Special situations
Records reconstruction
Rebuilding a Hong Kong company's financial history from bank statements and source documents when the original books were never properly kept or have gone missing. Finbryn reconstructs the ledger period by period and documents every assumption a practising Hong Kong CPA needs to see before the audit begins.
Bank reconciliation summary
Illustrative client · August 2026
HKD
| Account | Difference | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating account··4821 | 184,220.16 | 184,220.16 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Reserve account··0937 | 60,000.00 | 60,000.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Company card··1006 | (12,418.52) | (12,418.52) | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Card processor clearing | 8,905.40 | 8,905.40 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Payroll clearing | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
Last weekly runFri 28 Aug, every account agreed to its statement.
Two open itemsTwo card receipts requested from you, marked on the card account until they arrive.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
When there is no file to start from
Some Hong Kong companies operate for years without a proper set of books at all, working off a spreadsheet, a folder of invoices, or nothing more than online banking. Others lose the file entirely when a previous bookkeeper stops responding. Either way, the annual statutory audit still has to happen, and it needs a ledger to work from, not a shoebox of paper.
How we rebuild it
We start from bank, card and payment-processor statements, since those are the one record that is almost always available and cannot be edited after the fact. Invoices, receipts and MPF records are matched back to those transactions wherever they can be found. Where a document genuinely does not exist, we note the gap rather than estimate a figure and present it as fact.
Building around Hong Kong's audit requirement
Because every active company needs an annual audit regardless of size, a reconstructed ledger here is built to a standard your appointed practising Hong Kong CPA can work from directly: a chart of accounts that matches how the business actually operates, a profit and loss account and balance sheet for each affected period, and disclosed related-party and director-loan balances rather than a single netted figure.
What you receive
A reconstructed ledger across the affected periods, in Xero, QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books, alongside a documented list of every assumption and every gap. Your auditor decides what further evidence, if any, a specific balance needs; we make sure the starting point is honest about where the numbers come from.
Next step
Once the reconstruction is complete, monthly bookkeeping or a multi-year catch-up can carry the file forward. Book a call to talk through what records survive before we scope the work.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Records reconstruction
Do you flag figures that rest on an assumption rather than a document?
Yes. Every assumption is written down separately from figures tied to a source document, so your practising Hong Kong CPA can see exactly which is which.
Can reconstructed books support our statutory audit?
Yes. We build them to a standard your appointed practising Hong Kong CPA can work from, and we flag anywhere the reconstruction rests on an assumption rather than a source document.
How long does reconstruction usually take?
It depends on how much survives and how many periods are affected. We scope a timeline once we have seen what records exist.
What source documents do you use when the original books never existed?
Bank and card statements first, then any invoices, contracts or receipts you can still locate, cross-checked against deposits and withdrawals to build a version of the year that is as complete as the surviving paper trail allows.
Is reconstructed data treated any differently once it is in our books?
Yes. Entries built from an assumption rather than a document are tagged as such in the working notes, so anyone reviewing the file later, including an auditor, can see exactly which figures rest on inference.
What if some records are simply gone?
We work from what remains, bank and card statements, vendor confirmations, prior filings, and document every assumption we have to make.
Can reconstructed books support a tax filing?
Yes. We build them to a standard your credentialed preparer can rely on, and we flag anywhere the reconstruction is an estimate rather than a fact.
How is records reconstruction priced?
Pricing for records reconstruction 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.
What software works with records reconstruction?
Records reconstruction runs inside QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever you already use. If you are not yet set up in either, we can configure a file in your name so you keep ownership of it once the engagement is under way.
Related services
- Special situationsMulti-year catch-upBringing several years of unreconciled or missing books current in one structured engagement, scoped and timed before the work starts.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
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.