K-12 schools (CBSE / ICSE / state / IB)
Single or multi-campus. Board affiliation, teacher payroll, fee reconciliation, student data under DPDP, POSH, trust / society filings. We run the full back-office so principals can run the school.
🏫 Industry pack · Schools · Colleges · Edtech Children's data. Board compliance.
Children's data. Board compliance.
Done properly.
DPDP children's data, POSH ICC + annual report, CBSE / state / IB board affiliation, trust / society / Section 8 filings, 12A / 80G renewals, fee reconciliation and scholarship accounting for Indian schools, coaching institutes and edtech platforms.
DPDPChild-data compliant
POSHICC + annual report
5 daysMonthly fee reconciliation
48hQuery SLA
Indian education sits under the strictest tier of DPDP Act 2023 — any processing of data for a user under 18 requires verifiable parental consent, no behavioural tracking, no targeted advertising, no profiling. The strictest clauses apply to anyone processing minor data, which is almost every school, every coaching institute and every edtech platform.
Layer on POSH Act, CBSE / state board affiliation, Trust / Society / Section 8 compliance, 12A / 80G renewals, fee reconciliation with scholarship and refund accounting, and GST exemption mapping — and you have an administrative load that most school owners quietly underfund. The result is a last-minute panic every March, a POSH committee that exists only on paper, and a fee ledger that nobody can reconcile.
Cosmoura runs the full education back-office as one retainer. Named DPO plus named CA on your account. DPDP consent for parents and students, POSH ICC with external member panel, board affiliation renewals, trust compliance, fee and scholarship accounting — all on one calendar. Decipher Consultancy Services (our sister concern) builds the automation for parental-consent capture, fee reconciliation across branches, and scholarship tracking.
Your academics team gets to focus on teaching. We take care of everything else.
Trigger moment: A parent has asked how their child's photo ended up on your Instagram. A labour inspector has asked for your POSH ICC composition and annual report. Your fee reconciliation across branches is off by lakhs and nobody can trace it. All three happen in the same quarter at every growing school.
Who this is for
Three profiles we build the pack around.
The retainer is tuned to your stage. If you do not fit cleanly, we scope a custom pack.
Coaching institutes + tuition chains
Multi-branch coaching, test-prep, tuition networks. GST on coaching fees (not exempt), student data under DPDP, POSH, consumer protection on refund policies, trademark enforcement against franchise impersonators.
Edtech platforms + online tuition
DPDP children's data (strictest tier), consumer protection e-commerce rules, content IP, vendor DPAs for LMS and assessment and analytics tools, parental consent architecture, data residency for international users.
What this industry faces
Four regulatory realities we solve for.
DPDP Act — children's data (under 18)
Verifiable parental consent, parental identity verification, no behavioural tracking, no targeted advertising, no profiling. The strictest clauses in the Act apply to anyone processing minor data. Breach exposure is severe.
POSH Act — ICC and annual filings
Internal Complaints Committee setup, external member appointment, mandatory annual training, annual report filing to district officer. Non-compliance invites government inquiry and penalties.
Board affiliation + annual filings
CBSE, ICSE, IB, state board affiliation renewals, faculty database, infrastructure certification, bonafide certificates, PTA minutes. Each board has its own filing calendar and inspection cycle.
Fee reconciliation + GST exemptions
School fees are GST-exempt under specific heads; coaching, hostel, transport and uniform are not. Multi-branch fee reconciliation across the academic year, scholarship and concession tracking, refund accounting.
Pre-built packs
The retainer, mapped to Schools & Edtech.
Each pack pulls from the right pillars. Pick one or bundle all four.
Hero · Compliance
DPDP children's data pack
Compliance & RiskParental consent flows for admissions, LMS and photography. Student data map. Vendor DPAs with LMS, assessment, analytics and communication tools. Privacy policy drafted for students, guardians and employees.
- Parental consent architecture (admissions + LMS + photos)
- Student + guardian + employee data map
- Vendor DPA library (LMS + assessment + analytics)
- Privacy policy drafted in parent-friendly language
DPDP-compliant · parent complaints resolved cleanly Explore →
Workplace
POSH + labour compliance
Compliance & RiskInternal Complaints Committee setup with qualified external member panel. Mandatory annual POSH training sessions. Annual report filing to district officer. Labour returns for teaching plus non-teaching staff.
- ICC constitution + external member panel
- Annual POSH training (3 delivery modes)
- Annual report filing to district officer
- Labour returns for all staff categories
POSH-compliant · zero inquiry exposure Explore →
Finance
Education finance pack
Finance & AccountingFee reconciliation across branches and heads, scholarship and concession accounting, GST exemption mapping, 80G registration and renewal, trust / society / Section 8 statutory audit preparation.
- Multi-branch fee reconciliation
- Scholarship + concession + refund accounting
- GST exemption mapping per fee head
- Trust / society / Section 8 audit prep
Clean fee ledger · 80G renewed on time Explore →
Secretarial
Trust / Society / Section 8
Secretarial & CorporateAnnual filings, trustee / governing-body resolutions, 12A / 80G renewals, FCRA compliance where applicable, change of trustees, amendment of trust deed, Section 8 dilution of surplus restrictions.
