Can our books be kept in English instead of Thai?

The statutory accounting records and the documents you file have to be in Thai, and the auditor works from those. What we do instead is maintain one ledger and produce an English management pack from it, so nothing is bookkept twice and every English line traces back to a Thai voucher.

Does our company have to register for VAT immediately?

Not necessarily. Registration becomes mandatory once turnover passes the statutory threshold, and there are situations where you must register regardless, such as certain licensed activities or where a counterparty requires it. Registering voluntarily makes sense when input tax is significant, and it also commits you to monthly filings from that point on.

We pay a group company abroad for software and management support. What do we owe?

Those payments typically attract withholding tax at a rate driven by how the payment is characterised and by the treaty covering the recipient's jurisdiction, and imported services often require you to self-assess VAT and remit it. Both are the Thai company's obligation, so the amounts should be built into the intercompany arrangement rather than discovered at audit.

How much of a director's time does this need each month?

Once the cycle is running, usually a short review of the monthly report and approval of any payment that needs a signature. The heavier moments are the mid-year estimate, the audit query round and the annual approval meeting, and we schedule those in advance so they do not arrive unannounced.

What happens if the Revenue Department opens a review?

We handle the correspondence and prepare the reconciliations and supporting documents the officer asks for. Reviews normally focus on a specific point, such as input tax claimed or a large deduction, and the outcome depends far more on whether the underlying documents exist than on how the reply is worded.

Can you take over mid-year rather than at the start of a financial year?

Yes, and it is common. We reconcile from the last filed position, confirm which months are already lodged, and identify anything that has to be corrected before the year closes. Waiting for a new financial year usually just means the problems are bigger when we get there.

Accounting and tax compliance

Running the books of a Thai company when the owner reads English and the filings must be Thai

A Thai company files monthly and annually on a fixed calendar regardless of how busy the business is, and the penalties for a late or wrong filing land on the directors rather than the bookkeeper. This page explains what the statutory cycle actually requires, how we keep management reporting in English while the submitted records stay in Thai, and where foreign-owned companies most often lose money to avoidable compliance mistakes.

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Short answer

A Thai company must keep books in Thai, remit withholding tax and social security monthly, file VAT monthly if registered, submit a half-year corporate tax estimate, and file audited financial statements with the annual corporate return. Dormant companies file too. We run that cycle while reporting to owners in English, and map Thai statutory accounts to the group's own reporting labels.

The compliance calendar you inherit on day one

From the month a company is registered it owes filings whether or not it has traded. Withholding remittances and social security fall due monthly, VAT monthly once registered, half-year corporate tax mid-year, and audited financial statements after the year closes. A dormant company still files, and a nil filing lodged on time costs nothing while a missed one carries a surcharge.

We map the whole year at handover so directors can see every due date at once, including the shareholder meeting that has to approve the statements before they are submitted. Most emergencies we are asked to fix began as a date nobody had written down.

One ledger, two audiences

The statutory books, invoices and filings are in Thai because that is what the Revenue Department and the auditor work from. Owners and head offices, however, need to read the same numbers in English with their own account names. We keep a single ledger and map it to an English management pack, so the figure in a board report can always be traced to the Thai voucher behind it.

That mapping also matters at audit time. When the group's consolidation labels differ from Thai statutory captions, the reconciliation should exist as a documented bridge rather than being rebuilt from memory each year.

Where foreign-owned companies most often get caught

Three areas produce most assessments. Payments abroad for services, software or management fees attract withholding at rates that depend on the treaty position, and self-assessed VAT on imported services is regularly forgotten. Expenses paid personally by a foreign director without a compliant receipt are disallowed. Transactions with a parent or affiliate priced without documentation invite adjustment.

None of these is difficult to handle in advance, and all of them are expensive to argue about afterwards. We flag them in the month they arise, in the monthly report, rather than at year end when the return is being prepared.

Payroll, work permits and the records that connect them

For a company employing foreign staff, payroll is also immigration evidence. Salary declared for the work permit, salary in the payroll register, personal income tax withheld and social security contributions all have to agree, because officers compare them when a permit or visa is extended.

We run payroll so those four records are consistent by construction, issue the annual withholding certificates employees need for their own returns, and keep the supporting file ready for the extension, rather than assembling it under time pressure.

How the work runs, step by step

Step 1
Handover review of the existing position
We read the last audited statements, the tax filings already lodged and the current ledger, then list what is missing or inconsistent before touching anything.
Step 2
Chart of accounts and reporting map agreed
Thai statutory captions are mapped to the account names the owner or head office uses, so one bookkeeping run serves both the filing and the board pack.
Step 3
Monthly cycle runs on a fixed rhythm
Documents in by an agreed day, filings prepared and lodged, then an English report showing results, tax paid and anything that needs a director's decision.
Step 4
Mid-year corporate tax estimate reviewed
The half-year filing is based on an estimate, and a materially low estimate carries a surcharge. We test it against actual trading before it is submitted.
Step 5
Year-end closing and audit support
We prepare the closing file, answer the auditor's queries directly and schedule the approval meeting so the statements are filed within the statutory window.
Step 6
Annual submissions and the following year's calendar
Statements and the corporate return are lodged, employee withholding certificates issued, and next year's due dates confirmed with the directors.

