HONG KONG CORPORATE COMPLIANCE
Hong Kong Company Secretary Fees: Pricing and Inclusions
A practical way to separate the annual appointment fee from filings, registered-office services, government charges and transaction work.
For a straightforward Hong Kong private company, public annual quotes checked on 22 August 2026 showed roughly HK$1,200 to HK$3,600 for company-secretary scope, while packages that also included a registered office, annual-return preparation or a limited number of corporate changes reached about HK$5,500. Those figures are market observations, not government-set tariffs, and the cheapest offers do not always include acting as the appointed secretary.
The useful comparison is therefore not “annual fee versus annual fee.” It is the total cost for the same defined work: the legal appointment, deadline monitoring, Form NAR1 preparation, statutory-record maintenance, change filings, a Hong Kong address, mail handling, government fees and any work triggered by share or director changes. Ask for each line separately before signing.
Key takeaways
- A company-secretary service fee is a professional charge; it is not the same as Companies Registry filing fees or business-registration renewal.
- The lowest quote may cover only the appointment, reminders or one filing, leaving address, records and changes chargeable.
- An on-time Form NAR1 for a local private company currently carries a HK$105 government registration fee, separate unless the quote expressly includes it.
- Foreign founders should confirm who receives official mail, who keeps the registers and how quickly documents will be scanned or escalated.
- If a provider supplies company services as a business, verify the relevant Trust or Company Service Provider licence rather than relying on a marketing label.
What is a realistic annual fee range?
There is no statutory price for outsourced company-secretary services in Hong Kong. For a small private company with stable ownership and few changes, the public quotations reviewed for this page clustered into three functional levels. Entry offers around HK$1,200 to HK$1,800 tended to be narrow. Broader secretary packages around HK$2,200 to HK$3,600 included more filing or records work. Packages approaching HK$5,000 to HK$5,500 combined the appointment with an address, annual-return support or a stated allowance for corporate changes.
| Observed level | Indicative annual range | Scope to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow or entry | HK$1,200–HK$1,800 | Appointment, reminders or a single annual filing may be the limit. |
| Broader secretary | HK$2,200–HK$3,600 | Appointment plus NAR1, registers and specified routine changes. |
| Combined package | HK$5,000–HK$5,500 | Secretary, registered office and a capped change allowance may be bundled. |
These are not like-for-like averages and should not be used as a promise of the price available to a particular company. Group structures, regulated activities, frequent share transactions, unusual constitutional documents, overdue records or extensive beneficial-ownership work can justify a higher quote. Conversely, a resident owner who supplies a compliant address and manages records internally may need less outsourced scope.
What should the basic annual fee include?
Start with the legal appointment. The Companies Registry’s director and company-secretary guidance confirms that a private local company needs at least one natural-person director and one company secretary. A natural-person secretary should ordinarily reside in Hong Kong; a corporate secretary should have its registered office or place of business in Hong Kong. The sole director cannot also serve as the company secretary.
A quote saying “company secretary included” should identify the legal person or entity that will be appointed, the service period and the effective date. If you are transferring from another provider, the quote should also state whether appointment and cessation filings are included. The Registry says Form ND2A is used to report an appointment or cessation, generally within 15 days; Form ND2B reports changes to a secretary’s particulars within 15 days.
A practical basic scope often addresses the following, but each item must be confirmed rather than assumed:
- acting as the named company secretary for a clearly stated 12-month period;
- maintaining a compliance calendar and sending reminders early enough for action;
- preparing and delivering Form NAR1, with responsibility for checking the company’s current particulars;
- maintaining or updating statutory registers and resolutions within the agreed scope;
- keeping the Significant Controllers Register and supporting the designated-representative arrangement where expressly included;
- providing copies of filings, acknowledgements and updated records after work is completed.
Do not treat bookkeeping, audit, profits-tax filing or business-registration renewal as automatic secretary functions. Those are separate workstreams even when one firm supplies them. A useful Hong Kong company-registration service scope should identify which setup and first-year compliance items are included and which recur after the first anniversary.
The fee becomes easier to understand when the appointment, recurring administration and event-driven work are treated as separate layers.
Which items are commonly charged separately?
The on-time annual-return registration fee is a clear example. The Companies Registry’s current fee schedule lists HK$105 for a private company’s annual return delivered within 42 days after its return date. The fee rises to HK$870, HK$1,740, HK$2,610 or HK$3,480 as lateness increases. A secretary’s professional fee may cover preparation and submission but still exclude the government amount.
Other common extras include:
- Registered office and mail handling. The statutory address is a separate legal function. Confirm whether the price covers mail scanning, forwarding, postage and urgent notices.
- Corporate changes. Appointing or removing directors, changing particulars, allotting or transferring shares, changing the registered office or changing the company name may be billed per event.
- Document production. Certified copies, registers, board resolutions, share certificates, apostille or notarisation coordination and courier delivery can carry separate fees.
- Remedial work. Reconstructing incomplete statutory records, correcting rejected filings or bringing overdue returns up to date is not ordinary annual maintenance.
