Buying Land In Company Name

[Nepal4me]

I purchased some land last year in Phuket in a company name complete with the whole shareholder process. I am now going through the accounting.

The accountant I went to wants to charge me 20,000 baht for his services and I must pay an additional 8,000 baht to an auditor that he is giving my paperwork to.

I have a bit of a hard time understanding why I have to pay twice and why it costs 20,000 baht plus a yearly 8,000 baht fee. So far, his explanation to me was very vague so I'm hoping somebody can shed some light here.

I get the feeling, he looked at me and saw dollars signs due to my being a farang. He has all my paperwork now so I don't think I could even get it back to go to another accountant.

Any help would be appreciated.

Edited April 27, 2007 by Nepal4me

[Irene]

I purchased some land last year in Phuket in a company name complete with the whole shareholder process. I am now going through the accounting.

The accountant I went to wants to charge me 20,000 baht for his services and I must pay an additional 8,000 baht to an auditor that he is giving my paperwork to.

I have a bit of a hard time understanding why I have to pay twice and why it costs 20,000 baht plus a yearly 8,000 baht fee. So far, his explanation to me was very vague so I'm hoping somebody can shed some light here.

I get the feeling, he looked at me and saw dollars signs due to my being a farang. He has all my paperwork now so I don't think I could even get it back to go to another accountant.

Any help would be appreciated.

Nepal4me,

Because a company's accountant cannot also be an auditor of a company. Hence, there are two persons you have to pay for. The annual audit fees of Baht 8,000 for an inactive company is reasonable. But 20,000 Baht for keeping books of account to cover a few entries of land purchase and filing of the financial statements with the authorities could be a bit steep. I suggest you get the list of the services he has to cover in order to make sure that he will do what is required under the law and also to bind him with works to be done. Do you have any engagement letter from him? Make sure you get the receipts for all the payments to him and the auditor and the receipts from the Ministry of Commerce and tax authorities for having filed the appropriate documents with the authorities.

After the works have been done, you can ask for the documents under the pretext of having to show the cost to a prospective buyer. You can then decide by that time whether you still want him to service you.

[Cyberstar]

The yearly audit - by a certified accountant - is required by law ... That's it ... As for whatever accountant needs you may have outside of that - they're not required by law, only by your actual needs for keeping your books "to the books".

Edited April 27, 2007 by Cyberstar

[Nepal4me]

As for whatever accountant needs you may have outside of that - they're not required by law, only by your actual needs for keeping your books "to the books".

Cyberstar,

I'm afraid I can't understand what this part of your response to my post means.

Irene, thanks for this info. Could you comment on what would a reasonable fee be for the bookkeeping of an inactive company, if 8,000 is approximately appropriate to pay an auditor.

[Irene]

As for whatever accountant needs you may have outside of that - they're not required by law, only by your actual needs for keeping your books "to the books".

Cyberstar,

I'm afraid I can't understand what this part of your response to my post means.

Irene, thanks for this info. Could you comment on what would a reasonable fee be for the bookkeeping of an inactive company, if 8,000 is approximately appropriate to pay an auditor.

Nepal4me,

For audit fee, 8,000 for an inactive company is about right. The range is between 5,000 to 10,000. It can only be signed by a CPA (Thailand).

For bookkeeping, another 8,000 to 10,000 is about right if no other services are involved and the transaction is one and only on purchase of one property.