Audit support
Audit-ready books
Audit-ready books for a Hong Kong company means every account reconciled, HKFRS-mapped schedules built, and a trial balance ready before your appointed auditor's request list arrives. Every file is reviewed by a senior reviewer before it reaches you; the audit and the sign-off required under the Companies Ordinance stay with the practising auditor you engage in Hong Kong.
Auditor request list
Illustrative client · August 2026
HKD
- Trial balance and general ledger exportDone
- Bank confirmations and statementsDone
- Receivables and payables listingsDone
- Fixed asset register with additionsIn progress
- Accruals and prepayments supportNext
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
What holds up an auditor's first day
Hong Kong auditors size their fieldwork against how ready the trial balance and supporting schedules already are. A bank account last reconciled three months ago, or a fixed-asset schedule that does not tie to the depreciation policy, adds days to an engagement before anyone even discusses the numbers themselves.
Reconciliation and schedules mapped to HKFRS
Every bank, card and balance sheet account gets reconciled to source statements. Fixed assets, accruals, prepayments and intercompany balances each carry a schedule that ties directly to the trial balance, presented in the HKFRS format your auditor expects rather than a generic export from the accounting platform.
No small-company shortcut
Hong Kong has no audit exemption tied to turnover or company size, so a small trading company and a larger one face the same expectation: a clean, reconciled file on day one of fieldwork. We build to that standard regardless of company size, since the Companies Ordinance does not distinguish between them either.
Feeding the Profits Tax Return
The audited accounts your auditor signs off on are what BIR51 gets filed against, wet-ink signature attached. Our schedules are built with that end point in mind: figures that tie out cleanly the first time reduce the queries that would otherwise stretch the audit, and by extension the filing, into a second round.
Delivery
Every month's work is reviewed by a senior reviewer before it reaches you, and your file stays in your own Xero, QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books account.
Starting point
Companies switching between Xero, QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books during the year create their own reconciliation gap at the transition point. We close that gap as part of the standard build rather than treating it as a separate cleanup project. Once the file is ready, PBC list management picks up the auditor's actual request list, and working paper preparation carries the schedules through review rounds.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Audit-ready books
Does audit-ready mean the audit is already done?
No. It means the books and schedules are ready for your auditor's fieldwork. The audit itself, and the signature on the accounts, come from the Hong Kong-registered, practising auditor you engage.
Do small companies still need a full audit?
Yes. The Companies Ordinance applies the same audit requirement regardless of size, with formal dormant-company status the only exemption.
Which software do you reconcile in?
Xero, QuickBooks Online and Zoho Books cover most of our Hong Kong engagements. We work inside the platform you already use.
What if we switched accounting software partway through the year?
We reconcile the transition itself as part of the build, so the gap between the old and new file does not surface as an open item during fieldwork.
What happens to items that stay unresolved when audit-ready books are delivered?
Anything the records alone cannot settle, such as an unexplained deposit or a missing invoice, is listed separately with what is known so far, rather than guessed at or left buried in a reconciled-looking balance.
Does this include the audit itself?
No. We prepare the books and schedules; the audit and any opinion on them come from an independent audit firm you engage and credential separately.
How early should we start preparing?
Most businesses see the biggest benefit starting two to three months before fieldwork, so open items get resolved before the auditor is on the clock.
What is included in audit-ready books?
Audit-ready books covers reconciliations for every bank, card and balance sheet account, tied to source statements and supporting schedules for accruals, prepaids, fixed assets and intercompany balances. The exact scope is agreed and set out in writing before work starts, so you know precisely what is and is not covered before the first deliverable arrives.
How is audit-ready books priced?
Pricing for audit-ready books depends on your transaction volume, the software you use, and how much cleanup is needed before ongoing work starts. Current ranges are published on the pricing page, and your exact fee is confirmed in writing before anything begins.
Related services
- Audit supportPBC list managementThe auditor's provided-by-client request list tracked item by item, with documents gathered, organized and delivered on schedule instead of chased down in the final week.
- Audit supportWorking paper preparationSupporting schedules and reconciliations built the way an auditor expects to see them, cross-referenced to the trial balance, so review comments come back with fewer open questions.
Industries
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.