Service 05 — Audit & valuation
Statutory audits, special-purpose reviews and valuation reports for foreign-invested companies — planned around your group timetable and issued in Chinese and English.
Engagement at a glance
Where we keep your books, the statutory audit is performed by an independent partner firm that we manage on your behalf.
The report is the visible output. What determines whether it is clean is the twelve months of bookkeeping that preceded it — which is why we prefer to own both.
Chinese statutory audits are formulaic in structure and unforgiving in detail: bank confirmations must come back, related-party balances must reconcile to the annual reporting forms, and the tax provision must agree with the filings. When those three tie, the audit is a formality. When they do not, it becomes a project.
We plan every audit with the tax reconciliation in mind, because the two are filed together. Adjustments proposed in April that were not anticipated in January usually mean an amended return — and an amended return invites questions.
Independence
Chinese independence rules prevent an accounting firm from auditing books it maintains. Clients on our bookkeeping retainer receive their statutory audit from an independent partner CPA firm; we prepare the file, manage the timetable and review the draft before it reaches you.
Each has a different addressee and a different standard. We will tell you which one your bank or filing actually requires.
Every foreign-invested enterprise must have its annual financial statements audited by a licensed Chinese CPA firm. We plan the audit around your group timetable, issue in both languages, and provide the reporting pack your parent auditor needs.
Transactions and filings that require a targeted report: liquidation, equity transfer, government grants, HNTE applications, outbound remittance support and internal investigations.
Valuation reports for equity transfers, capital contributions in kind, mergers and bank security. Prepared to the asset valuation standards recognised by the MoF and accepted by the tax authority.
Verification of paid-in capital for new contributions, capital increases and post-restructuring filings, with the bank and SAFE evidence trail documented.
Week 1
We agree materiality, timetable and the reporting pack, and issue a document request list that matches how your books are actually kept.
Week 2–3
Substantive testing of revenue, receivables, inventory, related-party balances and tax positions. Most of the work is done remotely; a site visit is scheduled only where inventory or fixed assets require it.
Week 4
We issue a schedule of proposed adjustments with the reasoning, discuss each one, and agree the final position with management before the report is drafted.
Week 5–6
Signed report in Chinese and English, plus the group reporting pack, management letter and any bank or tender copies you need.
Sent as a checklist mapped to your chart of accounts, not a generic list.
Audit and valuation fees are fixed after a short scoping call. A written quote is issued before fieldwork begins; there are no hourly surprises.
Statutory audit
from RMB 6,000per year
Companies with revenue below RMB 10 million and simple flows.
Audit plus group pack
from RMB 15,000per year
Subsidiaries reporting into an overseas parent or listed group.
Valuation report
from RMB 18,000per assignment
Equity, asset or intangible valuation for transfers and filings.
Special-purpose audits are quoted individually, typically RMB 8,000–30,000 depending on the period and purpose. Liquidation engagements include tax clearance coordination.
What firms actually pay
These are the fees Beijing firms charge for a statutory audit of a foreign-invested company with ordinary operations — not a discount list, and not a ceiling either. Turnover sets the starting point; what moves the fee above it is transaction volume, inventory, related-party balances and whether the parent audit needs a conversion pack.
Simple trading or service entity, few related-party balances.
Inventory, multiple bank accounts, some group charges.
Usually includes an IFRS or US GAAP conversion.
Scoped after a walkthrough of the ledger and consolidation.
| Report | Deadline | Filed with |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory audit report | 31 May | Tax authority, with the annual CIT reconciliation |
| Annual CIT reconciliation | 31 May | Tax authority |
| Market regulator annual report | 30 June | Enterprise credit information system |
| Valuation for equity transfer | Before the transfer filing | Tax authority and market regulator |
| Liquidation audit | Before deregistration | Tax authority and market regulator |
Deadline approaching?
Book the slot early — Beijing audit capacity tightens from March.
+86 400 098 9866Yes. Foreign-invested enterprises are required to have their annual financial statements audited by a Chinese CPA firm, and the audited statements are filed alongside the annual corporate income tax reconciliation by 31 May. Banks, tender processes and parent-company consolidation add their own requirements on top of the statutory one.
For a company with revenue below RMB 10 million and straightforward transactions, fees typically start around RMB 6,000 and rise with turnover, transaction volume, inventory complexity and the number of related-party balances. Groups needing a reporting pack mapped to IFRS or US GAAP should expect a moderate uplift for the conversion work.
Only a CPA firm licensed by the Ministry of Finance may issue a statutory audit report, and it must be signed by two certified public accountants, at least one of whom is a partner of the firm. Reports issued by an overseas auditor alone do not satisfy the PRC filing requirement.
Valuation answers “what is this worth”; audit answers “are the statements fairly presented”. You need a valuation for equity transfers at a price other than net asset value, in-kind capital contributions, mergers, and some bank security arrangements. The tax authority will generally require a valuation report to support a transfer price that departs from book value.
Four to six weeks from receipt of a complete document set for a normal trading or service company. The two usual causes of delay are unreconciled bank accounts and unsupported related-party balances — both of which we flag in the planning week so they can be fixed before fieldwork starts.
Independence rules prevent us from auditing books we maintain ourselves, so where we keep your books we arrange the statutory audit through a partner firm and manage the process for you. Where another firm keeps the books, we can act as auditor subject to the usual independence assessment.
Next step
Send your latest trial balance and turnover figure. You will receive a fixed fee, a timetable and the document list within two working days.
