Hong Kong CPA and companies have become increasingly in demand amongst online remote workers, digital nomads and entrepreneurs living in Asia and Latin America in the past few years
No wonder when we look at the reasons:
- you can open and manage the company without flying into Hong Kong
- you can open bank accounts online with top-tier international banks
- it has a good reputation and standing point with EU and USA clients
- and you can save 0% corporate tax and dividend tax in Hong Kong
- Dubai has become less attractive due to the 9% tax policy
Further reading:
Read more about the benefits why many digital nomads choose a Hong Kong company these days.
In this article, we want to help foreigners and non-residents in Hong Kong to find the right Hong Kong CPA (certified public accountant) to
- open a Hong Kong company
- open a Hong Kong business bank account
- manage the Hong Kong accounting and audit procedures
1 – Hong Kong CPA: Validate their license
Every Hong Kong CPA is listed in the registry of the Hong Kong government website.
Make sure that the CPA firm and/or the CPA is listed in here to not fall for a scam or a firm acting as a middleman between you and a CPA firm.
In order to check it, please follow these steps:
Step 1: Click on the government CPA website
Step 2: Enter the name of the CPA firm.
Step 3: Click on Search
You will see the list of results such (name, address and registration number) as we have done for our CPA firm by searching “Reachtop”.
If the firm is not listed here, we do not recommend opening a company with them or trusting your accountancy with them.
2 – Hong Kong CPA: English knowledge
Especially, as a foreigner it is very important that the level of English of the CPA firm is good and also at a business and professional level.
You probably know yourself how important communication is in business and even more so when it is between:
- different cultures
- completely online and remote
- non-native speakers of English (yes, the native language of Hong Kong-ese is Cantonese)
So during a first consultation call make sure that the person you are speaking to
- speaks good English
- can differentiate between nuances of words
- is detailed in their communication style
Also make sure that this is not a sales representative with no accounting knowledge.
You don’t want to speak to very articulate sales representatives and after sales, talk to staff with very bad English.
As for us:
Our accountants who help you in a consultation call are also the ones who will later on manage your company – we like you to already meet the person who will accompany you throughout the year.
3 – Hong Kong CPA: Mandarin knowledge
Opening a Hong Kong company has become a business model for many agencies out there, so many of those are foreigners who do not actually speak Mandarin as it is not required during opening a Hong Kong company.
But it is very important to speak Mandarin during compliance, audit and speaking to tax officials.
Some firms have a client-facing staff that speaks good English and then a government-facing staff that speaks Mandarin.
This looks like a good idea at the first sight, but brings problems along the way.
Having multiple people communicating in between makes communication less efficient and effective as important information are either lost or not conveyed in the right way.
This is why each of our Hong Kong CPAs speaks both Mandarin and English and are both client- and government-facing.
This allows us to guarantee a smooth process for you and no headaches so you can focus on your business.
4 – Hong Kong CPA: A CPA as founder and director
You probably know that the direction (quality, customer service) all comes down to the philosophy of the founder and/or director of the company.
That is why we believe the founder and director of a CPA firm should also be a CPA and not an unrelated business field.
A Non-CPA founder may compromise quality of audit and accounting for the profit of the firm because he does not understand which step of the accounting and audit process are essential.
On the other hand a CPA as a founder knows:
- how to make sure that quality stays the same
- can contribute with his knowledge when the staff come to their limit
- keeps up-to-date and thus makes sure staff and the CPA firm is up-to-date with new legal and tax laws
5 – Hong Kong CPA: The network
The saying “your network is your net worth” is also true for Hong Kong.
Having a good network with
- lawyers to file legal documents for your business
- government officials to know about upcoming changes (before official announcements)
- bank tellers to facilitate bank openings
can be crucial and makes your life as a business owners simpler and faster in Hong Kong.
Make sure that your incorporation company or CPA in Hong Kong also ticks these three boxes of network at least, so you are not alone and can connect to an already existing network.
6 – Hong Kong CPA: Experience with bank openings for non-residents
A Hong Kong company without a business bank account is basically a nice decoration, but you cannot use it.
It is important that your Hong Kong CPA has knowledge about bank openings both with fintechs and traditional banks and their differences to advise what is best for you (Read more: The differences between traditional and fintech banks in Hong Kong).
Furthermore, it is important to know
- the processes within those banks
- the documents needed (especially with traditional banks)
- tips to speed up the process
- having dedicated account managers at those banks who the CPA can connect you to directly
- what to say and not to say during bank openings (oversharing can be a problem here sometimes).
Also it is recommended to investigate before a company opening whether a bank opening will be possible.
We do this during our consultation call and check whether a bank opening is possible for you.
Read more:
How to open a bank account in Hong Kong as a foreigner in a hassle-free way.
7 – Hong Kong CPA: Experience with offshore claims and 0% corporate tax
Many international business owners would like to seize the opportunity to get the offshore claim in Hong Kong.
This allows them to pay 0% tax in Hong Kong and sometimes even in their home country (if structured well).
The offshore claim is not complicated, but you need to know how it works and what the government officials exactly look at.
Make sure that your CPA has already accompanied many foreign business owners on this path, so they are familiar with all the small details.
Small mistakes can already harm the process and make you not eligible for it.
We as a CPA firm generally have succeeded to help all our clients so far to get the offshore claim, but it is best practice to never guarantee it.
Think of it this way:
Before getting on a plane, you know that there is a probability that it can crash and you can die.
The probability may be low, but it exists.
The same goes for the offshore claim and it would be unrealistic to give a 100% guarantee.
During our consultation call, we usually look at your business and how it needs to make it an offshore business by law. Book a call if you want an individual offshore consultation.
Read more:
Find out more about offshore claims and how to pay 0% taxes as a non-resident in Hong Kong.
