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HAINAN SETUPChina market entry

Bookkeeping & tax

Bookkeeping, Tax Filing & Payroll Services for Businesses in China

Monthly bookkeeping should do more than meet a deadline. We connect source documents, ledgers, tax filings and operating evidence so management can see the business and support the positions it claims.

  • Monthly bookkeeping
  • Tax filing
  • Annual compliance support
Paper-cut illustration of a bookkeeping ledger, calculator, receipts, checklist and financial charts beside a Hainan coastline

Quick answer

What do bookkeeping and tax filing services cover for a China company?

China bookkeeping and tax filing services maintain the company’s accounting records, reconcile transactions, prepare the filings assigned to its taxpayer status, and preserve the evidence needed for annual compliance and management decisions. The recurring scope should connect contracts, invoices, bank movements, payroll and tax returns rather than treat each filing as an isolated task.

  • Monthly records: collect and reconcile bank, invoice, contract, payroll and expense evidence.
  • Tax calendar: prepare VAT, surcharges, individual income tax and corporate income tax filings when applicable.
  • Annual work: support the CIT settlement, market-subject annual report and any required audit.
  • Policy evidence: keep accounting records aligned with any Hainan substantive-operation or incentive claim.

Core service scope

A recurring finance function for the China entity.

Your exact filing frequency depends on taxpayer type, activity and registration. We maintain one calendar and tell you what is due, what is missing and what requires a management decision.

The work connects fapiao management with monthly or quarterly VAT reporting; our China fapiao & VAT invoice guide explains the underlying invoice workflow.

01

Books

Transaction posting, account reconciliation and supporting-document review.

02

Tax

VAT, surcharges, IIT and CIT filings according to the applicable calendar.

03

Invoices

Invoice-use tracking and alignment between contracts, revenue and tax records.

04

Reporting

Monthly issue list and management-level financial visibility.

The monthly cycle

Close each month before small gaps become annual problems.

The process is designed for overseas owners: a predictable request list, a visible issue log and fewer last-minute questions at year-end.

  1. 01

    Collect source records

    Bank statements, invoices, contracts, payroll and expense evidence are collected against a consistent monthly checklist.

    Evidence first

  2. 02

    Book and reconcile

    Transactions are classified, bank balances reconciled and missing or inconsistent records flagged while they can still be corrected.

    Accurate ledgers

  3. 03

    Prepare tax filings

    Required VAT, surcharges, individual income tax and corporate income tax filings are prepared according to the company’s taxpayer status and filing calendar.

    Current obligations

  4. 04

    Management summary

    You receive a concise view of revenue, costs, cash movements, taxes due and unresolved items—not only a filing receipt.

    Useful reporting

15% CIT compliance support

The tax rate follows the operation—not the registration address.

Eligible encouraged-industry enterprises that are registered and substantively operating in Hainan may qualify for the 15% corporate income tax rate. The official test looks at actual management and control over operations, people, accounts and assets.

Encouraged-industry revenue

Contracts, invoices and accounting classifications should support how qualifying revenue is identified and measured against the applicable catalogue.

People and management

Decision-making, employment, payroll and social-insurance records help show who actually manages and performs the company’s Hainan activity.

Books and banking

Local ledgers, tax filings, invoice flows and bank transactions should tell the same commercial story as the contracts and operations.

Premises and assets

Lease, workstation use, equipment and asset records should match the activity and scale claimed by the company.

Eligibility is assessed under current catalogues and tax rules. Bookkeeping support helps organize evidence but cannot guarantee a preferential tax result.

Official tax rule ↗

Companies maintaining a Hainan + Hong Kong two-layer structure can refer to our corporate structuring guide for the full dividend path and compliance requirements.

Year-end and annual work

A clean year-end starts in January.

We prepare the accounting record so annual compliance is a controlled close rather than a reconstruction exercise.

Annual CIT settlement

Reconcile annual taxable income, adjustments and available supporting schedules.

Market-subject annual report

Coordinate required corporate information for the annual public reporting process.

