Accounting Services in Thailand

Describe the actual business: entity type, ownership, activities, expected transactions, bank accounts, staff, inventory, foreign-currency payments and any special approvals. A simple domestic service business and a stock-holding importer need different accounting workflows.

Ask the firm to turn that description into deliverables. Separate bookkeeping, monthly tax returns, payroll, annual accounts, audit coordination, corporate income tax and management reporting. Registration changes, licence work, immigration support and business advice should be separately identified if offered.

A service package is a contract between you and the provider, not proof that every statutory obligation has been covered. Require a list of exclusions and a calendar showing who supplies information, approves figures, files and pays.

Ask for the legal name of the service provider and the person responsible for your books. The Ministry of Commerce links to DBD’s e-Accountant search, quality accounting-firm directory and general firm listings. These are different lists: a general listing should not be presented as the same thing as quality certification.

For an audit, obtain the proposed signing auditor’s name and registration number, then check the published CPA status through TFAC. Its lookup is an informational service; use TFAC directly if the result is unclear. Do not assume every person described as an accountant can sign a statutory audit.

Also assess practical fit. Ask about experience with your actual activities, Thai and English communication, who reviews junior work, staff cover and how technical questions are escalated. A certificate or directory entry does not establish the quality of a particular engagement.

Give each candidate the same transaction estimate and service list. Ask what counts as a transaction, how bank feeds and payment gateways are handled, and whether the quote assumes that your staff have already organised the documents. A fee based on a handful of invoices may rise sharply once payroll, stock or overseas payments are added.

Check year-end fees, independent audit charges, software subscriptions, filing charges, translation, historical corrections and advisory time. Ask whether VAT is included in the provider’s price and how additional work is authorised. Government payments and your own tax liability are separate from the firm’s service fee.

Agree how fees change if activity grows or the records arrive late. Use a written engagement rather than relying on a sales message saying “all accounting included”.

Keep business and personal spending distinguishable and provide invoices, receipts, contracts, bank statements, payment-gateway reports and payroll changes in the agreed format. A bank statement shows money movement but may not establish the nature or tax treatment of a transaction.

Review the draft reports and tax calculations before approval. Ask about unreconciled balances, unexplained cash, overdue customer debts and payments without adequate evidence. For an overseas payment or unusual contract, ask about the tax treatment before making the payment rather than at year-end.

After filing, retain the return, submission acknowledgement and payment receipt in company-controlled storage. Paying the accountant’s invoice is not evidence that a tax payment or statutory submission has been completed.

Monthly bookkeeping is only one part of compliance. Agree the year-end close, supporting schedules, audit work where required, approval steps, DBD financial-statement submission and corporate tax filings as separate milestones. Confirm which apply to your entity rather than using a limited-company timetable for every structure.

The Revenue Department’s corporate-tax overview gives an ordinary annual filing rule of 150 days from the accounting-period close and a separate half-year return framework. Ask your adviser to apply the current filing rules, electronic arrangements, holiday adjustments and any valid extensions to your actual year-end. DBD accounts filing and Revenue Department tax filing are not the same submission.

Before ending the old engagement, agree a handover date and the last period each firm will handle. Obtain the opening balances, trial balance, general ledger, reconciliations, asset and stock schedules, payroll records, tax returns, receipts and prior financial statements needed by the successor.

Keep company ownership of records and appropriate access to filing and accounting systems. Use delegated access where the system supports it, and arrange an orderly change of authorised contacts. Do not let a provider’s personal email become the only way to recover company records.

Have the incoming firm check the opening position and identify missing periods promptly. A change of accountant does not reset filing deadlines or remove earlier obligations.