Where must a Hong Kong company keep its accounting records, and can they be kept overseas?
Records must be kept at the registered office or any other place the directors think fit, and directors must be able to inspect them at any time free of charge. If they are kept outside Hong Kong, accounts and returns for that business must be sent to and kept in Hong Kong.
Section 374 of the Companies Ordinance covers location:
- Records must be kept at the registered office or any other place the directors think fit, and be open to inspection by the directors at all times without charge.
- If records are kept outside Hong Kong, the accounts and returns about the business dealt with in them must be sent to, and kept at, a place in Hong Kong, again open to the directors' inspection.
- Those accounts and returns must disclose the financial position with reasonable accuracy at intervals of not more than 6 months, and must be enough to let directors ensure the financial statements comply with the Ordinance.
Directors who fail to take all reasonable steps commit an offence carrying a fine of HK$300,000, and a fine plus 12 months' imprisonment if wilful.
This matters for overseas owners and groups that run bookkeeping from another country or cloud service. The records can be kept abroad, but a Hong Kong set of accounts and returns at least every six months is still required. Electronic records stored on a cloud service should still be reproducible in readable form in Hong Kong.
Legal basis
- Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), s.374
Sources
Applies to 2026 · Last reviewed 29 October 2026
General information for business owners, not legal, tax or professional advice. Rules change, so check the sources or ask a licensed professional before you act.
Related questions
- Can a Hong Kong company present its financial statements in USD or RMB instead of HKD?Yes, where the standard allows it. HKAS 21 and HKFRS for Private Entities let a company present in any currency and translate its results and position from its functional currency. SME-FRS uses a single reporting currency instead. The Companies Ordinance requires compliance with applicable standards but contains no rule forcing Hong Kong dollars.
- Is a Hong Kong company legally required to keep accounting records?Yes. Section 373 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) requires every company to keep accounting records that explain its transactions and show its financial position and performance at any time. Directors who fail to take all reasonable steps risk a fine of HK$300,000, and up to 12 months' jail if the failure is wilful.
- How long must a Hong Kong company keep its accounting records?Seven years. Under section 377 of the Companies Ordinance, a company must keep its accounting records for 7 years after the end of the financial year to which the last entry relates. The Inland Revenue Department separately requires business records to be kept at least 7 years after the transactions they relate to.
- What does section 51C of the Inland Revenue Ordinance require from my business?Anyone carrying on a trade, profession or business in Hong Kong must keep enough records, in English or Chinese, to work out assessable profits, and keep them for at least 7 years. Failing to do so without reasonable excuse can lead to a fine of up to HK$100,000.
- Which documents should a Hong Kong business keep for its books?Keep every document that supports an entry in your books: sales and purchase invoices, receipts, bank statements, contracts, payroll and MPF records, asset purchase papers, loan agreements, and stocktake sheets. The test is whether someone else could trace any figure back to its source.