K. S. Aiyar & Co.

Chartered accountants in Mumbai, K. S. Aiyar & Co. says it is the oldest accounting firm in India, tracing its start to Calicut in 1897 and its move to Mumbai in 1900. The firm is an independent member of LEA Global, and its clients are mainly large corporates that need audit, tax and advisory work across the country.

Audit, assurance and due diligence

Audit engagements include statutory and VAT work. Reviews ahead of an acquisition, along with investigations, sit within the audit and assurance practice, which the firm describes as a comprehensive professional service for large companies. Its assurance work is carried out on the basis of independence and professional standards.

Tax advice on direct, indirect and transfer pricing

The taxation practice gives consultancy and advice on direct tax and covers indirect taxation, including VAT. Transfer pricing and tax audit work are listed alongside the advisory work, so a company's domestic and cross-border tax questions can be handled by the same team.

Restructuring, valuation and advisory work

Advisory services include governance and risk management, business advice, corporate restructuring, corporate recovery, mergers and acquisitions, and valuation. The firm presents these as the means by which clients keep a business on course through periods of change.

Regulatory, legal and secretarial support

For international investors, the firm offers regulatory consulting, including advice on foreign exchange rules. It also provides legal and secretarial services, US GAAP restatement and general accounting support, and it lists personnel recruitment and management consulting among its other work.

Community work through a foundation and gallery

The firm supports community work. Its foundation is a joint venture with a US counterpart that connects sponsors with rural village children living below the poverty line, and it supports education for underprivileged children and skills training for villagers. Its premises include a gallery that displays and sells work by local and emerging artists, with the sales supporting the firm's charitable activities.

Head office in Mumbai and a practice carried forward

The head office is in Mumbai, with offices in Hyderabad and Chennai. The firm describes its approach with the phrase assurance across three centuries, meaning a practice carried forward from the nineteenth century, and it says its values have not changed with the times.