exchange listing, and post-listing compliance process. An IPO in India is governed principally by the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2018 (ICDR Regulations), the Companies Act 2013, and the listing agreements of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE Limited. The process is led by one or more SEBI-registered Merchant Bankers (Book Running Lead Managers, or BRLMs), who are legally responsible for due diligence and the accuracy of the offer document — but the underlying financial readiness, restated financial statements, internal control certification, and coordination of the audit trail is where a CA firm's role is indispensable and sustained across the full runway an IPO requires.
For the full scope, current process and what PNPC includes, see the dedicated IPO Advisory Services service page.
Signs This Applies to You
- Your Board and promoters have decided, in principle, to pursue a public listing and need an honest readiness assessment before appointing a merchant banker
- Your financial statements have never been prepared under Ind AS and need restatement for three years to meet SEBI ICDR disclosure requirements — a workstream that takes considerable time and is easy to underestimate
- Your Board composition, Audit Committee, and related-party transaction governance do not yet meet the independence and structure requirements that SEBI LODR will require once listed
- You have already appointed a merchant banker and need a CA firm to lead financial due diligence, restated financial preparation, and coordinate responses to SEBI's DRHP observations
What This Doesn't Cover
- You need a standalone business valuation for an internal purpose (ESOP pricing, shareholder buyout, fundraising round) without any current intention to list — engage PNPC's dedicated Business & Share Valuation service directly, which is narrower in scope and cost
- Your company is pre-revenue or in very early growth stage and a listing is several years away at best — Startup vCFO Services or Fund Raising Advisory for private capital is the more relevant engagement right now
- You are raising a private equity or venture capital round rather than public capital — Debt Syndication & Equity Fund Raising Advisory addresses that process directly
Questions We're Actually Asked
What exactly does PNPC do in an IPO — are you the merchant banker?
No. The Book Running Lead Manager (BRLM) role — leading the issue, managing the offer document process end-to-end, and taking statutory responsibility for the offer document under SEBI ICDR Regulations — is performed by a SEBI-registered Merchant Banker, which PNPC is not licensed to be. Our role is the financial and governance readiness workstream: Ind AS restatement, internal financial controls, related-party transaction cleanup, and coordinating the financial sections of the DRHP with the BRLM's team. Most successful IPOs need both roles working in close coordination.
How long does the IPO process actually take from decision to listing?
For a Main Board IPO starting from a private company that has never reported under Ind AS and has an underdeveloped governance framework, the timeline is longer and depends on the case. Companies that already report under Ind AS with reasonably mature governance can move faster. SME IPOs are typically shorter, given simplified disclosure requirements. The single biggest variable is the Ind AS restatement and internal financial controls build-out — not the SEBI filing process itself.
What is a DRHP and why does it matter so much?
The Draft Red Herring Prospectus is the primary disclosure document filed with SEBI and made public simultaneously. It contains three years of restated financial statements, management discussion and analysis, complete related-party transaction history, litigation disclosures, risk factors, capital structure history, and the basis for the offer. It is scrutinised by SEBI, analysed by institutional investors, and forms the legal basis on which retail investors decide to subscribe. Every material fact must be accurate — misstatement or material omission can expose the company and its officers to regulatory action and civil liability.
Getting This Right From the Start
If your Board is seriously considering a public listing in the next one to three years, the most valuable next step is not appointing a merchant banker — it is an honest readiness diagnostic. Talk to PNPC Global before you commit to a timeline you may not be ready to meet.
PNPC Global has advised Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad businesses since 1986. Explore the full Corporate Finance practice for related services, or go straight to the IPO Advisory Services page for specifics.
Specific rates, fees, thresholds and deadlines are set by the relevant authority and change over time — this article deliberately does not quote figures that could go stale. Confirm current numbers directly with PNPC or the official source before you act.