# Personal CFO for Salaried Professionals in India > What a personal CFO does for a salaried professional through the year, from regime choice in April to ITR in July, the hours it takes, and how Kosh helps. Source: https://trykosh.com/compare/personal-cfo-for-salaried-professionals Compare - Kosh and doing it yourself # A personal CFO for salaried professionals Companies have a CFO watching every rupee and every deadline. A salaried professional has the same deadlines and usually nobody watching. Here's what the job involves through the year, what it costs you in hours, and how Kosh takes it on. Updated 25 October 2026Written by Kosh, so read with that in mind On this page[In short](#in-short)[Side by side](#side-by-side)[What a personal CFO actually does](#what-a-personal-cfo-does)[The salaried year, month by month](#the-salaried-year)[What it costs to do it yourself](#diy-cost)[How Kosh covers the job](#how-kosh-covers-it)[FAQs](#faq) **In short** - A salaried person's money year has a fixed rhythm: regime choice in April, declarations, proofs in January, advance tax on other income, ITR in July, plus appraisals, bonuses, cards and EMIs. - Doing all of it yourself carefully takes something like 30 to 60 hours a year, by our rough estimate, and the costly mistakes come from the months you skip. - Kosh does the CFO's routine work from your statements: sorting, leak-finding, tax under both regimes, goal plans and reminders. - It doesn't file returns or recommend specific investments. Use a CA or a SEBI RIA when you need those. ## Side by side Kosh Doing it yourself Regime choice in April Worked out from your real salary, rent and investments Calculator plus your own estimates Declarations and proofs Shows what you've already paid towards 80C, 80D and rent Hunt through statements and receipts Advance tax on other income Reminder before each instalment Remember 15 June, September, December and March ITR in July Summary of the year's income and deductions to file from or hand to a CA Assemble Form 16, AIS and statements yourself Card dues, EMIs, SIPs Email reminders and a Sunday digest Calendar alerts you set up Leaks and spending Found automatically from every statement Only if you track by hand Time Minutes a month to upload statements Roughly 30 to 60 hours a year, by our estimate Cost Free to start; Pro INR 2,000 a month or INR 19,999 a year Free, plus your time ## What a personal CFO actually does A company CFO doesn't do the accounting by hand. They keep the picture current, plan ahead, make sure nothing is missed and raise a flag before trouble. A personal CFO does the same for one person: knows where the salary goes, makes the tax choices on time, keeps cards and EMIs clean, and turns goals into monthly numbers. For a salaried professional the job runs on a calendar that repeats every year. Our [page for salaried professionals](/for/salaried-professionals) covers how Kosh fits that life. ## The salaried year, month by month FY 2026-27 runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Employers set their own declaration and proof deadlines. When What needs doing Free tools April Pick a regime for TDS with your employer. The new regime is the default; tell your employer if you want the old one. Review your salary structure. [Old vs new regime](/tools/old-vs-new-tax-regime-calculator), [salary breakup](/tools/salary-breakup-calculator), [in-hand salary](/tools/in-hand-salary-calculator) April to May Declare planned investments, health insurance and rent so TDS is right from the first payslip (old regime). [Section 80C](/tools/section-80c-calculator), [Section 80D](/tools/section-80d-calculator), [HRA exemption](/tools/hra-exemption-calculator) Appraisal season Work out what a hike or bonus means after tax, and decide where the extra goes before it's absorbed. [Salary hike](/tools/salary-hike-calculator), [tax on bonus](/tools/tax-on-bonus-calculator), [step-up SIP](/tools/step-up-sip-calculator) 15 June, 15 Sep, 15 Dec, 15 Mar Advance tax if your tax not covered by TDS is over INR 10,000, usually from FD interest, rent or capital gains. [Advance tax](/tools/advance-tax-calculator), [tax on FD interest](/tools/tax-on-fd-interest-calculator), [capital gains](/tools/capital-gains-tax-calculator) June to July Form 16 arrives. Check it against your AIS, then file your ITR by 31 July. [Income tax calculator](/tools/income-tax-calculator) January to February Submit proofs to your employer: rent receipts, 80C and 80D payments, home-loan certificates. [Rent receipt generator](/tools/rent-receipt-generator), [home loan tax benefit](/tools/home-loan-tax-benefit-calculator) By 31 March Finish tax-saving investments for the year if you're on the old regime. [ELSS](/tools/elss-calculator), [PPF](/tools/ppf-calculator), [NPS tax benefit](/tools/nps-tax-benefit-calculator) Every month Pay card bills in full, keep utilisation in check, watch EMIs and SIPs. [Card interest](/tools/credit-card-interest-calculator), [credit utilisation](/tools/credit-utilization-calculator), [loan prepayment](/tools/loan-prepayment-calculator) If the regime choice is the one you're least sure about, start with [old vs new regime for FY 2026-27](/learn/old-vs-new-tax-regime-fy-2026-27). Under the new regime, a salary of up to INR 12.75 lakh with no other income pays no tax, thanks to the INR 75,000 standard deduction and the rebate up to INR 12 lakh of taxable income. See [tax on a INR 12 lakh salary](/tools/income-tax-on-12-lakh-salary). ## What it costs to do it yourself None of these jobs is hard on its own. The cost is that there are many of them, spread across the year. Here's our rough estimate for someone doing it carefully, with one salary, two cards and a few investments. Your numbers may be higher or lower. Job Rough hours a year Tracking and sorting spending, 1 to 2 hours a month 12 to 24 Regime choice and investment declaration 2 to 4 Collecting proofs in January 2 to 4 Advance tax on other income, four instalments 2 to 4 Checking Form 16 and AIS, filing the ITR 4 to 8 Appraisal, bonus and goal planning 3 to 6 Card bills, EMIs, SIPs and renewals 6 to 10 