What you send us

Latest audited financial statements and the corporate tax return filed with them.
Company registry extract and the affidavit naming authorised directors.
VAT registration certificate where the company is registered, and recent monthly filings.
Bank statements for every account for the period being taken over.
Sales invoices issued and purchase documents received, in original form.
Payroll register, employment contracts and social security registration details.
Work permit and visa records for foreign employees.
Any assessment, query letter or notice already received from the Revenue Department.

Where things usually go wrong

Treating a dormant company as exempt

No trading does not suspend the filing calendar. Companies that stopped operating and stopped filing accumulate surcharges quietly and are often discovered when the owner tries to close or sell the entity.

Paying foreign suppliers gross

Service, royalty and management fee payments abroad usually carry withholding, and imported services can also require self-assessed VAT. Paying the invoice in full and dealing with it later means funding the tax out of pocket.

Expenses without compliant documentation

A card slip or a foreign receipt in a director's name generally will not support a deduction. Purchases should be invoiced to the company with its tax identification and address shown.

A half-year estimate set too low

Understating the mid-year estimate beyond the tolerated margin triggers a surcharge on the shortfall. The estimate deserves a real calculation, not last year's figure repeated.

Switching accountants without a clean handover

Leaving the previous firm holding vouchers, filing credentials or the closing file makes the first audit under new bookkeepers far more expensive. The handover list should be settled before the change.

Government fees and professional fees, separated

The ranges below reflect what our own files cost so you can budget before committing. An itemised quote is issued before work begins.

Item	Official fee	Our fee	Note
Corporate income tax	Statutory rate on net profit, with reduced bands available to qualifying small companies	Quoted with the scope	Paid twice, at the half-year estimate and on the annual return.
Value added tax	Statutory rate on taxable supplies, filed monthly once registered	Quoted with the scope	Registration is mandatory once turnover passes the statutory threshold, and optional before that.
Withholding tax on payments	Statutory rates by payment type, with treaty relief where applicable to payments abroad	Quoted with the scope	Remitted monthly by the payer, with certificates issued to the recipient.
Social security contributions	Statutory percentage of wages from both employer and employee, within the contribution ceiling	Quoted with the scope	Registration is required for employees from the first month of employment.
Late filing surcharge and penalty	Statutory surcharge per month of delay plus penalty assessed on the tax due	Quoted with the scope	Charged even on nil filings lodged after the deadline, which is why dormant companies still file.

Questions foreign clients actually ask us

Can our books be kept in English instead of Thai?: The statutory accounting records and the documents you file have to be in Thai, and the auditor works from those. What we do instead is maintain one ledger and produce an English management pack from it, so nothing is bookkept twice and every English line traces back to a Thai voucher.
Does our company have to register for VAT immediately?: Not necessarily. Registration becomes mandatory once turnover passes the statutory threshold, and there are situations where you must register regardless, such as certain licensed activities or where a counterparty requires it. Registering voluntarily makes sense when input tax is significant, and it also commits you to monthly filings from that point on.
We pay a group company abroad for software and management support. What do we owe?: Those payments typically attract withholding tax at a rate driven by how the payment is characterised and by the treaty covering the recipient's jurisdiction, and imported services often require you to self-assess VAT and remit it. Both are the Thai company's obligation, so the amounts should be built into the intercompany arrangement rather than discovered at audit.
How much of a director's time does this need each month?: Once the cycle is running, usually a short review of the monthly report and approval of any payment that needs a signature. The heavier moments are the mid-year estimate, the audit query round and the annual approval meeting, and we schedule those in advance so they do not arrive unannounced.
What happens if the Revenue Department opens a review?: We handle the correspondence and prepare the reconciliations and supporting documents the officer asks for. Reviews normally focus on a specific point, such as input tax claimed or a large deduction, and the outcome depends far more on whether the underlying documents exist than on how the reply is worded.
Can you take over mid-year rather than at the start of a financial year?: Yes, and it is common. We reconcile from the last filed position, confirm which months are already lodged, and identify anything that has to be corrected before the year closes. Waiting for a new financial year usually just means the problems are bigger when we get there.

Send the latest audited statements, the recent monthly filings and the current registry extract, and tell us whether the company employs foreign staff. We will reply with the filing position as it stands, anything overdue, and the monthly cycle we would put in place.

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