If you are comparing bookkeeping costs in China, first check what the quote covers. The work starts after company formation: transactions need to be recorded, tax returns filed on the company's assigned schedule, and annual obligations planned for. The monthly bookkeeping guide explains the routine behind those fees.
An advertised monthly fee can omit payroll, cross-border transactions or year-end work. There is no useful one-size-fits-all figure without a defined scope, so ask for an itemised quote rather than treating a headline rate as the annual cost.
This guide explains what a China bookkeeping fee should cover, why quotes differ so much, and how to tell a complete scope from a headline rate.
Indicative price ranges
Exact fees depend on scope, but foreign-invested companies comparing providers typically see monthly bookkeeping quotes in these bands:
| Company profile | Indicative monthly fee (RMB) |
|---|---|
| Dormant or minimal activity, small-scale taxpayer | 300–800 |
| Active service company, small-scale taxpayer, no employees | 800–2,000 |
| General VAT taxpayer with regular invoicing | 2,000–5,000 |
| Trading company with cross-border payments and payroll | 5,000 and above |
Common additions on top of the monthly fee: payroll work per employee, the annual corporate income tax reconciliation (often charged as a separate annual fee), the foreign-invested enterprise annual report, English-language reporting and catch-up work for prior periods.
Treat these as orientation ranges for comparison, not as quotes. A provider quoting far below the band for your profile usually excludes items the others include, and the excluded items appear later as extras.
What the monthly work actually involves
A dormant company and a trading company with staff and cross-border payments are not comparable engagements, even though both may be described as "monthly bookkeeping".
The recurring cycle normally includes:
- recording transactions and maintaining the statutory accounting books;
- managing fapiao, both issued and received, and checking input credits;
- preparing and submitting periodic tax filings, which typically include VAT and related surcharges;
- payroll accounting, individual income tax withholding and social insurance reporting once there are employees;
- monitoring the corporate income tax position through the year rather than only at year end.
Then there are two annual events that sit outside the monthly rhythm:
- the annual corporate income tax reconciliation, which settles the year's tax position and applies the adjustments that determine the final liability; and
- the annual reporting obligation for foreign-invested enterprises.
If a monthly fee is quoted without stating how these two are charged, the annual total is not yet known.
Why quotes differ so widely
Six factors explain most of the variation:
Transaction volume. The number of monthly entries, invoices and bank lines is the primary driver.
Taxpayer status. A general VAT taxpayer issuing special fapiao and claiming input credits carries more work than a small-scale taxpayer with simple sales.
Whether there is payroll. The first employee introduces individual income tax withholding, social insurance and housing-fund reporting.
Cross-border activity. Foreign-exchange matters, service payments overseas, withholding tax analysis and supporting documentation for remittances all add work, and they attract more scrutiny than domestic transactions.
Whether a tax position is being relied on. If the company intends to apply a preferential corporate income tax rate, the evidence supporting eligibility has to be built and maintained through the year. That is analytical work, not data entry.
Language of reporting. Statutory books are maintained in Chinese. If overseas management needs English reporting or group-standard reconciliations, that is an additional deliverable.
Compare the full-year scope, not just the monthly fee
Ask each provider to split its quote into these parts:
| Work | What to confirm in writing |
|---|---|
| Monthly books | Number of bank transactions and invoices included, reconciliations, and the reports you will receive. |
| Tax filings | Which taxes and filing periods are covered, who checks fapiao, and who handles a nil return where required. |
| Payroll | Number of employees included and whether individual income tax, social insurance and housing fund work are separate. |
| Annual work | Whether corporate income tax reconciliation and enterprise annual reporting are included or charged separately. |
| Extra work | Setup, overdue periods, tax bureau enquiries, cross-border payments, English reports and support when volume rises. |
Give every provider the same expected transaction count, staff plan and import/export activity. Then compare the annual total and the work you receive, rather than just the monthly line.
The Hainan-specific factor
For companies intending to rely on Hainan's 15% corporate income tax rate, accounting stops being a compliance formality and becomes part of the tax position.
The rate applies to qualifying encouraged-industry enterprises with substantive operations in Hainan. Demonstrating that requires the accounting records to show which revenue comes from the encouraged activity, and to support the claim that the company genuinely operates in Hainan.
In practice this means the business scope, the contracts, the revenue classification in the books and the actual operations all need to tell the same story. A bookkeeping engagement that only records transactions will not produce that evidence. Budget for the analysis, not just the entries.
In-house versus outsourced
Outsourcing is the default for most newly established foreign-invested companies, for a practical reason: a single in-house accountant is usually more expensive than an outsourced engagement at low volume, and one person cannot cover bookkeeping, tax filing, payroll and annual reconciliation with any redundancy.
The calculation changes as the company grows. Higher transaction volume, a larger payroll, inventory, multiple entities or group reporting requirements tend to justify bringing routine work in-house while keeping specialist tax and annual work external.
The decision point is rarely purely financial. It is usually about whether the company needs daily control over its financial data.
What is often excluded from a low quote
Check each of these explicitly:
- the annual corporate income tax reconciliation;
- the annual report for foreign-invested enterprises;
- payroll and individual income tax work;
- fapiao application, issuance and volume increases;
- responses to tax bureau enquiries;
- foreign-exchange documentation for cross-border payments;
- catch-up work for prior periods;
- English-language or group reporting.
A monthly rate excluding all eight is not comparable to one that includes them.
Questions to ask before engaging
- What is included monthly, and what is billed separately?
- How is the annual CIT reconciliation charged?
- Is the annual report for foreign-invested enterprises included?
- What happens when transaction volume rises?
- Who responds if the tax bureau raises a query?
- Will the records support the tax position we intend to claim?
- What are the deadlines each month, and what do you need from us to meet them?
The cost of getting it wrong
Late or missing filings are not a minor administrative issue in China. They can affect the company's public credit record, and that record matters later, when the company changes its registration details, applies for permits or remits funds overseas.
Clean books also determine whether profits can actually be distributed. Dividend remittance depends on properly recorded, filed and settled results. Weak accounting is usually discovered at the worst possible moment: when the shareholders want their money out.
Common questions
How much does bookkeeping cost in China for a foreign-owned company?
Indicative ranges run from roughly RMB 300–800 per month for a dormant small-scale taxpayer to RMB 2,000–5,000 or more for a general VAT taxpayer with regular invoicing, and higher with payroll and cross-border activity. The exact figure depends on transaction volume and scope.
Is the annual tax reconciliation included in the monthly bookkeeping fee?
Often not. The annual corporate income tax reconciliation and the foreign-invested enterprise annual report are frequently billed as separate annual items, so compare providers on the full-year total.
Why is one bookkeeping quote much cheaper than another?
Low quotes usually exclude payroll, annual reconciliation, fapiao administration, tax-bureau correspondence or English reporting. Ask for an itemised scope and compare what each quote leaves out.
Related reading
Official sources
- State Taxation Administration guidance on Hainan encouraged-industry conditions
- Extension of Hainan corporate income tax incentives through 2027
- Guide to business establishment registration of foreign-invested enterprises
- State Taxation Administration: accounting books and tax filing rules
Accounting scope and fees depend on transaction volume, taxpayer status, payroll and cross-border activity. Filing requirements and deadlines can change. Confirm the current scope for your company.
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