Reasons of change

[bmiller1985]

After reviewing the information the business development section of the ministry of commerce site I see there have only been four foreign business certificates issued under the category of legal services and accounting in the last couple of years (51 total since 1999 FBA act).

I have been doing a lot of research into this area for purposes of starting a services firm and was wondering if anyone has any relevant knowledge or advice other than "Don't Do it". I see the costs for incorporation and other legal items are just outright out of sight considering the government fees only come to 15-16k baht or so for a 2 Million baht company. I was quoted an unmentionable figure to do a registration which would be complete in less than a day from more than one source.

I was looking into this starting a few weeks ago but today's news made me think services demand will be going up more.

Any input?

[Soutpeel]

Starting a Legal Services Company visas, incorporation

Any input?

Retain a lawyer....?...

I am sorry, I find your post highly amusing....someone asking for "legal advice" about starting a legal services company and complaining about the legal costs you have been quoted by a legal company to start up said legal company

You have to admit there is some irony in your question...

[bmiller1985]

^{Yes, if legal advice was what I was after that would be ironic. I guess I presumed that people on here would go to an attorney for legal advice, my bad. I was interested in the experiences people have had or experience from anyone in the business or anyone associated with the business. Like you say, for process, etc. always use an attorney. But for a company and getting clients I don't know anyone that doesn't bounce ideas off others before going into business. I would be very ironic if you started a business with zero input from anyone regarding the market, possible clients, costs, etc. Now that would be funny.}

[tolsti]

Semi literate troll

[fletchsmile]

I have to say my first reaction was similar to Soutpeel's

A few thoughts:

If you're going to get anywhere in this you might as well start learning first hand. Try setting your own company up yourself together with a Thai partner (whether that's a business partner or marital/ lifetime partner). Makes sense to save the costs. learn the processes and experience the difficulties. This includes trying processing your own and your own staff visas etc. If you really want to go thru the route of paying others to set up, try and be as involved as possible in every stage to learn from it.

The processes in Thailand do work. It's a case of patiently learning them. I've worked as CFO for SME's here and one way I saved costs was by getting my staff to cut out these firms to reduce our fees. I learnt a lot by being bold enough to do things in-house and save money, but there are learning curves.

You're right that accounting firms, legal firms, visa firms often overlap. I've seen accounting firms branch into visas and vice versa. This means it's quite a competitive area.

If you're looking to provide accounting services you will definitely need serious Thai input. Accounting and auditing are strongly linked in Thailand, with auditors often expected to prepare accounts in small firms. To be an auditor in Thailand you need to have the relevant Thai qualification. I'm a qualified UK chartered accountant with audit experience, and while I would be able to consult in certain capacities I would not be able to sign Thai audit reports, even though my qualifications are of a higher standard than the Thai equivalent.

Even on Visas you're going to need significant Thai input. The reason they can charge is they add value and can get things done quicker via contacts and knowing how to smooth things over.

Recruitment is another area people start adding, so as companies grow you find them doing accounting, recruitment, visa and legal services, contracting out accounting staff.

Double Impact is a great example. Started by a British guy Bruce Darrington, qualified accountant. After several years of building up the business they were taken over by Mazars - global mid-tier accounting firm. Key point here is that he was qualified as well. If you don't have accounting experience yourself you're not going to be very convincing selling that aspect of your business.

Cheers

Fletch

Edited May 14, 2014 by fletchsmile

[tolsti]

Alternatively you could set up a One Stop Shop..... like this one.... http://www.onestopservicesthailand.com/

[bmiller1985]

Thanks for the positive and helpful reply. I apologize for the ambiguous first post. We have set up several companies in the U.S., performed light public company accounting, filed the appropriate registration statements and quarterly reports (SB2, S1, etc) with the SEC in the U.S. (using a good SEC atty) as well as contracted with the audit firms to audit our statements as well as quarterly and annual reporting. However, I am not sure how these experiences translate and was hoping to get comments such as yours.

After the incorporation we are going to try and complete the Amity portion of the company setup ourselves but on the initial registration we thought it may best to have some legal advice to ensure proper wording of our memorandum and articles, etc. Since there have not been very many formed and its a different legal system than in the U.S. we thought this we should at least have some counsel to start. I appreciate your comment on the learning curve as our attorney also stated to expect many trips to the Ministry of Commerce and to take a Thai speaker with you.

We are also working with another Thai gentlemen to talk informally to attorneys in the business. I just did not want to commit this business without hearing what others have to say and thought this would be a good place to get some additional feedback.

Again, thanks for your advice.