Industry overview
What is shaping wood & timber
Wood, plywood, laminates and furniture are sold through a chain of influencers: carpenters, contractors, architects and dealers often decide the brand before the homeowner does.
- Carpenters and contractors heavily influence brand choice
- Dealers balance margins, credit and brand pull
- Sustainability and certified timber matter more to buyers
Client background
A timber and plywood trading company, working in Delhi NCR. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A timber and plywood trading company
- Sector
- Wood & timber
- Team engaged
- Finance & Accounts
- Services
- GST services, Accounting & bookkeeping, TDS services
Client challenge
The trader had received GST notices for mismatches in input tax credit and was unsure which supplier invoices were missing from its records.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: bringing GST compliance under control for a timber trading business.
- Design around the real needs of suppliers.
- Establish accurate, reconciled numbers management can rely on.
- Put a reporting and compliance rhythm in place that runs on time.
Target audience
The work focused on 300 suppliers.
- suppliers300
Audiences we typically reach in wood & timber
Carpenters and contractorsArchitects and interior designersDealers and distributorsHomeownersFurniture buyers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Delhi NCR. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured finance engagement: review the current process, set up controls, run the routine and report.
- 1Brief
- 2Compliance review
- 3Monthly reconciliation routine
- 4Insight
We reconciled purchase registers with auto-generated GST statements for past periods, identified missing supplier filings, prepared responses to notices and set up a monthly reconciliation and supplier follow-up routine.
GST servicesAccounting & bookkeepingTDS services
Sampling strategy
- suppliers
- 300
- Every ledger, entity and transaction stream in scope was covered, with sample-based checks during review.
Data collection
- Source documents, bank statements and ledgers were collected through a secure shared workspace.
Data quality & validation
- Maker-checker review on all entries
- Bank and ledger reconciliations
- Client approval before every filing or report
- Supporting documents kept for every figure
Data analysis
- Variance analysis against budget and prior periods
- Ratio and trend analysis
- Cash-flow view for management
Key findings
- A simple monthly routine prevented problems that had taken months to untangle.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: a simple monthly routine prevented problems that had taken months to untangle.
- Keep the monthly routine and review exceptions with management every period.
Business impact
- Notices were resolved with documentation, recoverable credit was identified, and monthly filings now go out after reconciliation rather than before.
Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Monthly MIS pack and reconciled books
- Compliance calendar and filings
- Continue the routine and review results every period.
- A natural follow-on question: how do homeowners judge quality?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.