Accounting For You
There is no need to explain in detail the importance of accounting in running your business. It’s a given these days. Without accounting, not only that it’d be difficult to run an effective outfit, but you’ll have big troubles with some really crucial statutory requirements, namely paying your taxes.
What can you do?
Generally, the two most common options that come to mind are the following:
Both are fine options but each carries its own set of pros and cons.
Doing it Yourself
The bright side of doing it yourself is that it can be the cheapest option, if you know what you’re doing, because there would be only one accounting headcount, you. As a result, no one else has access to accounting records, and so it would be very difficult for anyone else to alter accounting records without you knowing.
On the other hand, if you make a mistake in your accounting, there will be no one to check your work before you submit anything to the authorities. The troubles you’ll face may include underpaying your taxes. Furthermore, it will take a large chunk of your time and focus away from running your business.
In conclusion, it may not be as cheap as you think, especially when fines and warning letters begin to pile up on your desk. In addition, if your job also involves getting business or generating revenue for your company, again the cost may easily outweigh the benefits.
Get Your Own Employees To Handle It
Doing it yourself seems more sensible if you’re running a small business. Otherwise, it’s more common to have at least an employee or two handling it. It’s great because: you get more time to yourself; there should be fewer accounting mistakes; and your accounting will be done quicker.
However, hiring staff means paying salaries and benefits. It’s good to divide work among yourselves as it theoretically reduces the chances of making mistakes or frauds taking place (i.e., segregation of duties). Still, it does mean entrusting the accounting of your company to someone else. Entrusting the wrong person means risking fraud, mistakes, and, therefore, non-compliance with the law.
Overall, this option is commonly used by many firms. Is it possible to get the same level of accounting service but at a cheaper cost?
Outsource your Accounting Function
Outsourcing accounting duties is not new. It’s the most basic service that any accounting firm offers in the market. You’re probably wondering why should you even consider this over having your own accounting team.
The answer boils down to one thing, getting it done cheaply. What makes outsourcing cheaper than having your own staff? Well, accounting firms have their staff of accountants and assistants, they are solely responsible for the payroll of their employees.
By outsourcing your accounting function to them, you are a client, not an employer. Therefore, you have no labour-related obligations towards employees of accounting firms that you engaged to do your accounting.
Instead of paying salaries and benefits, you only pay a service fee periodically, and the amount is not necessarily fixed. It may depend on the type of services agreed upon, and perhaps it is scalable. Therefore, not only you won’t be paying salaries and benefits per headcount, but also that you may even pay the minimal amount, if you’ve engaged the firm for minimal services.
You’re wondering how this is possible. Accounting firms provide their services to all companies. Earning service fees from each client allows them to hire and maintain their workforce of accountants and account assistants, whilst enabling them to keep service fees well below the cost of their clients’ hiring their own accountants.
Therefore, with this mode of service provision and also that accounting has gone hi-tech (i.e., cloud accounting), clients like yourself are continually being given better options in getting accounting services as manageable costs.
Let’s talk more about what we can do for you.
Services That We Offer
To help you understand what we do, let’s assume that we’re your accounting team or department. As your own accounting team, our tasks would include the following:
All of the above are important. Therefore, we provide all of the above.
Accounts Setup
This service encompasses mainly two tasks. Firstly, we help you to establish the accounting framework or policies to regulate how financial statements for your company ought to be drafted. Secondly, we also set up the Chart of Accounts, which lists all accounts to be kept for your business.
Bookkeeping
This is fairly straightforward. We keep your books of accounts updated with the following:
Each transaction will be recorded with details including:
Reconciliation and Checks
These are routine procedures executed to weed out any error from the books. They include:
How we will kick start
We’ll start with the following:
SST Returns and Source Documents
Wherever applicable, we also prepare, check, and submit your SST-02 or SST return to Royal Malaysian Customs Department.
Source documents are essential for your accounting and tax submissions. Without proper records, transactions updated in the books would have no basis, and so legally should not exist. We could help you index and file away your source documents.
When the time comes for you to submit to auditors and tax authorities, we could also help you by liaising with them in order to ensure a smooth running of your submissions.
Our services are performed via our ProB Cloud Accounting software. It ensures that you can submit documents to us online and also view the books whenever you desire so.
The report is always on time!
company engaged
trained accounts
Outsource Your Accounting Now
Frequently Asked Questions
What are financial accounting advisory services (FAAS)?
FAAS includes a range of comprehensive third-party services for organisations to meet their business objectives. These can range from maintaining income statements, preparing balance sheets, cash flow statements, tax management, and a lot more. Additionally, financial accounting advisors help ensure statutory and regulatory compliance in a timely manner.
Why do companies outsource accounting services?
The benefits of outsourcing accounting operations that clients often enjoy include the following:
– getting the services of experienced accountants and bookkeepers without hiring – – them as employees;
– having the option to scale back outsourced accounting operations anytime;
– having more time to focus on core business goals;
– getting additional advisory services; and
– having access to accounting automation technologies and state-of-the-art software,
How much is the service fee and how much cost would I stand to save?
