Your first 100 days in the UK: a checklist for Indian businesses
David Chandra, 2 November 2026
David Chandra, 2 November 2026
The company has been established.
The UK expansion plan has become a real UK business.
For Indian businesses entering the UK, the first few months are an important period.
Decisions made during this stage can influence:
The first 100 days should therefore be about more than completing registrations.
They provide an opportunity to make sure the UK operation has the financial and operational foundations it needs to grow.
This checklist divides those first 100 days into four stages:
Days 1–30: Establish the foundations
Days 31–60: Build financial visibility
Days 61–90: Strengthen the operation
Days 91–100: Review and prepare for growth
The precise timetable will vary between businesses, and some actions should begin before day one. But the framework provides a useful way to review whether anything important has been overlooked.
The first 100 days should ideally begin before the company starts trading.
Before launch, confirm that the basic structure has been established appropriately.
Questions include:
If several of these questions remain unanswered on launch day, they should become immediate priorities.
For businesses still at the planning stage, see our practical guide to expanding an Indian business into the UK.
[INTERNAL LINK TO CLUSTER 1 PILLAR]
The first month is about making sure the business can operate properly.
Establish which UK taxes apply and what needs to be done.
Depending on the business, this could include:
Create a record of:
Do not allow important information to remain solely within an individual's inbox.
Create a central compliance record that appropriate people in both the UK and India can access.
A newly incorporated company without functioning banking arrangements can quickly run into operational problems.
By the end of the first month, establish:
For an Indian parent company, also agree how the UK operation will be funded.
Avoid allowing funding to move informally between group entities without understanding and documenting what the balances represent.
The best time to create good financial records is at the beginning.
Establish:
Think about the information the Indian parent will eventually require.
If group reporting needs information by department, product, location or business unit, design the accounting system to capture it from the outset.
Retrofitting that information later can be considerably more difficult.
One of the challenges for a new international operation is making sure everyone understands who is responsible for what.
The UK team may assume something is being handled by the parent company in India, while the Indian team assumes it sits with the UK team or an external adviser.
This can create gaps in important areas such as:
During the first month, agree who is responsible for each area and who needs to review or approve key actions.
It can also be useful to clarify which responsibilities sit with the UK business, which remain with the Indian parent and which are supported by external advisers.
The important thing is that every recurring financial and compliance responsibility has a clear owner, deadline and review process.
How to avoid gaps: Create a simple responsibility and compliance calendar that can be accessed by the relevant teams in both the UK and India.
If VAT was considered during setup, check that the agreed treatment has actually been implemented.
Review:
The objective is to identify errors while transaction volumes are still relatively low.
An incorrect process repeated hundreds of times is much harder to fix than one identified during the first month.
If the business has UK employees, establish a reliable payroll process from the outset.
Check:
For employees moving between India and the UK, review the international tax, payroll, immigration and social-security position separately.
Do not assume a standard UK payroll process addresses every issue associated with an international assignment.
Once the business can operate, the next priority is understanding how it is performing.
Do not wait until year end to discover what happened financially.
A useful management pack might include:
The precise reporting will depend on the business.
The important point is that management receives information that helps it make decisions.
Ask:
What does the UK leadership team need to know?
And:
What does the Indian parent need to know?
Those answers may not be identical.
Growth consumes cash.
A profitable business can still experience cash-flow pressure.
Create a rolling forecast covering:
Consider different scenarios.
What happens if:
Cash-flow visibility allows management to make decisions before a funding issue becomes urgent.
By this stage, transactions between the UK company and Indian parent may already be developing.
Examples might include:
Check:
Do not wait until year end to discover large unexplained intercompany balances.
By day 60, the business should have some real operating data.
Compare it with the original budget.
Look at:
Identify significant differences.
The purpose is not simply to determine whether the business is "over budget".
It is to understand why reality differs from the assumptions made before market entry.
That information should improve the forecast for the remainder of the year.
The third stage is about moving from basic processes to stronger financial management.
As transaction volumes grow, informal processes become riskier.
Review controls around:
Ask whether the same person can:
As the business grows, responsibilities should be appropriately separated where possible.
Sales growth is valuable only if the business collects the cash.
Review:
If a significant proportion of UK revenue depends on a small number of customers, understand the cash-flow risk this creates.