Audit support

Prepare ledgers and evidence for an audit when law, a bank, investor or internal policy requires one.

Policy evidence file

Organize operating, revenue and accounting records used in a tax or incentive review.

New-client handover

Changing accountants should not mean losing the history.

We start with a ledger, tax, invoice and filing-status review. The handover list normally covers prior financial statements, tax submissions, invoice records, bank statements, payroll data, contracts, fixed assets and unresolved authority notices.

Opening balance check

Filing-status confirmation

Missing-document log

90-day correction plan

Ongoing finance operations

Bookkeeping, tax filing and payroll built around evidence you can explain.

Monthly compliance works when the ledger, bank statement, contract, invoice, delivery evidence and tax treatment describe the same transaction. It fails when documents arrive only at the filing deadline or when a payment has no clear business owner. Our bookkeeping service creates a recurring close process: collect the records, identify gaps, book the transaction, prepare the applicable filing, return questions to management and preserve an auditable month-end file.

The service is designed for foreign-invested businesses whose owners need plain-English visibility as well as China-compliant records. We explain what is due, what information is missing, what assumptions cannot be made and which decision needs a licensed or specialist adviser. Payroll can be connected to employment records, individual income tax and local social-insurance arrangements so people costs do not sit outside the accounting process.

What you receive

Monthly close checklist

A recurring calendar for bank statements, sales, purchases, expenses, payroll, related-party items and management questions.

Bookkeeping and reconciliations

Ledger entries tied to source records, with bank, receivable, payable, tax and key balance reconciliations.

Tax filing workpapers

Applicable return preparation supported by schedules, documented questions and confirmation of the filing status.

Payroll coordination

Salary inputs, employee changes, individual income tax information and local contribution data connected to the monthly close.

Annual compliance pack

Year-end schedules for corporate-income-tax settlement, annual reporting, audit support and other applicable declarations.

What we need from you

Revenue records

Contracts, orders, invoices, delivery evidence, platform statements and receipts matched to the correct customer and period.

Costs and payments

Supplier contracts, compliant invoices, expense claims, bank proof and a clear business purpose for each material payment.

People information

Employment terms, attendance, salary changes, benefits, reimbursable expenses and joiner or leaver dates before payroll cut-off.

Cross-border and related parties

Agreements, invoices, tax support, transfer explanations and bank documents for capital, services, loans, royalties or dividends.

Who this service fits

  • Newly registered China companies that want a clean process from the first capital receipt and expense.
  • Operating foreign-invested businesses that need bilingual reporting and a visible compliance calendar.
  • Companies changing providers or repairing records after missed documents, inconsistent balances or unclear filing status.

When this is not the right service

  • Businesses asking for invented invoices, concealed revenue, unsupported deductions or backdated records.
  • Owners who will not provide contracts, bank records or transaction explanations needed to support the accounts.
  • Projects seeking a guaranteed tax rate or policy qualification without testing the current rules and operating facts.

How the engagement works

Every stage has an input, an owner and a checkable output.

1. Initial fit check. Send a short description of the business, entity status, target outcome, timing and records already available. We use that information to decide whether this service matches the problem and to identify the few questions that materially change scope. A free first discussion is for scoping; it is not a legal opinion, tax opinion or promise that an authority or institution will accept the case.

2. Written scope and responsibilities. Before paid work begins, the proposal identifies deliverables, information owners, milestones, dependencies, fees, exclusions and the normal communication route. If the work may require a lawyer, tax adviser, customs specialist, translator, property provider, bank or another third party, that dependency is visible rather than hidden inside a general “full service” label. The client can see what our team will do and what still belongs to management or an external decision maker.

3. Document intake and gap review. We organize the records received and mark what is complete, missing, inconsistent, expired or awaiting confirmation. A document gap and an operating gap are not treated as the same thing: a missing copy may be collected, while missing people, premises, transactions or management activity may require a real business change. We explain the effect on cost and timing before the team continues down a path built on an unsupported assumption.

