Clean, accurate and timely accounts are the foundation of everything else a Hong Kong company has to do — the audit, the tax return, the bank's annual review, and your own decisions about pricing and cash.
Bookkeeping is not just about satisfying the regulator. Section 380 of the Companies Ordinance requires annual financial statements to give a true and fair view of the company's financial position and performance; section 405 requires them to be audited. Accounts that are done properly solve three problems at once: compliance, a lower audit fee, and visibility over the business.
On this page
- What is included
- Accounting vs SME bookkeeping
- Your legal obligations
- What the financial statements contain
- Which accounting standard applies
- Catch-up bookkeeping
- Fees
- Common questions
What is included
- Bookkeeping on an annual, quarterly or monthly cycle
- Monthly receivables and payables listings with ageing analysis
- Bank reconciliation across multiple accounts, currencies and payment platforms
- General ledger, trial balance and year-end financial statements
- Management reports: gross margin, cost structure, cash position
- Accounting system setup — chart of accounts, voucher numbering, posting rules
- Catch-up bookkeeping for prior years, completed in date order
- Schedules and analyses prepared for your auditor, feeding straight into audit and tax filing
Accounting service vs SME bookkeeping: which one?
Both run on the same fee structure. The difference is depth: one keeps an eye on your numbers, the other simply gets the work filed.
| Comparison | Accounting service (this page) | SME bookkeeping |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Full accounting outsourcing | Streamlined bookkeeping |
| Core work | Posting + reconciliation + reporting + analysis | Posting + reconciliation + year-end statements |
| Management reports | Included | Basic figures only |
| Receivables / payables tracking | Monthly, with ageing | On request |
| Accounting system setup | Included | Quoted separately |
| Best for | Trading companies with stock or staff that need numbers to decide | Start-ups, online shops, freelancers, low transaction volume |
Your legal obligations
Record retention
Section 373 of the Companies Ordinance requires accounting records to be kept for 7 years from the end of the financial year to which the last entry relates. Section 51C of the Inland Revenue Ordinance separately requires business records to be retained for at least 7 years, with a maximum fine of HK$100,000 for failure without reasonable excuse. The duty survives the end of trading.
True and fair view
Directors are responsible for financial statements that give a true and fair view. In practice that means the ledgers have to be complete, consistently classified and supported by documents — which is exactly what the auditor will test.
What the financial statements contain
- Statement of financial position — assets, liabilities and equity at the year end
- Statement of comprehensive income — revenue, cost of sales, expenses and profit for the year
- Statement of cash flows — cash generated and used, by operating, investing and financing activity
- Statement of changes in equity and explanatory notes
A plain-language walkthrough is in our guide to reading financial statements.
Which accounting standard applies
Most Hong Kong SMEs report under the SME Financial Reporting Standard or HKFRS for Private Entities rather than full HKFRS. Which one is available depends on whether the company qualifies for reporting exemption under section 359 of the Companies Ordinance. We advise on the choice as part of the year-end work — see our HKFRS primer.
Catch-up bookkeeping
If several years are outstanding, we work through them in chronological order, reconstruct the bank position year by year, and produce a set of statements the auditor can sign. Fees are quoted per year once we have seen the volume of documents.
Fees
| Plan | Monthly transactions | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Plan A | Up to 30 | From HK$200 / month |
| Plan B | 31 – 60 | From HK$400 / month |
| Plan C | 61 – 100 | From HK$700 / month |
| Annual bookkeeping | Low volume, year-end only | From HK$900 / year |
A “transaction” means one bank receipt or payment. Send us three months of bank statements and we will quote a fixed fee.
Common questions
Can I keep my own books and only outsource the year end?
Yes — many clients do. We review what you have posted, correct classifications and prepare the statutory statements. See the cost comparison in monthly bookkeeping vs doing it yourself.
Do you work with Xero or QuickBooks?
Yes. We can work inside your existing cloud ledger or run the books on our side and give you monthly reports. See cloud software vs outsourcing.
Does good bookkeeping really lower the audit fee?
Yes. A large part of a low-volume audit fee is the auditor's time spent tidying up. Complete records with matching documents keep the fee near the base rate.
Send three months of bank statements to our enquiry form, or call 3687-1127, for a fixed monthly quote.