Hong Kong Audit Fees: Typical Ranges and What Drives Them

At a glance

These are observed market ranges, not statutory fees. The actual fee is set by each auditor based on company size, industry and the state of the records.

First, the part that surprises foreign founders

If you are used to the US, the UK or Singapore, you may expect small companies to be exempt from audit. Hong Kong has no such exemption. Every limited company — regardless of size, activity or profit — must have its financial statements audited by a Hong Kong practising CPA every year. The full rules, including the one genuine exception (formal dormant status), are in our audit requirements guide.

Two things that look like exemptions but are not: the small-company reporting exemption simplifies disclosure, not the audit itself; and dormant status must be formally obtained — having no business does not grant it automatically.

What the market actually charges

There is no standard price. Auditors quote on estimated hours, so the ranges above are a sanity check for the quotes you receive, not a guarantee.

A dormant company sits at the bottom — around HK$3,000 — because there are no transactions to test. A small, low-volume company typically starts around HK$5,000. The typical SME band, HK$6,000–22,000+, is wide on purpose: two companies with identical turnover can be quoted twice apart depending on whether they hand over a reconciled set of accounts or a folder of loose receipts. Add inventory, related-party transactions or cross-border operations and HK$20,000–30,000+ is unremarkable, because sampling, confirmations and verification multiply.

Why quotes differ so much

1. Transaction volume. More transactions and more bank accounts mean more testing hours.

2. The state of your records. The dominant factor. With complete books the auditor audits; with scattered records the auditor first has to rebuild — inevitably more expensive, and it repeats every year. Knowing what auditors ask for in advance removes most of the friction.

3. Inventory. A year-end stock count record is required and costs have to be verified.

4. First audit vs recurring. Year one includes establishing opening balances and understanding your business, so it is priced higher; recurring years usually settle down if nothing major changes.

5. Timing. Engage an auditor two months before the filing deadline and you are asking for peak-season priority — rush fees are common. How to work the timeline backwards: how long does an audit take.

Three questions to ask before comparing quotes

Does the quote include the profits tax computation and return? Some quotes cover the audit report only, with tax filed separately. A HK$2,000 gap between two quotes may be exactly that.

Are adjusting entries charged extra? If your books need heavy correction, is that inside the quote or billed by the hour? Left unasked, the final bill can land far from the quote.

Will next year’s renewal price jump? Low first-year pricing with a steep second-year increase exists in this market. Ask directly what the same scope costs next year — a transparent firm will answer.

The one move that genuinely lowers the fee

Not harder bargaining — handing over a complete set of books. Of the five drivers above, record completeness is the only one fully within your control, and it is the biggest. For the step-by-step version — what to organise, when to start, how to pick a smarter year-end date — see 5 ways to lower your audit fee.

That is where we come in: we keep your books through the year, prepare the full year-end pack and deal with the auditor directly — statutory audits are performed by practising CPAs; we handle bookkeeping and year-end preparation. Our audit coordination service is tiered by annual turnover — see audit and tax services.

Want a sense of what your situation costs? Talk to us, or get started.

This article is general information and does not constitute audit or accounting advice. The fee ranges quoted are observed market figures, not statutory fees; the actual fee is set by each auditor according to the company’s circumstances. Statutory audits are performed by Hong Kong practising CPAs; we handle bookkeeping and year-end preparation.