Why one plan beats seven jobs
Each piece in the table is made by a different person, often at a different time. Finance writes the results. Marketing designs the advertisement. The web team uploads the files. A shareholder meets all of them, one after another. If the profit is called one thing in the advertisement and another on the web page, the shareholder will wonder which is right.
So the first job is to keep one sheet of numbers that finance signs, and one list of names for each number. Every piece is built from that sheet. This is our own method. It costs a day to set up and saves many corrections.
The year in dates: what the rule sets
The table below lists only the limits we read in LODR, amended up to 22 January 2026. It states no calendar date, because most limits count from an event. Companies Act dates, such as when an AGM must be held, are outside it. We did not open that text. The website rules sit in Regulation 46, covered in our guide on SEBI Regulation 46.
| When | The limit we read | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Before the board meets on results | Tell the stock exchange at least two working days ahead, not counting the day you tell it or the day of the meeting. | Regulation 29(1)(a) |
| When the board meeting closes | Disclose the decision within 30 minutes. If the meeting closes after normal trading hours but more than three hours before the next trading day begins, within three hours. | Regulation 30(6)(i) |
| Each quarter except the last | Submit quarterly results within 45 days of the end of the quarter. | Regulation 33(3)(a) |
| After the financial year | Submit annual audited standalone results within 60 days from the end of the financial year, with the audit report. | Regulation 33(3)(d) |
| After the board meeting on results | Publish a newspaper advertisement within 48 hours of the end of that meeting, with a Quick Response (QR) code and the web page of the complete results. | Regulation 47(1) |
| Before an analyst or investor meet | Publish the schedule at least two working days ahead, on the same basis of counting. | Regulation 46(2)(o)(i) |
| After a post earnings call | Audio recording promptly, and before the next trading day or within 24 hours of the call, whichever is earlier. Transcript within five working days. | Regulation 46(2)(oa) |
| When the annual report goes out | Submit a copy to the exchange and publish it on the website on or before the day dispatch to shareholders begins. | Regulation 34(1)(a) |
| After the AGM | If the annual report changes, send a revised copy with the details and the reason not later than 48 hours after the AGM. | Regulation 34(1)(b) |
| After a general meeting | Submit the voting results to the exchange within two working days of the end of the meeting. | Regulation 44(3) |
| Whenever a fact on the website changes | Update the website within two working days from the date of the change. | Regulation 46(3)(b) |
Source: SEBI, LODR Regulations, 2015, consolidated, amended up to 22 January 2026, read 26 October 2026. Companies listed on an SME Exchange are treated differently in some of these regulations, for example in Regulations 33(5) and 47(4). Ask your company secretary which text applies to you.
Read each limit as a deadline for a task you must plan. The 48 hour advertisement is the clearest case. The advertisement must be designed and approved before the board meets, with blank figures ready to fill. That is our method and not a rule. The same goes for the annual report. The rule says when it must be public. Your printer and your reviewers decide when it must be ready.
What makes each piece readable
The rule says what must be published. These lines say what helps a person read it. Each links to the guide that goes deeper.
- Results advertisement: a few figures in large type, the period, the comparison period and a QR code that works. See how to make a results advertisement readable.
- Annual report: a clear order, a short letter, and a brief that sets pages, reviewers and versions before design starts. See what sets the design cost and annual report design trends.
- Annual report and ESG report: two readers and two jobs. See annual report designer vs ESG report designer.
- Web version: text a reader can search and a phone can open. PDF is on Google's list of supported indexable file types, so a PDF can be found in search, according to Google Search Central, February 2026. A page of text still reads better on a small screen.
- Investor page: four things in view on the first screen, files with plain names and a contact. See the investor page guide.
- Website rules: the list of items and the update limit. See the Regulation 46 guide.
- Filings and press notes: the same figure and the same name as the results. One plain line of summary at the start helps the press and the reader.
- Meeting notice: the date, the time, how to vote and whom to call, on the first page. Your company secretary writes it. Design and plain words help people find these four facts.
Design and plain words
Design decides what the reader sees first. A results table with thirty rows in small type hides the answer. Four large rows with a link to the full table show it. Colour, size and contrast do real work here.
Two web standards help. According to the W3C, page updated September 2026, text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background, or 3 to 1 for large text. Large means at least 18 point, or 14 point in bold. According to the W3C on reflow, page updated September 2026, a page should work at 320 CSS pixels wide without scrolling in two directions. Parts such as data tables are exempt. WCAG itself is a technical standard for making web content accessible to people with disabilities, according to the W3C overview, page updated September 2026. We did not open an Indian law on accessibility for company websites, so we state none.
Plain words matter as much as layout. Most investors are not accountants. Write each term once in full, keep sentences short and say what changed and why. According to Google Search Central, October 2026, content should be made mainly for readers and show the expertise behind it. That applies to a company's own pages too. We did not open an official text on how a company may word a results note. Your company secretary or lawyer decides that.
Say a company that names one number three ways
Say a listed maker of pumps calls its income "Total income" in the results filing, "Revenue" in the newspaper advertisement and "Turnover" in the annual report. The three are not the same thing, and the reader cannot tell. An analyst writes to ask. A shareholder assumes an error. The fix is cheap. Finance writes one list of names, with a line on what each includes. Every piece uses that list. Where a different word is needed, the piece says so. The company, the figures and the names here are made up.
Who owns what in the company
The company decides who does what. This is the split we use as a starting point when we plan with a listed company.
| Role | Looks after | Needs from the others |
|---|---|---|
| Company secretary | Filings, the meeting notice, the dates, the lawyer's read and the exchange submissions | Final figures from finance. Final design files from marketing. |
| Finance | The numbers sheet, the results, the auditor's reports and the notes | The calendar from the company secretary. A name list agreed with investor relations. |
| Investor relations | The calls, the presentations, the results note in plain words and the investor questions | Dates from the company secretary. Signed figures from finance. |
| Marketing | Design of the annual report and the results advertisement, the web version and the look of the page | A brief that sets pages and versions. Dates counted back from the company secretary's calendar. |
Two points from the rule fit this table. According to LODR Regulation 33(2), the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer certify the quarterly results before the board sees them. The results sent to the exchange are signed by the chairperson, the managing director or a whole time director. Design does not touch those steps. It begins after the figures are fixed. A late change to a figure after design starts is the most common reason for a missed date. That is our experience and not a rule.
The web team is a fifth owner in most companies. A page left to "everyone" goes stale. Our guide on the investor page suggests one named owner and a stand-in.
This is general information, not legal advice. For your case, speak to a lawyer or your company secretary. Last checked: 26 October 2026.
Reading order
Start with the first guide if you are new. Jump to the one you need if you are not. More guides in this set are coming: one on the web version of an annual report and one on an investor communication calendar. They are not published yet, so they are not linked here.
The rules
- SEBI Regulation 46 and the listed company website: the items and the update limit.
The pieces
- Investor relations website: what to show and how to organise it.
- Quarterly results advertisement: figures, QR code and type.
- Annual report design cost: what sets the price.
- Annual report design trends: what companies are doing now.
- Annual report designer vs ESG report designer: two readers, two jobs.
Services and industry
- Annual report design: our service page.
- IPO-listed companies: what we do for companies that list.
- Website maintenance: care for the investor page after launch.
