Who Blackbird Finance is for

I’m Saharsh Keerthi, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackbird Finance. I run the company with Mahesh Bal, our founder and CFO, Arhaan Rahil Mohammed, our CTO, and Satwik Reddy, our COO. As CEO, my job is to keep Blackbird Finance pointed at the people it is for. This post is about them.

Every Blackbird Finance account has the same shape. The work is done in India, the client is somewhere else, and the money crosses a border before it reaches you. That one fact brings a set of rules with it: an export invoice under a Letter of Undertaking, a FIRC for every payment, exports in GSTR-1, a monthly Export Declaration Form for your bank, and income tax on what is left. Mahesh’s post walks through that chain step by step.

If you work alone, you are the finance department. You need the invoice to be right the first time, the GST return to take care of itself, and a clear answer to one question: how much of this can I spend?

Blackbird Finance writes the export invoice in the client’s currency, prepares GSTR-1 and the EDF from it, and works out your tax under section 58 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly 44ADA), the presumptive scheme for professionals. It sets the tax aside as you earn, so what is safe to spend is the number you see. The free plan covers three invoices and one GSTR-1 export a month, with no card, which is enough to see whether it fits.

A team billing several clients has more of everything: more invoices, more currencies, more payments to match. Blackbird Finance pairs each FIRC or FIRA with the invoice it pays, chases late invoices on WhatsApp, and shows what every transfer cost against the day’s reference rate, so you can tell whether your provider is still the cheapest.

Paid plans add recurring invoices, more GSTINs and an audit trail. The pricing page has the details.

Some of the people we build for also trade F&O or crypto. Blackbird Finance turns broker and exchange files into tax: F&O as business income under section 66, crypto at 30% under section 194, and crypto TDS under section 393(1) carried as a credit. It all lands in the same tax estimate, next to your professional income.

We do not ask anyone to change how they are paid. Blackbird Finance does not move money: keep your bank, PayPal, Wise, Payoneer or Skydo, and Blackbird does everything after the money lands. PayPal and Binance sync directly, and Stripe, Deel, Rippling and Wise come in as their own exports.

Blackbird Finance prepares; you file. It does not file returns for you, and it does not replace a CA where your case needs one, such as a year that needs a tax audit. It gives you and your CA the same exports to work from.

If you bill clients abroad and something in your month still takes too long, tell us at info@blackbirdfinance.net. That is how we decide what to build next. You can also start free and try it with your own invoices.

Who is the CEO of Blackbird Finance?

Saharsh Keerthi is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackbird Finance. The company was founded by Mahesh Bal, its CFO, with co-founders Saharsh Keerthi, Arhaan Rahil Mohammed (CTO) and Satwik Reddy (COO).

Is Blackbird Finance only for freelancers?

No. It is for anyone in India who bills clients abroad: freelancers, independent developers, and agencies or studios with several clients and GSTINs.