Outsourced accounting services for a Hong Kong company is a very common amongst business owners because of a few aspects:
- Not needing to worry about legal and tax
- Not having to spend time understanding the law, communicating with the local tax department, and to look for a proper auditor
But as great as it sounds, there is a flip side:
Not everyone is reliable or knows what they are doing – so it can soon end in a nightmare rather than a relief. If you are tired of your current outsourced accounting service in Hong Kong or are looking for one, then contact us to see whether and how we can help you.
That is why we have created for you this checklist to determine whether you have found a good Hong Kong outsourced accounting service.
Tip 1 – Outsourced Accounting Services in Hong Kong are CPAs.
Check: Are they accountants (short: CPA in HK)?
Why this is important?
CPA means certified practicing accountant (just a fancy word for tax account).
If someone provides outsourced accounting services in Hong Kong, then they should also have tax accountants within their team.
Some companies sell accounting services in Hong Kong, but are just an “interface company” – meaning they will hand it over to tax accounting firm in the background.
Also, make sure that these are Hong Kong accountants and have actually studied it in Hong Kong.
Bonus point:
If the founder of the company himself is a Hong Kong accountant, that is best.
Because let us be honest, from business owner to business owner:
If you do not know what good quality in the delivery of your product means, how can you measure whether your employees are doing a good job?
Note:
Pay attention that most companies out there are not really Hong Kong accountants, but rather agencies (middle man) who do provide the outsourced accounting service in Hong Kong, but behind them is a subprovider who is then an accountant in Hong Kong.
How to check this?
You can check their outsourced accounting license in Hong Kong easily on the internet. Let us show you how.
Step 1: Go to the Hong Kong government website with all registered CPAs (AFRC).
Step 2: Search
Type in the accounting firm’s name in the search box (see red box in screenshot below) and click on Search, e.g. if you search for us, you can type in “Reachtop KSHK”.
Step 3: Result
You see the result of your search.
Below, you can see the result for our accounting firm (here is also the link).
Further reading:
Understand how to choose a good company for registering a Hong Kong company.
Tip 2 – Outsourced Accounting Services in Hong Kong speak Mandarin.
Check: Do they speak the local language (Mandarin)?
Why this is important?
Although most people in Hong Kong do speak English, it is highly recommended to be able to speak Mandarin as an accounting service in Hong Kong, in particular when dealing with government officials.
When it comes to outsourced accounting service in Hong Kong and other complicated topics (claiming offshore label), speaking Mandarin with the officials can go a long way.
How to check this?
If they are from Hong Kong, then that is quite obvious.
If they are foreigners who are in Hong Kong, then this may become hard to validate.
Tip 3 – Outsourced Accounting Services Hong Kong have local network.
Check: Do they have network within Hong Kong?
Why this is important?
As the saying goes: Your network = Your net worth.
There is some truth in it, as having a good network in business and in life can help you to go faster and further in life. The same goes when opening a company in Hong Kong.
If your accountant knows the right people, you will see that opening bank accounts will be faster, applying for offshore labels can be facilitated.
Usually, a good indicator of someone having network can be whether they were born, raised, have studied and stay in Hong Kong for a while.
How to check this?
You can ask them whether they can help you with opening a bank account with a traditional bank like HSBC (not fintech such as AirWallex).
Opening a bank account with a traditional bank is more cumbersome than opening a business bank account with a fintech company. If they have a network, they can arrange a meeting for you quicker and give you a referral so the application process is smoother.
Note:
Referrals from CPAs are highly regarded in Hong Kong.
Further reading:
Understand what is important to easily open a business bank account in Hong Kong.
Tip 4 – Outsourced Accounting Services Hong Kong speak English.
Check: Do they speak English fluently?
Why this is important?
