Bookkeeping in China for a Foreign-Owned Company: What Happens Each Month?

Your China company can have bookkeeping work before it has its first customer. Rent, bank charges, equipment purchases and shareholder funding all leave a paper trail. The job is to record what actually happened, match the records to the bank and invoices, and keep the accounts ready for the returns the company is required to file.

For a foreign owner, the most useful question is not “Will someone do the books?” It is “What must we send each month, and what will we get back?”

What does bookkeeping in China include each month?

The sequence is fairly ordinary. The details become difficult when documents sit with different people, or a bank payment has no clear contract or invoice behind it.

1. Collect the month's records. Send sales and purchase invoices (including fapiao where applicable), bank statements, contracts, expense evidence, payroll information and notes on any unusual transfer. Add customs and freight documents if the company trades goods across borders.
2. Check what is missing or inconsistent. The accountant should ask which customer paid a deposit, why a supplier was paid twice, or whether an owner's transfer was capital, a loan or something else. Those questions are easier to settle while the transaction is fresh.
3. Post entries and reconcile. Transactions go into the company's accounting books. Compare the book balance with bank statements and supporting documents, then identify anything still unmatched. China's Accounting Law requires genuine, complete books and regular checks against funds and source records.
4. Prepare the returns due for that period. Bookkeeping is a monthly routine; tax filing periods depend on the company's assigned obligations. Ask your accountant for a calendar showing each tax, return, responsible person and submission date. A completed set of books does not itself prove that a return was filed.
5. Close the loop with the owner. Review the numbers and the unresolved-items list. Approve explanations or corrections, and keep copies of submitted returns and receipts where filing is part of the service.

Our fapiao guide explains which invoices matter and why they are not interchangeable with an ordinary PDF invoice. The China VAT guide covers the tax return that often sits alongside the bookkeeping work.

What should you send the accountant?

A simple shared folder or monthly checklist is more useful than a long email at year-end. Start with:

• all business bank and payment-account statements, including foreign-currency accounts;
• issued and received invoices, contracts, order records and expense evidence;
• payroll totals and employee changes, if you have staff;
• documents for shareholder funding, loans, asset purchases and payments made personally on the company's behalf; and
• customs declarations, shipping records and supplier invoices, if relevant to imports or exports.

This is a working checklist, not a claim that every item is required for every company. Tell the accountant about a transaction even when the ideal document is missing. They can then identify what evidence is needed and whether the accounting or tax treatment needs review. For an exporter, our export tax rebate guide explains why the customs, invoice and filing records must line up.

Chinese accounting records are required. A foreign-invested company may use a foreign language alongside Chinese, according to the tax administration rules. If you need reports for an overseas finance team, agree the format and translation scope with the provider rather than assuming every working document will be bilingual.

What should you get back each month?

Ask for a short owner pack you can actually use. It might include a profit-and-loss report, balance sheet, bank reconciliation, taxes filed or coming due, and a list of transactions awaiting documents or approval. These are sensible service deliverables to request, not a promise that every bookkeeping contract includes them.

The list of open questions matters as much as the reports. If a balance is still unexplained, you need to know who will resolve it and by when. The Accounting Law makes the person in charge of the company responsible for the truthfulness and completeness of its accounting information; outsourcing the work does not remove the need to review it.

What if the company has no sales yet?

No sales does not mean “nothing to record.” Rent, salaries, software subscriptions and bank fees are still transactions. Nor should you assume every tax return can be filed as zero simply because no customer has paid you. China's tax authority warns that returns must reflect actual activity, including expenses in a no-revenue period. Ask your accountant which returns are due for your company and what the figures should show.

If you employ people, payroll and individual income tax withholding need their own handoff. Our China payroll services guide sets out what the employer and a payroll provider each do. For year-end company obligations, see the Hainan annual compliance guide.

How do you compare bookkeeping providers?

Give each provider the same facts: your business activity, expected transaction count, staff count, bank accounts, imports or exports, and the reporting language you need. Then ask what their quote includes: bookkeeping, tax returns, fapiao handling, payroll, annual reporting, responses to tax notices and correction of past records. Ask who reviews the work and who keeps the filing receipts.

There is no useful universal monthly price without that scope. Our China accounting cost guide explains the main cost drivers. If you want a scope for a Hainan company, our accounting and tax team can review your planned activity and records.

Official sources

• Ministry of Finance: Accounting Law of the People's Republic of China (2024 revision)
• State Taxation Administration: rules on accounting books, language and tax records
• State Taxation Administration: no-revenue periods and truthful tax filing

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