- Trust / society / Section 8 annual filings
- 12A / 80G renewal tracking
- FCRA compliance where applicable
- Trustee change + trust deed amendments
12A / 80G intact · governance defensible Explore →
How we onboard
Four weeks to a clean back-office.
Most new schools & edtech clients come to us mid-mess. Clean-up is a one-time cost; everything else is monthly cadence.
01
Compliance + records audit
Week 1
We review your trust / society / Section 8 records, POSH committee composition, DPDP posture, last 12 months of fee reconciliation and board affiliation documents. Written gap report with risk prioritisation.
- Trust / POSH / DPDP record review
- Fee reconciliation gap check
- Board affiliation document review
02
DPDP + POSH + fee cleanup
Week 2–4
Parental consent library deployed. POSH ICC reconstituted with qualified external member. Fee reconciliation brought current with historical adjustments. 80G renewal filed if due. Vendor DPAs renegotiated with critical processors.
- Parental consent deployed
- POSH ICC reconstituted
- Fee reconciliation current + 80G renewal
03
Calendar + handover
Week 4
12-month compliance + finance calendar handed over. Named DPO and CA assigned. Monthly cadence agreed with your principal / director / academic head. Dedicated WhatsApp group opened.
- 12-month calendar handed over
- Named DPO + CA assigned
- Dedicated WhatsApp with academic team
04
Live + academic-year cadence
Ongoing
Monthly fee reconciliation, monthly compliance calendar execution, quarterly POSH training, annual board affiliation renewal, annual POSH report filing, annual trust / society / Section 8 audit. All on calendar.
- Monthly fee + compliance cadence
- Quarterly POSH training
- Annual board + audit + POSH report
How we compare
Generic CA firm. Self-run team. Cosmoura.
Honest comparison on cost, coverage and the parts most firms quietly skip.
| Generic CA firm | Self-run team | Cosmoura retainer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPDP children-data compliance | Not offered | Underpowered | Full consent + DPO on retainer |
| POSH ICC + external member | Separate consultant | Committee on paper | Reconstituted + trained + reported |
| Fee reconciliation | In-house accountant | Excel + prayer | Automated via Decipher |
| Trust / Section 8 compliance | Separate CA for trusts | Overdue filings common | In-house, calendar-driven |
| Board affiliation support | Separate affiliation agent | Internal admin burden | Included in retainer |
| Monthly cost (full stack) | ₹5–10L/yr across vendors | ₹12–20L/yr fully loaded | ₹2–6L/yr fixed retainer |
| Multi-branch handling | Per-branch billing | Consolidation painful | Branch-wise + consolidated |
What's included
Eight things we handle, every month.
Named DPO + CA on your account
Parental consent library (English + Hindi + regional)
ICC member panel + annual training coordination
POSH annual report filing with district officer
Monthly fee reconciliation with branch-wise split
Scholarship, concession and refund accounting
12A / 80G renewal tracking for trusts
Dedicated channel with 48-hour SLA
FAQ
Questions schools & edtech teams ask us.
01 Do you work with K-12 schools, coaching institutes, and edtech platforms? +
All three. K-12 schools and coaching institutes get the on-premise compliance pack (POSH + board + fees). Edtech platforms get the DPDP + consumer protection + content IP pack. Hybrids get both.
02 How does DPDP affect children's data under 18 specifically? +
Any processing of data for users under 18 requires verifiable parental consent. No behavioural tracking, no targeted advertising, no profiling. We draft the consent architecture and vendor DPAs for LMS, assessment, analytics and communication tools. Breach exposure under DPDP for child data is at the strictest end of the penalty scale.
03 Can you handle trust / society / Section 8 accounting and 12A / 80G renewals? +
Yes. Non-profit education entities have unique requirements — surplus must be reinvested, trustee loans are restricted, 12A / 80G renewals are periodic, FCRA has its own compliance surface. We handle all three entity types.
04 What about multi-branch schools and consolidated reporting? +
We maintain a consolidated book plus branch-wise P&L. Compliance calendars run per branch for POSH, labour and fire safety; central for board filings and trust compliance. Priced per branch, so you only pay for what you have.
05 Who sits on the POSH ICC external member seat? +
We maintain a panel of qualified external members — practising lawyers, retired women judges, NGO representatives — who meet the Act requirements. We rotate members every 3 years as recommended by MWCD guidance.
06 How is fee GST handled when some fee heads are exempt and others are not? +
School fees for core academic services are GST-exempt. Transport, uniform, hostel, coaching and ad-hoc fees are typically taxable. We map every fee head to a GST treatment on day one, so the reconciliation runs clean. For edtech, treatment is different again — most online education is GST-liable, with exemptions for government-recognised curricula.
07 Can you handle board affiliation renewals for CBSE / ICSE / state boards? +
Yes. Faculty database updates, infrastructure certification, SOFs, PTA documentation, academic-year rollover. We liaise with the respective board on renewal cycle and pre-inspection prep.
08 What happens if a parent files a DPDP rights request against our school? +
Our Virtual DPO receives the request, acknowledges within 72 hours, verifies parental identity, pulls the data from the systems we have mapped, delivers in the required format within statutory timeline. Full response trail documented for audit. Included in retainer from Growth tier.
Ready to run cleaner?
A retainer built for schools & edtech.
Live in two weeks.
Free 30-minute discovery call. We map your current compliance + finance posture, then come back with a sequenced plan.