4. Dependency-based execution. Work moves in the order the facts and institutions require, not in the order that makes a progress list look busy. Each material checkpoint records the current status, question owner and next action. Management remains responsible for commercial choices and the truth and completeness of information supplied. We remain responsible for the consulting, preparation and coordination promised in the written scope.

5. Review before submission or commitment. Where the service leads to an application, filing, lease, bank interaction or recurring compliance process, the responsible client contact reviews the material assumptions and approvals before the relevant commitment. We separate “prepared,” “submitted,” “accepted,” “under review” and “approved,” because those states create different responsibilities. A receipt or institution response is retained where available instead of treating an internal task completion as proof of an external result.

6. Handover and continuing obligations. Completion includes a practical handover: what was delivered, what remains open, the next deadlines, who controls documents or credentials, and which events should trigger a new review. If the company needs a connected service—such as registration followed by bookkeeping, or premises followed by policy evidence—that next scope is explicit. The goal is a company team that knows what it has, what it must maintain and when it should ask for help again.

Pricing expectations

Confirm the scope first. Quote the real work second.

Fees reflect transaction volume, taxpayer status, number of bank and platform accounts, employees, currencies, inventory, related-party activity, historic cleanup and reporting needs. A low-activity startup and a trading company with monthly customs, payroll and foreign-currency transactions should not be quoted as the same job.

The pricing page shows starting options. After a records review, we confirm the recurring scope, cut-off dates, excluded specialist work and any one-time catch-up fee before the service begins.

Connected services

Connect this work to the next stage of the company lifecycle.

Frequently asked questions

Questions to settle before engagement.

Does a company with no revenue still need bookkeeping and filings?+

Usually the company still has record-keeping and filing obligations according to its registered and tax status. A nil return is not permission to ignore bank movements, capital, expenses or deadlines. We confirm the applicable calendar when onboarding.

Can you take over from another accountant?+

Yes, after checking ledgers, returns, bank reconciliations, invoice systems, credentials, open questions and the latest completed period. We document missing records and agree whether cleanup is required before normal monthly service starts.

Is payroll included?+

Payroll can be included or coordinated as a defined module. The scope depends on headcount, cities, compensation structure, individual income tax, social insurance and whether employment or immigration specialists are needed.

Will you guarantee the Hainan 15% corporate income tax rate?+

No. Eligibility depends on current rules and facts such as encouraged-industry activity, qualifying revenue and substantive operation. We can organize the financial evidence and coordinate a separate eligibility review, but the competent authority determines treatment.

What will management receive each month?+

The agreed package can include a close status, questions list, financial statements, tax filing status, key reconciliations and a simple English explanation of material changes. We define the package before onboarding.

What information is needed for an accurate bookkeeping quote?+

We normally need the entity and taxpayer status, latest filing period, approximate monthly bank and invoice volume, employee count, currencies, inventory or import activity, related-party transactions and any known backlog. That information lets us separate normal recurring work from one-time cleanup.

Next step

A practical fit for growing and changing China operations.

This service is especially useful when a newly registered company is moving from setup costs into regular trading, when a small team is adding its first payroll, or when management needs to replace fragmented bookkeeping with one monthly close. A typical handover starts by confirming the last completed filing period, reconciling bank and tax balances, checking invoice and payroll records, and separating current work from any historical correction project.

Before the recurring service starts, we agree which records arrive each month, who answers transaction questions, which filings are included and what management will receive after close. To get a scoped starting point, share the entity status, taxpayer type, monthly transaction volume, employees, currencies and any overdue work through the inquiry form. You can also review the pricing page before the scope call; the final quote follows the actual workload rather than a generic company size label.

Start with a practical plan

Need reliable books for your Hainan company?

Tell us whether the company is new or already trading, its taxpayer status, monthly transaction volume, employees and current filing position. We will outline the handover and recurring scope.

General information only. Registration, tax, customs and banking outcomes depend on current rules and your facts.

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