Year-End Checklist for a Hong Kong Company: What Your Auditor and the IRD Need

By Di Ma, Project Manager 26 OCT 2026 · 4 MIN READ

For most Hong Kong companies the financial year ends on 31 December or 31 March, and everything that follows — the audit, the profits tax return, the AGM — depends on how the books stand on that day. A company whose books are current and reconciled has a year end that takes weeks. One whose books are written up afterwards has a year end that takes months, and costs more.

This checklist covers what to do before the year end, what to have ready after it, and the timeline that follows.

Before the year end

Bring the books up to date. Every bank and payment account posted to the latest statement, nothing waiting in a pile.
Chase missing receipts now, while people still remember what a payment was for (see lost receipts).
Review who owes you. Chase overdue invoices; decide what will genuinely not be paid, so it can be provided for or written off.
Review what you owe. Supplier bills for this year that have not arrived yet still belong in this year's accounts.
Plan the stocktake if you hold inventory: who counts, where, and on the year-end date itself.
List fixed assets bought or sold during the year, with invoices.
Check the director's current account — what the company owes the director, or the director owes the company.
Gather loan and lease agreements, and anything unusual: a large one-off deal, a dispute, a related-party transaction.

On the year-end date

Count stock and cash, and keep the count sheets.
Mind the cut-off. Goods delivered and services performed by the year end belong to this year; anything after belongs to the next — whatever the invoice date says.

After the year end

Get the final statements for every bank and payment account, and reconcile each one to the year-end balance (see statements and reconciliation).
Post the year-end adjustments: accruals and prepayments, depreciation, provisions for doubtful debts, foreign-currency balances revalued where the accounts call for it (see multi-currency bookkeeping).
Clear the clearing accounts. Transfers in transit and suspense items explained, not carried forward (see own-account transfers).
Produce the trial balance and the schedules the auditor will ask for: receivables and payables lists, fixed asset register, accruals, the director's current account, loans.
Answer the auditor's queries quickly. Most audit delays are waiting for answers, not doing the work. (See what your auditor will ask for.)

The timeline

Example timeline for a company with a 31 December 2026 year end, a tax representative and no special circumstances
When	What
December 2026	Bring the books up to date, chase receipts, review debtors and creditors, plan the stocktake
31 December 2026	Year end: count stock and cash, note the cut-off
January 2027	December statements in, all accounts reconciled, year-end adjustments, trial balance to the auditor
January – April 2027	Audit fieldwork, queries answered, financial statements signed
1 April 2027	Profits tax return issued (year of assessment 2026/27); Employer's Return issued, due within one month, if you have employees
Around mid-August 2027	Profits tax return due for December year ends under the block extension — the IRD confirms the exact date each spring (for 2025/26 it was 31 August 2026)
By 30 September 2027	AGM within nine months of the year end — unless dealt with by written resolution or dispensed with

Profits tax return: due dates depend on your accounting year end and whether you have a tax representative — see profits tax return deadlines, and profits tax rates for what you will pay.
Employer's Return: the IRD issues the Employer's Return (BIR56A) on the first working day of April for the year to 31 March; it is due within one month, with an IR56B for each employee.
AGM: a private company must hold its AGM within nine months after the end of its accounting reference period (Companies Ordinance, section 610), unless the business is dealt with by written resolution, AGMs have been dispensed with, or another exemption applies. Your company secretary arranges it.

The single biggest saving at the year end is not having to do it all at once. If the bank accounts are reconciled monthly and documents are filed as they arrive, the year end is a review of numbers that already exist — not a reconstruction of twelve months.

How Certanta helps

Books current all year — daily feeds where available, monthly statements otherwise, reconciled as they go.
A document on every line, and a to-do list that chases missing receipts after 14 days, not after the year end.
The auditor's pack ready to export: trial balance by lead schedule, the ledger, and the evidence behind every number.
Your deadlines in one place — profits tax return, accounts for shareholders and the other statutory dates for your company — and marked off when they are done.
The profits tax return prepared from the books, included on monthly plans (see pricing).

The Certanta client portal, deadlines panel for the fictional demo company Harbourfront Trading Ltd: the profits tax return and the accounts for shareholders for each year, with due dates and filing status. — The deadlines panel in the Certanta portal, here for the fictional demo company: each year-end obligation, its due date and whether it is done.

Frequently asked questions

What should a Hong Kong company do before its year end?

Bring the books up to date, chase missing receipts, review overdue debtors and unbilled supplier costs, plan any stocktake, list fixed assets bought or sold, check the director's current account, and gather loan agreements and anything unusual for the auditor.

What does the auditor need after the year end?

Final bank statements and reconciliations for every account, a trial balance, the general ledger, schedules for receivables, payables, fixed assets, accruals, loans and the director's current account, source documents for the year's transactions, and last year's signed financial statements.

When is the profits tax return due for a 31 December year end?

For a company with a tax representative, under the IRD's block extension: for the year of assessment 2025/26 the paper due date for December year ends was 31 August 2026. The IRD confirms the dates for each year in its circular every spring.

When must a private company hold its AGM?

Within nine months after the end of its accounting reference period (Companies Ordinance, section 610), unless the business is dealt with by written resolution, AGMs have been dispensed with, or another exemption applies.

When is the Employer's Return due?

The IRD issues the Employer's Return (BIR56A) on the first working day of April for the year to 31 March. It is due within one month, together with a Form IR56B for each employee.

A year end that's mostly done when it arrives

With books kept current all year, the year end is a review, not a rebuild — reconciled accounts, documents on every line, and the auditor's schedules ready to export.

Open the demo See pricing

This checklist is general information for Hong Kong companies as at 26 October 2026, not legal, audit or tax advice. Dates depend on your accounting year end, your tax representative and the IRD's circulars; corporate filings are a matter for your company secretary.