Hong Kong Company Audit Preparation Checklist

Start with the company, financial year and record owner. An audit firm in Hong Kong can then answer a defined request instead of estimating from a broad label. Use the audit and accounting directory to form a longlist, then ask each provider to identify the practice that would accept the appointment. Directory inclusion does not confirm registration, scope or availability.

Set the company and audit period

Put the legal company name, company number, financial year and group structure at the top of the handoff. Add the business activities, currencies, accounting system and locations where the records sit. Name the director, finance contact and provider contact who can answer questions.

Record the first and last transaction dates in scope. Note any opening balances, prior-year adjustments, subsidiaries, dormant periods or changes in activity for the proposed practice to assess. Ask the practice to identify facts that change its engagement rather than drawing a conclusion in the request.

The Companies Registry says a company’s directors must prepare financial statements for each financial year that comply with the cited Companies Ordinance sections. Its guidance also states an audit requirement and names an exception for dormant companies under section 447. Keep any exception question open for the proposed auditor or another qualified adviser to assess from the company’s facts.

Build the records index

Create an index before uploading files. Give each row a period, owner, file location, status and open question.

Record group	Index fields
General ledger	Period, closing status, adjustment owner and export format
Bank and payment records	Account, currency, statements, reconciliations and missing items
Sales and purchases	Invoice sequence, receipts, credit notes and cut-off contact
Assets and liabilities	Register or schedule, supporting document and reconciliation
Payroll and expenses	Period, ledger tie-out, approval record and unresolved item
Prior-year material	Signed statements, prior report, closing entries and open points

The Inland Revenue Department says a business must keep sufficient income and expenditure records so assessable profits can be ascertained. Its list includes books of account, vouchers, bank statements, invoices, receipts, asset and liability records, and day-to-day money entries. The page also states a retention period of at least seven years.

Use the IRD list as a coverage check, then match each index row to the proposed engagement request. A file name such as bank-final does not show the account, period or reconciliation status. Give each file a stable name and put missing support in an open-items list.

Keep source records separate from schedules prepared for the audit. A schedule should identify its source ledger or document set, preparation date and owner. If the company changes a schedule, send a new version and state what changed.

Keep director responsibilities visible

The Companies Registry assigns preparation of the financial statements to the company’s directors in its accounts and audit guidance. Put director review and approval points in the work plan even when an outside provider prepares drafts or schedules.

Ask the engagement team which information it expects directors to confirm and when. Record who will review proposed adjustments, approve representations and authorize the final statements. Keep those decisions with the company instead of treating the document upload as approval.

Use separate rows for bookkeeping, financial-statement preparation, tax computation and audit. Name the contracting entity and output under each row. This prevents a combined proposal from hiding an unanswered responsibility or handoff.

Ask the audit firm engagement questions

The AFRC limits company-auditor appointments and services under the Companies Ordinance to a CPA (practising), CPA firm or corporate practice registered with it. Ask for the registered practice name that would appear on the engagement letter and auditor’s report. Save the register check date with the proposal.

Send the same questions to each proposed practice:

Question	Written answer to retain
Appointed practice	Registered name and engagement-letter entity
Covered company and period	Legal entity, financial year and statements in scope
Company inputs	Records, schedules, confirmations and system access requested
Engagement contacts	Company owner, practice contact and escalation route
Work stages	Planned information request, query process and sign-off points
Scope changes	Trigger, written approval route and revised output
Final handoff	Signed statements, auditor’s report and open-items record
Other work	Separate scope for accounting, tax or company-secretarial work

Ask the practice to mark each answer included, excluded or unresolved. Keep unanswered fields open. Do not infer scope, timing or a commercial term from the practice name or register result.

Prepare the filing handoff

Build the handoff around named documents rather than one final folder. Record the signed version of the financial statements, the auditor’s report, the practising certificate number supplied for the report, the tax computation owner, supporting schedules and the person responsible for filing.

The IRD’s current 2025/26 profits-tax filing tips tell the filer to state the practising certificate number of the CPA (practising) who signed the auditor’s report in the identified BIR51 field. The same page tells the filer to submit signed audited financial statements, or a certified true photocopy as described there, with the return. Check the return and instructions for the relevant year before filing because the source page is year-specific.

Ask the audit practice to state which final files it will return and how it will identify superseded drafts. Ask the person preparing the tax computation to confirm the files received and list any missing item. Keep the audit completion decision separate from the return submission decision.

Retain the engagement letter, source index, query log, approved adjustments, signed statements, auditor’s report and filing acknowledgement under one period record. The record should show who supplied each item and which version the filer used.

Common questions

Which records should I prepare before contacting an audit firm?

Start with ledgers, bank statements and reconciliations, invoices, receipts, asset and liability schedules, payroll records, prior-year material and an open-items list. The IRD’s record-keeping page gives the official record categories. Add the company, period, owner and status to each row.

Does appointing an audit firm transfer responsibility for the financial statements?

The Companies Registry says the company’s directors must prepare the financial statements for each financial year under the cited provisions. Keep director review and approval points in the work plan when a provider prepares drafts or supporting schedules.

How do I check the proposed company auditor?

Ask for the practice name that would appear on the engagement letter and report. The AFRC explains the registered-practice boundary for company-auditor appointments and links to its search tools. Save the name, result and check date.

Should tax-return preparation sit inside the audit scope?

Give the tax computation and filing work separate rows. The IRD’s current filing tips identify documents and report information used in the 2025/26 filing handoff. Ask each provider to state its contracting entity, output and responsibility for that row.

What should the final handoff contain?

Retain the signed financial statements, auditor’s report, report identifier requested by the current return, final adjustment record, tax-computation handoff and filing acknowledgement. Label each file with its period, version, owner and status.