- Tax, accounting and audit. Bookkeeping, financial statements, audit and Inland Revenue Department filings should be itemised outside the secretary line even when bundled commercially.
Business-registration renewal is also separate from the secretary appointment. Do not infer that it is included because an incorporation package supplied the first Business Registration Certificate. For a fuller recurring-cost view, compare the secretary quote with the distinct items in Hong Kong company renewal costs .
How does company activity change the price?
A stable single-company structure is cheaper to administer than an active group because the service provider is pricing work and risk, not merely lending a name. A company with no changes may need calendar control, NAR1 preparation and records maintenance. A company raising capital, transferring shares or changing directors needs transaction documents, approvals, registers and filings that must agree with one another.
Ownership and board changes
Ask whether the package includes a number of routine changes, unlimited processing within a narrow category or no changes at all. “Free filing” may refer only to the provider’s labour and not to resolutions, instrument preparation, stamp-duty work or government charges. A share transfer is particularly different from a simple address notification because tax stamping and the company’s own approval and register updates may be involved.
Beneficial ownership and customer due diligence
Complex ownership can increase onboarding and ongoing review. The Registry for Trust and Company Service Providers explains that the Companies Registry regulates TCSPs and that licensed providers are subject to statutory customer-due-diligence and record-keeping requirements. Expect requests for ownership charts, identity evidence, address evidence, business purpose and source-of-funds information; this is different from the particulars filed to incorporate the company.
Overdue or incomplete records
A new provider should not quote routine maintenance until it understands the handover condition. Missing registers, unsigned resolutions, conflicting shareholder data and late annual returns turn a transfer into a remediation project. Request a fixed diagnostic fee or a capped remediation stage before agreeing to open-ended hourly work.
How can you compare quotes on the same basis?
Convert each proposal into a 12-month cost sheet. Use the same assumptions for every provider: one private company, the same number of directors and shareholders, the same address need, one on-time NAR1, the same expected changes and the same delivery method. If a proposal will not state an item as included, treat it as excluded until clarified in writing.
| Quote field | Question to resolve | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment | Who is appointed, from when, and for how long? | Engagement term and ND2A copy |
| Annual return | Does the price include preparation, delivery and HK$105? | Filed form and Registry acknowledgement |
| Address and mail | Are scanning, forwarding and postage capped? | Address term and mail policy |
| Corporate changes | Which events and how many are included? | Per-event schedule and exclusions |
| Renewal and exit | What is the renewal price, notice period and handover fee? | Renewal clause and records-delivery list |
Also verify the provider itself. The public TCSP Registry includes a licensee search . A licence does not guarantee service quality or a particular outcome, but it lets you confirm whether the entity named in the engagement is recorded as a licensee when licensing is required.
What should happen at handover and renewal?
At appointment, obtain the signed engagement, effective dates, contact and escalation channels, an initial compliance calendar and a list of records held. Confirm who controls the e-Services Portal relationship and how filings will be approved. The company remains responsible for accurate and timely compliance even when a service provider performs the work.
At renewal, reconcile what happened during the year. Check the current company search, the latest annual return, director and secretary particulars, registered office, members, share capital, Significant Controllers Register and pending transactions. The provider should identify upcoming dates and unresolved discrepancies before taking the next annual fee.
If you change providers, agree the transfer date so the company is never left without a qualified secretary. Require an indexed handover of registers, resolutions, certificates, filed forms, acknowledgements and electronic records. Ask whether mid-term transfer, record reconstruction or courier delivery attracts a fee, and do not rely on an informal assurance that “everything is online.”
Choose the company-secretary scope before the fee
Choose a narrow package only when the company has a compliant Hong Kong address, reliable internal record control and people who understand when separate filings are required. A broader package is usually more defensible for overseas founders, active cap tables or teams that need official mail, registers and change documents coordinated through one accountable workflow.
Before accepting, insist on four numbers: the annual professional fee, government charges, predictable third-party costs and the schedule for event-driven work. Stop and request clarification if the appointed entity, service dates, NAR1 responsibility, address arrangement, licence identity, records custody, renewal price or exit terms are missing. Those points determine the real cost more than the headline.
Frequently asked questions
Is the HK$105 annual-return fee the company secretary’s fee?
No. HK$105 is the current Companies Registry registration fee for an on-time NAR1 of a local private company. The provider’s fee pays for agreed professional work; a quote may include or exclude the government amount.
Does the company secretary fee normally include a registered office?
Not automatically. Some packages combine the two services, while others price the registered office, mail scanning, forwarding and postage separately. Confirm the address term and mail policy in writing.
Can the sole director be the company secretary?
No. A sole director of a Hong Kong private company cannot also serve as that company’s secretary. A separate qualified natural person or body corporate must be appointed.
Why does a new provider ask for ownership and identity documents?
A provider subject to the TCSP regime must perform applicable customer due diligence and record keeping. The request is part of provider onboarding and should not be confused with the narrower company particulars shown in a Companies Registry filing.
