Starting a small business often requires understanding many different business fields, such as the day-to-day operations, customer service, management, and even doing the company accounts and tax filing.
Many entrepreneurs find this topic dreadful as they must prepare endless stacks of financial documents and company information to prepare the company books. This can further strain the running of the business for busy founders. This is where Startupr can help. We work with a wide range of businesses to provide solutions for handling their accounts.
We offer professional bookkeeping and accounting services to the companies who are searching for quality services and outsourcing their company accounts. With our experience in accounting and tax matters in Hong Kong, we will work to keep your financials in proper order.
Startupr Bookkeeping & Accounting Services for Small Business in Hong Kong
This article will provide you with an overview of the essential accounting, bookkeeping, and taxation services in Hong Kong for your business entity.
Bookkeeping Services in Hong Kong
A bookkeeper is a person to record the transactions of the company like the payment of bills, the collection of accounts receivable, payroll, purchases, sales, etc. Whether you operate a small business or a big enterprise, every company needs a bookkeeper. Since these recorded transactions are used to pay the taxes of the company later on, it is always better to hire a professional bookkeeper.
As most business owners know, bookkeeping is also a time consuming process, and often requires meticulous organizational skills to prepare accurate financial statements. These statements may also vary from country to country. That’s why it’s advisable to hire a professional firm that has a background in preparing bookkeeping and accounting services in Hong Kong for your company.
Pricing
We offer affordable prices for all different types of companies. Our accounts are in accordance to Hong Kong Accounting Standards and we maintain a high quality when managing your company books.
The Pricing Page for our bookkeeping services outlines all of our accounting options.
What do all services include in our Bookkeeping services?
Our Bookkeeping services include:
- Preparation of financial statements
- Generate monthly reports
- Create Management accounts (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, General Ledger)
- Bank reconciliation
Bookkeeping software we use (Quickbooks and Xero)
Once you have the company documents in place, the next issue to address is which accounting software is best for your company?
After all, it’s about managing the records of your business accounts. If the records of the transactions are managed well, it will help you analyze the business performance accurately. Let’s see a brief explanation about the types of bookkeeping software we use:
QuickBooks
The bookkeeping software that we use most for our clients is Quickbooks. Generally, this is a small business accounting software program that is used to manage sales, expenses and track the daily transactions of your business. This software can be used for invoicing customers, paying bills, generating reports for planning, tax filing, and more. In short, whether you are a solo entrepreneur or a mid-sized business, this bookkeeping software can help manage every document efficiently.
The top uses of QuickBooks for small business owners are:
- Manage Sales and Income: With the help of Quickbooks software, you can easily manage the sales and income of your business just by creating invoices to track sales by customers.
- Keep Track of Bills and Expenses: This bookkeeping software can automatically keep track of your bills and expenses by connecting your bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks. In this way, all of your expenses can be downloaded and appropriately categorized.
- Profit and Loss Report: It can also help run the profit and loss reports in just a couple of minutes. It will show you how profitable you are by summarizing your overall net profit.
- Statement of Cash Flows: In Quickbooks, you can quickly create a statement of cash flows. With this report, you can manage all the activities that affect the operating, investing, and financing cash inflow and outflow for your business.
Xero
Are you a Mac user? Xero is the best small business accounting software for Mac users because it is cloud-based and accessible from any device or computer. With this feature, Mac users don’t experience any loss of usability or features. In fact, Xero is a good value for small businesses because all of its plans incorporate nearly every feature, such as: accounts payable, inventory management tools, and estimates which are generally available in top-tier plans. Here are some features of Xero that you should know:
- Worth Spending: Xero is a good value for small businesses because all of its plans include nearly every feature – estimates, accounts payable, and inventory management tools, which are frequently only available in top-tier plans.
- Ease of Use: This bookkeeping software allows business owners to set up their accounts easily. It gives employers the right to acquaint a wide range of tasks with an online accounting solution, such as connecting your business bank account, adding a customer, and creating your first invoice. If anyone needs additional help with how to link and upload videos, then this software could also let one know about the required steps.
- Timesaving Features: The next feature of this bookkeeping software is that it saves time of the executives by streamlining different processes. Also, it provides entrepreneurs with the right tools to accomplish financial tasks faster.
- Inventory Tracking and Purchase Ordering: Whenever you create an invoice or quotation, you can see yourself how many of each item you have in stock. And in case you entered more than intended, it alerts you with a red popup box. If you need to reorder inventory, you can use the software to create and send purchase orders as well.
What are accounting Services for a Small Business in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong companies are required to prepare financial accounts to record their company transactions as in accordance with HKFRS (Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards). This requires them to follow the rules in Hong Kong for preparing the accounts, and also to record proper documentation and eventual tax filing, in a timely manner.
We at Startupr provide accounting services for your company’s transactions. We will assist you in preparing all the required financial controls, financial reports, and performance ratios, all based on the information entered in the bookkeeping system.
With our years of experience in accounting and bookkeeping services in Hong Kong, Startupr will do its best to keep your financial statements in order. We pride ourselves in providing accurate and efficient account services, coupled with our accounting software.