The same discipline should apply to expenditure.
Check:
Good controls established early become much easier to maintain as the organisation grows.
If significant cross-border transactions have begun, check whether the original transfer-pricing assumptions still reflect reality.
Ask:
Transfer pricing should reflect what the businesses actually do not simply what was expected before launch.
Year end may still feel distant.
But now is a good time to identify what will eventually be required.
Consider:
If an audit may be required, early preparation can make the eventual process considerably smoother.
The final stage is an opportunity to review the first three months as a whole.
Bring together the relevant UK and Indian stakeholders.
Review:
Commercial performance
Financial performance
Compliance
People
Operations
Strategy
The aim is to identify what is working and what needs to change.
The first 100 days may already reveal that the business is developing differently from the original plan.
Perhaps:
Consider whether the original:
still support the business.
It may be too early for major changes, but it is not too early to identify potential future issues.
The first 100 days should finish with a forward-looking plan.
Consider:
Create a financial forecast that reflects what has actually been learned during the first three months.
The assumptions used before UK entry can now be replaced with real information.
A newly established UK operation may outsource significant parts of its finance function.
As the company grows, review which activities should:
There is no single correct model.
The objective is to create a finance function appropriate to the scale and complexity of the business.
For some growing international companies, a hybrid model can provide internal commercial knowledge alongside external specialist expertise.
Rather than waiting for change to create a problem, establish trigger points for future review.
Examples could include:
When headcount reaches X:
Review payroll, HR processes and financial controls.
When revenue reaches X:
Review finance resources and reporting.
Before entering another market:
Review international tax and group structure.
Before acquiring another company:
Undertake financial and tax due diligence.
Before raising investment:
Review financial records, governance and reporting.
Before audit becomes likely:
Undertake an audit-readiness review.
This turns compliance and advisory work from reactive activity into planned business management.
Before launch
☐ Structure confirmed
☐ Ownership confirmed
☐ Directors appointed
☐ Banking started
☐ Funding agreed
☐ Tax position reviewed
☐ VAT reviewed
☐ Payroll prepared
☐ Immigration considered
☐ Accounting system selected
Days 1–30
☐ Tax registrations confirmed
☐ Bank operational
☐ Accounting live
☐ Responsibility matrix agreed
☐ VAT process checked
☐ Payroll operational
☐ Compliance calendar created
Days 31–60
☐ First management accounts produced
☐ Cash-flow forecast prepared
☐ Intercompany transactions reviewed
☐ Actual costs compared with budget
☐ Parent-company reporting agreed
Days 61–90
☐ Financial controls reviewed
☐ Customer credit process reviewed
☐ Purchasing controls reviewed
☐ Transfer pricing reviewed
☐ Year-end requirements identified
☐ Audit position considered
Days 91–100
☐ 100-day review completed
☐ Structure reconsidered
☐ 12-month forecast updated
☐ Finance-resource requirements reviewed
☐ Growth trigger points agreed
☐ Next strategic review scheduled
The answer is not to stop reviewing the business.
The first 100 days establish the foundation for a regular operating rhythm.
Depending on the size of the UK operation, this could include:
Monthly
Quarterly
Annually
The UK operation should evolve as the business grows.
At the end of the first 100 days, leadership should be able to answer:
Not just revenue — profitability, cash and working capital too.
There should be clear deadlines, owners and processes.
Group reporting should provide appropriate visibility.
What works today may not work at twice the scale.
The review should result in actions, not simply observations.
Lubbock Fine has supported Indian businesses, entrepreneurs and families with UK interests for more than 20 years.
Our India Desk supports businesses beyond initial company setup.
We can work alongside UK management teams and Indian parent companies as the UK operation develops.
Our support can include:
The support required on day one may be very different from the support required after the first year.
Our approach is designed to evolve alongside the business.
Speak to our Partner David Chandra who heads our India Desk about reviewing your financial, tax and reporting foundations for the next stage of growth.
DISCLAIMER - This article provides general information about establishing and managing a new UK business operation. It does not constitute accounting, tax, legal, immigration or investment advice.
The requirements of individual businesses will differ. Specific professional advice should be obtained based on the circumstances of the UK operation and wider international group.
