Surplus capital deserves a structure, not a savings account.
Post funding round or after a strong cash flow year, most of your surplus is not growth money, it is liquidity waiting for its next use. SampadaSarathi builds board-ready treasury deployment frameworks for startups and SMEs, separating what needs protection from what can carry risk, with the documentation to support a founder or board decision.
A funding round or a strong year leaves a company holding more cash than its operating account was ever designed for. The default response, a large fixed deposit or an idle savings balance, feels safe but is rarely examined against two questions a board should ask: how much of this money is actually needed in the next 12 to 18 months, and how much of it is genuinely spare. Treating the full surplus as one undifferentiated pool means either taking on market risk with money you cannot afford to lose, or leaving genuinely spare capital earning close to nothing.
Operating runway plus a stability buffer, held in a blend of arbitrage and liquid funds rather than a single instrument. No equity market risk, same-day to next-day access on the liquid portion, and better post-tax efficiency than a bank FD beyond the Rs 5 lakh DICGC insured limit.
A deliberately capped allocation, limited to money not needed for 18 to 24 months. Deployed via a staggered STP rather than a lump sum, reviewed at 6 months against downside behaviour before any further tranche is considered.
| Instrument | Access Time | Taxation | DICGC Cover | Volatility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Fund | T+1, some AMCs offer instant redemption up to Rs 50,000 | Slab rate, added to income, no indexation | Not applicable, market instrument | Very low |
| Arbitrage Fund | T+1 | Equity taxation, STCG 20% under 12 months, LTCG 12.5% above Rs 1.25L/year over 12 months | Not applicable, market instrument | Low |
| Bank FD (company account) | Locked for tenure, premature withdrawal usually penalised | Slab rate, TDS applicable | Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank | None, but capped beyond DICGC limit |
"Corporate FD" here refers to a bank fixed deposit held in the company's name, which carries DICGC cover up to Rs 5 lakh. This is distinct from NBFC or company deposit schemes, which carry no DICGC cover regardless of amount and depend entirely on the issuer's credit standing. Tax rates cited are as per rules effective at the time of writing and are subject to change.
The confidence a board needs is not "this fund returned 20 percent last year." It is how little a fund loses when markets fall, and how consistently. Every proposal is built around risk-adjusted metrics designed for that question, not trailing returns alone.
Post seed or Series A, holding a lump sum that needs a structured home before the next deployment cycle.
Businesses generating consistent surplus cash flow, currently sitting idle in a single savings account or FD.
Transitioning from informal cash management to a structured, board-documented treasury approach.
Understand surplus size, burn rate, funding timeline, and existing cash allocation.
A written treasury deployment framework, sized to your liquidity needs and risk appetite, ready for board or founder sign-off.
Deployment executed via SIP/STP where appropriate, avoiding single-point market timing on a corporate decision.
Performance tracked against category benchmarks and review triggers, with allocation revisited as burn rate or funding timelines shift.
SampadaSarathi is an AMFI Registered Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-357884), operating on the NJ Wealth platform. Treasury proposals are prepared for internal evaluation and board approval purposes and are informational in nature. They do not constitute registered investment advisory services. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Expected return ranges cited in any proposal are illustrative, based on prevailing rates and category history, and not guaranteed.
Tell us your surplus size, burn rate, and timeline. We will map a liquidity and growth tier structure sized to your business, ready for founder or board review.