Financial Statements and Reports
Startupr will help manage the financial statements and reports of your business. Generally, we offer the knowledge essential to business owners for the growth of their organization through properly presented and accurately prepared management accounts. To be more specific, we help you with:
- Accurate financial reports of your business at predefined time intervals.
- Support to your external accountants for their performance enhancement
- Professionally controlled figures that are in correct order
- Relevant recommendations based on information related to actual performance
- Professionally presented reports that stakeholders will have confidence in
If you are looking for professionals who can help with the business expansion and preparing detailed accounting and bookkeeping services in Hong Kong, Startupr would be your best choice.
Taxation Services in Hong Kong
The accounting and tax collection services are pretty important in every country, so there is no exception in Hong Kong. Every incorporated company in Hong Kong will need to file the Profits Tax Return (PTR) for each respective year when conducting business, which is issued by the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD).
The company would also need to manage their company accounts so that it can be submitted to a Certified Public Accountant. After the submission, the accounts will be audited and then filed to the government.
Once the accounts have been prepared and audited, the taxation computation and audit reports will be submitted with the PTR to the Inland Revenue Department. If you are dealing with some taxation problems, Startupr can help you with it. We offer timely responses for your tax matters.
Profits Tax Return (PTR) Filing
All Hong Kong companies are legally obliged to file the PTR to the government. This should be accompanied with the company’s audit report and tax computation, generated by a Hong Kong CPA.
The Inland Revenue Department would issue the very PTR (Profits tax return) of the company after the 18 months of incorporation, and subsequent PTRs every 12 months after, normally in April.
In general, whether your company operates their business within Hong Kong or outside the city, you would still need to file a PTR with your company accounts. Therefore, every incorporated company is liable to submit their accounts accurately and in a timely manner.
Startupr can assist companies to submit the PTR and audit financial statements provided by an independent CPA firm for your business. If you need to have the annual PTR filing completed for your company, contact us today.
Employer’s Return (ER) Filing
Employers are also required to file the employer’s return to the IRD. The purpose behind this form is to report the information related to the employee’s remuneration like salaries, pensions, and wages in the relevant year of assessment to the HK government.
During the year the IRD will issue the ER form to companies in Hong Kong for filing the income for their employees and directors. The employers would need to present the relevant information on the pensions and remunerations paid to its employees to the IRD within one month from the issued date.
We provide corporate services for filing Employer’s Returns for Hong Kong companies.
Individual Tax Return (BIR60) Filing
Another form that needs to be filed by every taxpayer is the individual tax return form (BIR60) with the IRD. The individual will usually receive this form if they have taxable income during the period. Otherwise, the individual should inform the IRD about any income subject to tax.
The year of assessment runs from April 1 through March 31 of the following year. By May 1st, the IRD issues the individual tax returns to the taxpayers, which is to be submitted within 1 month. The IRD will then issue a tax demand note for the payment of taxes.
If you are confused on how to file out this form, or how to declare your income earned throughout the year, Startupr can help. We offer services for individual tax returns and calculations all the income and deductions you can claim in Hong Kong.
Declaring Income for Tax Purposes for Foreigners
Did you know that working or doing business as a non-resident in Hong Kong may cause tax liabilities for your income? However, not all forms of income are chargeable in Hong Kong. You may also be required to notify the IRD before 1 month of your departure date of Hong Kong, or face penalties for non-compliance.
A common request from our clients is declaring income for tax purposes for their operations in Hong Kong, be it their incomes from business or for salary tax purposes.
We at Startupr can assist you with the necessary tax filings for your income and also tax computation for the taxes due to the IRD.
Additional Accounting Services
If you want any extra support from Startupr, apart from accounting, taxation and bookkeeping services, we have your back. We offer additional accounting services as per the suggestions and requirements of our clients. These additional services are tailor-made for your company and would be quoted based on your requirements.
In each case, we would spend ample time and make sure the best solution for your company matters.
Our services for this include the following:
- Management account consultation
- Implement tax strategies to enhance tax efficiency
- Consult on tax effects of international transactions
- Tax compliance services such as tax computation and tax form preparation
- Advice on offshore status and profits tax exemption to the IRD
- Compose response for IRD Tax Query Letter
- Other services
If you require further in-depth services, we can quote you based on the time required to satisfy your needs.
Conclusion
By now you may have a better idea about the importance of accounting, bookkeeping, and taxation services in Hong Kong. Having up to date accounts can impact the growth and operations of your business. That’s why it’s suggested to hire professionals accountants when the company grows and the finances get complex.
Hiring Startupr as your tax advisor and bookkeeper would allow you to organize and submit all the relevant documents to the IRD. We offer comprehensive services from efficient maintenance of the company books, satisfying international tax compliance responsibilities, consultation in effective tax plans to lower taxes, moderate taxation risks, and many more.
We have worked with clients from all over the world from industries of different sizes and backgrounds. Whether you own a business in the IT sector, consultation, services industries, or any other sector, Startupr can assist you. We strive to complete each engagement efficiently and effectively to suit each of our client’s needs.
For more information, contact Startupr today and start organizing your accounts for your Hong Kong company!