Service fees are not fixed because the figure depends on the amount of services that you require. You may refer to our representative for the exact figure. However, you may also visit our sign-up page here to get an idea.
As for cost saving, you could possibly stand to save a lot if you have a large volume of transactions that need to be recorded in a short amount of time. However, in order to know for sure, our representative may help you to estimate your cost savings. Book an appointment with our representative now.
What can I do with ProB Cloud Accounting Software?
The best benefit of all from ProB Cloud Accounting Software is the main dashboard that you see once you log in. On the dashboard, you’ll be able to view your company’s financial performance details, which include:
– outstanding invoices
– outstanding bills
– sales
– profit and loss
In addition to the dashboard, since all details are entered in this one-stop centre, reconciliation of your books can be done by the system instantaneously. Therefore, you’d be able to see immediately when things don’t tally as they should.
In essence, your bookkeeping will be semi-automated, if not fully, thereby freeing you to complete other business tasks.
Are your services confined only to what is mentioned in your website?
Certainly not. Client-centricity is our way. We’re always willing to accommodate your needs, even if it isn’t commonly requested. Speak to our representative to get the best service plan for you.
If we engage you, which fines would you save us from having to pay?
Fines can come from any direction. However, we could say that, at the very least, accounting record-keeping is mandatory under the following Acts of Parliament:
– Income Tax Act 1967
– Company Act 2016
– Sales Tax Act 2018
– Service Tax Act 2018
Tax calculations rely very much on data keyed into your accounting records, along with their source documents. For every figure entered into your tax return, you are back them with source documents. To that, every source document must be kept with you for at least 7 years. Furthermore, they must be either in Malay or in English.
Otherwise, you could face fines of up to RM50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 3 years, depending on the charges.
What are the accounting standards used in Malaysia?
Malaysia’s accounting standards is known as Malaysian Accounting Standards, and they are regulated by MASB (Malaysian Accounting Standards Board).
Is Malaysia using IFRS?
Yes, financial reporting in Malaysia does conform to IFRS. However, its practical interpretation in Malaysia is regulated by MASB, and they are known as MFRS (Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards).
How often do I need to do my accounting?
Under Company Act 2016 Section 245(2) A company, its directors, and its managers shall cause appropriate entries to be made in the accounting and other records within sixty (60) days of the completion of the transactions to which the entries relate. By law, accounting should be done within 60 days after the transaction is concluded.
However, for purpose of maintaining strict internal control over your business operations, it is advisable that your accounting be done weekly, if not daily. Apart from detecting frauds quickly, frequent accounting ensures your books be as correct as possible. This has at least two implications on your statutory submissions.
Firstly, the entries in your books will be used to draft your annual financial statements, which will be audited and submitted to SSM as well as Bursa and the public if your company is listed. Secondly, your tax returns are drafted using figures from your accounting books, and so wrong entries could lead to underpayment of tax to the authorities.
Is a professional accountant necessary for businesses?
Legally-speaking, there is no law that requires you to engage only professional accountants. However, accounting is a nationally regulated industry, under Accountants Act 1967. As such, its membership plays a role in business requirements. For example, under Bursa listing requirements, in the board audit committee, one committee member must be either an MIA (Malaysian Institute of Accountants) member or at the very least 3 years of working experience with either an accounting degree or a membership with a professional accounting association as listed in under First Schedule of the Accountants Act 1967.
Coming back to your business, you may hire anyone you believe competent to do your accounting for your business. However, in order to ensure professional accountability of the person, it is advisable for you to engage the service of a professional accountant. Any wrongdoings on the part of someone who is a member of MIA or any other professional accounting association allows you a channel to report any wrongdoings for investigation and sanctions. Furthermore, professional bodies require their members to participate annually in continuous professional education, thereby ensuring that your accountant is updated with the latest knowledge in the field.
How do I go about looking for a professional accountant to hire in Malaysia?
Although international accounting designations such as ACCA, FCA, ACGMA, and CPA exist and are common among professional accountants, it is important to remember that the accounting profession is regulated nationally.
Therefore, the first and foremost criterion that you ought to look for in hiring any professional accountant is whether he or she is an MIA member. Relevant membership types are CA (M) or Chartered Accountant in Malaysia or Licensed Accountants.
You may also visit MIA’s website and search via their directory to find licensed individual accountants and accounting firms.
What are the different types of accounting reports that you prepare?
The following are some accounting reports that you can avail from us:
– Profit and loss account/ Income Statement
– Balance sheets
– Cash flow statements
– Debtors’ and creditors’ statements
– Account receivables and payables report
– General ledgers
Will your financial expert act as a named company secretary for us?
We do provide named company secretaries as part of our services. Cheng & Co is a multifield corporate service consultancy, and providing all professional services that you need is our priority. As you speak with our representative about engaging our accounting outsourcing services, if you also need a named company secretary, we suggest that you include it in the discussion, and our representative will assist to accommodate you request.
