Hong Kong Company Registration with Accounting: Package Checks

Separate bookkeeping, accounts, audit and tax deliverables

An accounting inclusion should name the work, period and acceptance output. Bookkeeping, financial-statement preparation, independent audit and tax reporting form connected workstreams, but paying for one does not establish that the others are included. Start by assigning each output to a named performing party.

The accounting engagement begins with a correctly identified entity. Keep its legal name, incorporation date, shares and director approvals aligned with the Hong Kong company formation requirements . Company establishment supplies the legal foundation; the financial-service scope must then follow the actual activity and reporting period.

The CR accounts-and-audit guidance distinguishes simplified reporting from audit exemption. An ordinary active Hong Kong company should not treat low revenue as automatic audit relief; statutory dormancy requires its own analysis. Bookkeeping included does not mean audit and tax submission included.

Read the published setup prices before adding accounting

The following public HSJGlobal starting figures were reconfirmed on October 28, 2026. They are setup-service prices in USD, not published fixed accounting subscriptions or combined incorporation-and-accounting totals. Use them to identify the base engagement and request a separate, measurable financial-work schedule.

Exact setup dates, recurring service periods, document or transaction counts, renewal figures and refund conditions are not all publicly fixed. Obtain them in the engagement. Common additions may include bookkeeping, payroll, extra financial accounts, catch-up work, independent audit, tax preparation and additional document coordination, each priced only when genuinely requested or required.

For standard electronic incorporation with a one-year certificate, HKD 3,895 equals HKD 1,545 for incorporation plus HKD 2,200 registration fee and HKD 150 levy. The business-registration amount applies to one-stop incorporation submissions from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, using the CR fee schedule and IRD business-registration fee table . Confirm whether it is included in the quoted service amount. Keep government charges, professional work and third-party audit costs identifiable, with no double counting.

The original USD setup figures should remain in USD unless an evidenced conversion is supplied. Hong Kong has no general VAT or sales tax under the government tax-policy statement ; review any invoice tax against the actual supplier and jurisdiction. Funding the company, maintaining a bank balance and paying service charges are separate cash uses.

Run a transaction acceptance test on the proposed service

Use a deliberately simple illustrative transaction to test the proposed workflow: an invoice records a USD 100 sale, a processor deducts a USD 3 fee, and USD 97 reaches the bank. Assume this is an ordinary completed sale with no refund or other complication. It is an editorial arithmetic example, not a customer case or a prescribed tax treatment.

1. Ask which source files the provider needs: invoice or order record, processor transaction detail and bank statement.
2. Ask how the USD 100 sale, USD 3 fee and USD 97 settlement are linked so the bank deposit is not mistaken for the whole transaction.
3. Ask how the service identifies a timing difference or missing settlement and records the unresolved item.
4. Ask what you receive to approve the reconciliation and how the underlying source records remain accessible.

The equation is simple: USD 100 minus USD 3 equals USD 97. Its purpose is to expose a scope gap. A dashboard showing only deposits may not demonstrate a complete books-to-source reconciliation. Test the evidence trail before accepting an allowance described only as monthly accounting.

A workable package carries the source evidence through reconciliation to reporting, with separate professional review where required.

Define the workload allowance and extra-charge rules

Have the provider define a transaction, not just the numerical allowance. Does it count invoices, ledger lines, bank movements, processor settlements, individual marketplace orders or some combination? A single bank settlement may represent many sales, fees and refunds. Apply the provider’s definition to the illustrative sale before estimating your monthly workload.

Declare all bank accounts, processors, currencies, marketplaces, stock systems, loans and related-party transactions that affect the work. Ask which are included and what creates an additional charge. Establish how missing documents, prior-period cleanup, corrections and unusually complex transactions are approved and billed.

Check whether the service period starts at incorporation, onboarding, first transaction or a specified month, and whether a long first reporting period changes the fee. The drivers of small-company accounting and tax fees help frame the workload questions. A transaction cap needs a counting rule and an overflow price; neither should be inferred from a headline package amount.

Connect year-end reporting to independent audit and tax work

Name the auditor separately where audit is required. The AFRC practising-certificate guidance identifies who may act as a company auditor. Confirm the actual engagement entity and professional eligibility, independence arrangements and responsibility for responding to audit questions. Do not assume the incorporation provider itself signs the audit report.

For tax, the IRD return-completion requirements describe financial statements, the applicable auditor’s report, tax computation and supporting schedules. Agree who prepares each, obtains director approval and submits the return. A draft computation or an uploaded file is not evidence of a successfully submitted return.

Where electronic filing applies or is chosen, ask about required formats and validation work. The current BIR51 instructions describe the phased mandatory electronic-filing rules for specified persons. The provider should check whether your company is within scope and identify the acknowledgement retained after submission. No offshore-tax outcome should be promised merely because directors or customers are overseas.

Protect the records, calendar and exit rights

Maintain a company-side calendar for document delivery, bookkeeping review, year-end preparation, audit, tax approval and submission. Record who owns each date and what happens if required information arrives late. Keep tax and financial-reporting milestones distinct from the corporate annual return and business-registration renewal.

The IRD record-keeping requirements support retaining sufficient underlying business records. Agree access, backups and export of ledgers, reconciliations and source files. On exit, obtain the reporting-period status, opening balances, outstanding queries, draft or final reports and a list of submissions already made. A software-login handover alone may leave the next accountant unable to reproduce the work.

Approve the accounting package against observable outputs

Approve the combined engagement when setup outputs and financial work are separately priced or explicitly included, transaction allowances can be applied to your systems, and accounting, audit and tax responsibilities have identifiable owners. The illustrative sale should be traceable from source documents to reconciliation and onward reporting.

Escalate before signing if the provider cannot explain its transaction count, treats net deposits as sufficient records without supporting detail, or claims audit and tax are included without named outputs. Request a revised scope rather than purchasing an undefined accounting label.