Console Funds statement / Ledger

Overview

The Console Funds statement – also referred to as the Ledger within Zerodha Console – is a transaction-by-transaction record of every monetary entry that affects a client’s trading account. It is the cash equivalent of the demat statement: whereas the demat statement tracks securities, the Funds statement tracks the rupee balance in the account. Every fund transfer in or out, brokerage and statutory charge debit, exchange settlement credit or debit, and quarterly settlement transfer appears as a dated row.

The Funds statement is one of the most operationally important reports on Zerodha Console because it allows a client to verify that every charge debited to the account is accurate, every settlement credit has been received, and the net cash balance matches the figure shown on the trading platform.

Structure and data fields

Each row in the Funds statement (Ledger) carries:

Common particulars that appear in the ledger include:

• Fund transfer in / NEFT, UPI – amount deposited by the client via netbanking, UPI, or cheque.
• Fund withdrawal – amount transferred out to the linked bank account.
• Net obligation – NSE/BSE EQ – settlement proceeds from equity delivery trades; can be a credit (net seller) or debit (net buyer paying for purchases).
• Net obligation – NSE/BSE FO – F&O mark-to-market (MTM) settlement and final settlement proceeds.
• Brokerage debit – broker’s fee for executed orders; Rs 20 per executed order (flat) for Zerodha across most segments, or zero for equity delivery at Zerodha’s standard plan.
• STT/CTT – Securities Transaction Tax or Commodity Transaction Tax charged by the government, collected by the exchange and debited by the broker.
• GST on brokerage – 18% GST on the brokerage amount.
• Exchange transaction charges – NSE/BSE transaction fees passed through to the client.
• SEBI turnover fees – SEBI’s regulatory levy, currently 0.0001% of turnover.
• Stamp duty – State stamp duty on buy-side transactions.
• DP charges – Depository participant charges for debit of shares from the demat account on sell transactions (flat Rs 13.5 + GST per scrip per day for delivery sells at Zerodha).
• Quarterly settlement – transfer to bank – mandatory transfer of unused client funds under the running account settlement (RAS) framework.
• Interest on debit balance – charged when the account is in debit overnight (margin shortfall or purchase pending settlement).

How to download the Funds statement

1. Log in to Zerodha Console at console.zerodha.com.
2. Navigate to Reports > Ledger (or Funds statement) in the left navigation.
3. Set the date range. The maximum span per download is one financial year.
4. Click Download to receive a CSV or PDF.

The on-screen view allows scrolling through the ledger with a running balance column. The downloadable version is preferable for reconciliation because it allows sorting, filtering, and formula-based cross-checks in a spreadsheet.

Regulatory framework

The obligation to maintain and provide a client ledger arises from several SEBI and exchange regulations:

• SEBI Circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-SEC-3/P/CIR/2021/608 and predecessor circulars on client funds segregation require that broker ledgers clearly distinguish client funds from broker proprietary funds.
• SEBI Circular on Running Account Settlement (CIR/MIRSD/4/2011, CIR/MRD/DP/34/2014, SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-SEC-3/P/CIR/2022/100) – require that balances be settled with clients at the end of every quarter (or monthly if elected), and that the broker provide a statement of settlement to each client.
• SEBI (Stock Brokers) Regulations, 1992 – oblige brokers to keep proper books of account, including a client-wise ledger, for five years.
• NSE/BSE Clearing Corporation settlement schedules – dictate the timing of pay-in and pay-out for each settlement type (T+1 for equity, daily for F&O MTM), determining when settlement entries appear in the ledger.

Connection to running account settlement

Under the quarterly running account settlement framework mandated by SEBI, brokers must periodically return funds lying unutilised in a client’s trading account to the client’s registered bank account. The Funds statement is the primary document from which a client can:

• Verify that the settlement happened on schedule (within the first 5 working days of April, July, October, and January for quarterly settlement).
• Confirm the exact amount transferred and the bank account it was credited to.
• Identify if funds were retained against an open position (permitted under the framework) and whether the retention amount was correctly calculated.

The SEBI circular mandates that brokers send clients a settlement statement at the time of each transfer; the Console Ledger is the persistent version of that statement.

Charge verification use case

One of the most common uses of the Funds statement is verifying that statutory and broker charges have been correctly applied. The typical verification process:

1. Download the Funds statement for a period.
2. Identify rows for brokerage, STT, exchange charges, GST, SEBI fees, and stamp duty.
3. Cross-reference with the corresponding contract notes for the same period, which itemise charges at the trade level.
4. Compute expected charges independently using Zerodha’s published brokerage calculator and statutory rate schedules.

Any discrepancy between the Ledger and the contract note represents an error that should be escalated to Zerodha’s support desk.

Reconciliation with bank account

The Funds statement is also used to reconcile the trading account balance against the linked bank account:

• Every “Fund transfer in” row should correspond to a debit in the bank statement.
• Every “Fund withdrawal” row should correspond to a credit in the bank statement.
• Timing differences of one to two business days arise because Zerodha initiates withdrawals via IMPS/NEFT, which may settle on the next business day.
• Quarterly settlement transfers should appear in both the Funds statement and the bank statement within the same narrow window.

Tax and audit relevance

Income tax

The Funds statement is not directly used in ITR computation (that is the role of the Tax P&L statement), but it is relevant during scrutiny assessments. When an assessing officer questions the source of funds invested or the genuineness of transactions, the Ledger provides a cash-flow trail from bank to broker and back.

GST audit

For F&O traders registered under GST (mandatory for those with turnover above the threshold), brokerage and exchange charges appear in the Funds statement. These can be reconciled against input tax credit (ITC) claims on brokerage GST, though in practice most retail traders below the threshold are not GST-registered and cannot claim ITC.

Retention

Zerodha makes the Funds statement available on Console for five years. Clients should download and archive annual copies in line with the Income Tax Act’s six-year retention guidance for supporting documents (Section 149).

Related reports

• Console Tradebook – underlying trade data that drives settlement obligations.
• Console Contract notes – settlement-level charge documentation.
• Console Tax P&L statement – processed P&L for tax filing.
• Quarterly running account settlement – the regulatory framework behind periodic balance transfers shown in the ledger.

References

1. SEBI Circular CIR/MIRSD/4/2011 – Running account settlement framework (original).
2. SEBI Circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-SEC-3/P/CIR/2022/100 – Revised running account settlement guidelines.
3. SEBI (Stock Brokers and Sub-Brokers) Regulations, 1992, Regulation 17 – Books of account.
4. NSE Settlement Calendar – available at nseindia.com.
5. Zerodha Support, “Understanding the ledger / funds statement on Console” – support.zerodha.com.
6. SEBI Circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-SEC-3/P/CIR/2021/608 – Client fund segregation.