Reading the CA engagement brief

When a founder is ready to involve a CA they can share a CA Engagement Brief — a structured document that gives you everything you need to evaluate the case before committing to it. The brief is accessible via a shareable URL and is also emailed to you directly when the founder uses the "Email to CA" action.

How you receive the brief

There are two ways a brief reaches you:

• Email — the founder enters your email address and clicks Send. You receive an email with a direct link to the brief. No BenefitStack account is required to view it.
• Direct link — the founder copies the brief URL and sends it to you directly (WhatsApp, email, etc.).

The brief URL has the format /assessment/[id]/package/ca-brief. It is viewable by anyone with the link — you do not need to be logged in.

Company profile

The first section of the brief shows the company's key details:

• Legal name, entity type (Pvt Ltd, LLP, etc.), and stage (pre-revenue through scaling)
• Sector, state, annual revenue, and employee count
• Year of incorporation
• MSME / Udyam registration status and Udyam number (if registered)
• Startup India / DPIIT recognition status and DPIIT number (if recognised)
• CIN and GSTIN where available
• Diversity flags — Women-led and SC/ST founder badges, where applicable
• A free-text business description written by the founder explaining what the company does

Use this section to quickly assess whether the company falls within the eligibility window for the schemes listed, and whether the registration prerequisites (MSME, DPIIT) are already in place.

Founders and directors

Below the company profile, the brief lists individual founders and directors with:

• Full name and role (founder or director)
• Category (General, SC, ST, OBC, PwD) — relevant for reservation-based scheme eligibility
• Gender — relevant for women-led scheme criteria
• Shareholding percentage
• PAN (useful for identity cross-checks on portal forms)

Some schemes, particularly state-level grants and SIDBI programmes, require specific founder category information at the time of application. Confirm these details are correct before you file.

Matched schemes

The main body of the brief has one card per matched scheme on the CA-assisted track. Each card shows:

Scheme header

• Scheme type — grant, subsidy, tax benefit, loan guarantee, etc.
• Confidence level — High, Medium, or Low — based on how well the company's profile matches the scheme's published criteria
• Eligibility score — a numeric score out of 100 reflecting overall match quality
• Estimated benefit value — the estimated disbursement amount based on the company's profile and the scheme's benefit formula
• Expected timeline — typical processing time from application to disbursement
• Ministry — the government body administering the scheme

Eligibility explanation

A plain-language summary of why the system matched the company to this scheme — the specific criteria met, the factors that contributed to the score, and any conditions that may affect eligibility.

Document status

A two-column checklist showing documents already uploaded by the founder and documents still needed. Each missing document includes:

• What the document is and why it is required
• A practical tip for obtaining or preparing it (e.g. "Download from the MCA21 portal under company master data")

This checklist is the starting point for your document review conversation with the founder. Documents already uploaded reduce the onboarding time significantly.

Application steps

A numbered list of the steps required to complete this specific application — from portal registration through to submission. Steps include direct links to the relevant government portal pages where applicable. Use this to estimate the work involved and flag any steps that require the founder's direct participation (e.g. OTP verification, director DSC).

Using the brief before claiming a case

The brief is designed to help you make an informed decision before committing to a case. Before you claim:

• Check the eligibility scores — schemes with a score below 40 may have eligibility risks worth discussing with the founder before you invest time in the application.
• Review the missing documents — if many mandatory documents are absent, factor the time needed to collect them into your assessment of the case.
• Check the application steps — some schemes have complex portal flows, board resolutions, or multi-stage approvals that require sustained coordination. Assess whether this fits your current capacity.
• Note the diversity flags and founder categories — some scheme benefits are conditional on verified SC/ST or women-led status and require supporting declarations at filing.

Printing and saving the brief

The brief has a Print button in the top toolbar. Each scheme card starts on a new page when printed, making it straightforward to produce a paper copy or a PDF for your records. The Copy link button copies the brief URL to your clipboard so you can reference it from your own case management tools.