Although it may be hard to find a Russian-speaking outsourced accountant in Hong Kong, please make sure that they speak fluent English such that:
- they can deliver their thoughts
- they are concise in their choice of words
- they don’t have a problem understanding you (even if English is not your native language)
This is very important to make sure that the communication between the two of you is seamless, and you do not waste time communicating all day (because why would you need an outsourced accountant then?).
How to check this?
If you have a call with them, you can check how good their English is.
But:
Make sure the person on the call is not different from the person you will work with at the end.
Sometimes there are sales representatives on the call with superb English, but then you end up working with someone whose English level is not nearly as good.
Tip 5 – Outsourced Accounting Services Hong Kong know Western working culture.
Check: Are they experienced with working with foreigners?
Why this is important?
People from Hong Kong are generally quite open to other cultures, but working with foreigners from other western countries can be a different game.
If they have worked with people from your country, they will know:
- what you care about
- what will be important to you
- how to communicate with you
For example, we always try to be 5 minutes earlier for our calls with clients as we have noticed that many Europeans value being on time and thus, they tend to be in the call a couple of minutes earlier.
How to check this?
Read through their customer reviews and testimonials and see where their customer base is coming from.
Tip 6 – Outsourced Accounting Services Hong Kong work digitally.
Check: Are they comfortable working digitally?
Why this is important?
Most foreigners who choose an outsourced accounting service are not in Hong Kong, and they need someone who comfortably work with them digitally, e.g.
- communicating through WhatsApp, Email etc. (we use whatever suits our customers)
- communicating within certain discussed time frames (we answer within 72 hours latest)
- keeping documents organized at a central place (we use a central Google Drive folder for all documents)
How to check this?
It is always a good indication on how seamless, the first interaction is with the outsourced accounting service and whether they know how to use video calls, sharing screens and sharing documents.
Of course, it can be good asking them these questions:
- What digital tools do you use with your customers to facilitate coordination?
- What do you use for communication with customers?
- What do you use for file and document storage?
- What do you use for reminding each other for deadlines or tasks that I have to do?
Tip 7 – Outsourced Accounting Services Hong Kong are responsible.
Check: Are they reliable and organized?
Why this is important?
Having an unreliable outsourced accounting service can be a nightmare.
Not only will they make you lose time, but also sleep because if things go wrong, it is you who has to talk to the government officials.
How to check this?
This one is very hard to check, and usually you will find this out during collaboration, but you can guess it a little bit through their way of communication and also their customer reviews.
Tip 8 – Outsourced accounting services in Hong Kong are an All-in-One-Service.
We recommend that you use an outsourced accounting service that deals with all the bureaucratic tasks at once:
- accounting tasks
- bookkeeping tasks
- secretary for your Hong Kong company
- Virtual office address
- audit
This way you do not need to communicate between different entities that will take a lot of time and energy.
If you think there are things, that are missing on this list, please let us know to add these to it and learn from you.
FAQ: Outsource Accounting Services in Hong Kong
1 – What is the best oursource accounting service in Hong Kong?
We believe there is no best service as we have not tested them all, but make sure the accounant:
- Is a licensed Hong Kong CPA
- Can communicate well in English
- Knows how to work digitally
If you want, book a call with us to qualify whether we can be a suitable partner for you.
2 – How much does an outsource accounting service in Hong Kong cost?
Usually estimate an approximate of 1000 to 2000 USD per year. There are people that claim that a Hong Kong company costs a lot, but as always it depends who you work with.
If you choose big accounting firms like PWC, KPMG or Deloitte that usually work with corporations, that may cost an arm and a leg. But as a freelancer or small or medium-sized business a small accounting firm is completely enough.
Feel free to contact us with your business information (number of clients, invoices per years, niche) and we will give you a fixed price offer.
3 – What tasks should an outsource accounting service cover?
Usually, they should cover the following tasks:
- Bookkeeping
- Tax filling
- Communication with tax department
- Secretary service
- Virtual office rental
- Audit
- Advise and execute on offshore claim (if you want to apply for 0% corporate tax)