Total Roughly 30 to 60 hours The bigger cost is what slips. Paying only the minimum on a card for a few months, missing an advance-tax instalment, or choosing a regime on a guess usually costs more than the hours. Our guides on the [credit card minimum due trap](/learn/credit-card-minimum-due-trap) and [advance tax](/learn/advance-tax-guide) show how. ## How Kosh covers the job - **The picture:** upload bank, card and investment statements; Kosh sorts every transaction and maps income, spending, debt and savings. - **The tax plan:** your tax under both regimes from real salary, rent and investments, with rules researched from official sources and kept dated and cited. - **The leaks:** forgotten subscriptions, card interest, delivery creep and idle cash, flagged as they appear. - **The calendar:** email reminders before card due dates, SIPs, renewals and tax deadlines, and a Sunday digest. - **The questions:** a chat CFO that answers with your own numbers, such as how much of a bonus you can put towards a goal. Kosh doesn't remove all of the work. You still download statements, submit declarations and proofs to your employer, pay any advance tax and file or hand over your return. What it removes is the sorting, the arithmetic and the remembering, which is where most of the hours, and most of the missed deadlines, come from. What it leaves to others: filing the return and handling notices ([see Kosh vs a CA](/compare/kosh-vs-chartered-accountant)), and recommending specific investments ([see Kosh vs a fee-only adviser](/compare/kosh-vs-fee-only-financial-adviser)). Our guide on [how to save tax on salary](/learn/how-to-save-tax-on-salary) covers the main levers if you'd rather do it yourself. [Free tool**Old vs new regime calculator**Find out which regime leaves you more money this year, and exactly how many more rupees of deductions the old regime would need to catch up.](/tools/old-vs-new-tax-regime-calculator)[Free tool**In-hand salary calculator**Turn a CTC offer into what actually lands in your bank account each month, after PF, gratuity, professional tax and income tax.](/tools/in-hand-salary-calculator)[Free tool**HRA exemption calculator**Work out how much of your house rent allowance is tax-free, which of the three limits applies to you, and how much stays taxable.](/tools/hra-exemption-calculator)[Free tool**80C calculator**Add up what already counts toward 80C, see how much of the INR 1.5 lakh limit is left, and what filling it would save at your slab.](/tools/section-80c-calculator)[Free tool**Advance tax calculator**Split this year's tax into the four advance-tax instalments, net of TDS, so you pay on time and avoid interest.](/tools/advance-tax-calculator)[Free tool**Tax on INR 20 lakh salary**A INR 20 lakh salary pays INR 1,92,400 in the new regime. On a 20 LPA CTC, that's about INR 1.29 lakh a month in hand.](/tools/income-tax-on-20-lakh-salary) ## Free tools to try first [Free tool**Old vs new regime calculator**Find out which regime leaves you more money this year, and exactly how many more rupees of deductions the old regime would need to catch up.](/tools/old-vs-new-tax-regime-calculator)[Free tool**In-hand salary calculator**Turn a CTC offer into what actually lands in your bank account each month, after PF, gratuity, professional tax and income tax.](/tools/in-hand-salary-calculator)[Free tool**Advance tax calculator**Split this year's tax into the four advance-tax instalments, net of TDS, so you pay on time and avoid interest.](/tools/advance-tax-calculator)[Free tool**80C calculator**Add up what already counts toward 80C, see how much of the INR 1.5 lakh limit is left, and what filling it would save at your slab.](/tools/section-80c-calculator)[Free tool**HRA exemption calculator**Work out how much of your house rent allowance is tax-free, which of the three limits applies to you, and how much stays taxable.](/tools/hra-exemption-calculator) ## Frequently asked questions What is a personal CFO? A personal CFO does for one person what a company CFO does for a business: keeps a current picture of the money, plans ahead, meets every deadline and warns before problems. It can be a person, your own habits, or software like an AI CFO that works from your statements. What financial deadlines does a salaried person have in India? The main ones are choosing a tax regime and declaring investments with your employer in April, advance tax on 15 June, 15 September, 15 December and 15 March if other income pushes your untaxed liability over INR 10,000, submitting proofs around January, finishing old-regime tax-saving investments by 31 March and filing your ITR by 31 July. How much time does managing personal finances take? By our rough estimate, a salaried person doing it carefully spends somewhere around 30 to 60 hours a year on tracking spending, tax choices, proofs, advance tax, filing and bill management. The bigger risk is missing a month, which is when costly mistakes like card interest happen. Can Kosh act as my personal CFO? Kosh does the routine work of a personal CFO from your statements: sorting spending, finding leaks, working out tax under both regimes, planning goals and reminding you before due dates. It doesn't file returns, handle notices or recommend specific investments. ## Sources - [Income Tax Department](https://www.incometax.gov.in/) Descriptions of other products come from their public websites as of 25 October 2026 and may have changed since. Kosh is our product. Product names belong to their owners. Kosh is an educational financial planning tool by Primedepth Labs. It is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and does not offer personalised investment advice, hold your money or execute trades. Markets carry risk; read scheme documents carefully and consult a registered adviser before acting. ## See what Kosh finds in your statements. Upload one bank or card statement. Kosh maps your money, works out your tax under both regimes and shows the one thing to fix first. It never asks for bank logins and can't move money. [Start free](/signup?via=compare-personal-cfo-for-salaried-professionals)