What to Do After Registering Your Hong Kong Company (First 90 Days)

Quick Answer

During the first 90 days after registering a Hong Kong company, focus on banking, bookkeeping, company-secretarial compliance, and key filing deadlines. Early preparation for tax, MPF, and employment obligations helps keep your company compliant from day one.

Your First 90 Days at a Glance

Use the first 90 days to establish the company’s financial, administrative and compliance systems.

Days 1–30

Organise company documents, separate finances and begin bookkeeping.

Days 31–60

Confirm company-secretarial arrangements and create a compliance calendar.

Days 61–90

Review the accounts and prepare for tax, payroll and employment obligations.

Follow the six steps below to organise these priorities.

Step 1: Apply for a Dedicated Business Account

A dedicated business account helps the company receive payments, pay suppliers, and maintain a clear financial trail. Banks may request incorporation documents, ownership information, contracts, expected transaction details, and evidence of business activity.

Depending on the business model, founders may also consider suitable licensed fintech or payment solutions. Avoid using a personal account permanently because mixed finances complicate bookkeeping and tax preparation.

Step 2: Start Bookkeeping From the First Transaction

Bookkeeping should begin when the company first receives or spends money. Record revenue, expenses, subscriptions, reimbursements, shareholder funding, salaries, and payment-processing fees.

Keep invoices, receipts, contracts, bank statements, and payment-platform reports organised. The Inland Revenue Department states that sufficient business records should generally be retained for at least seven years.

A company with little or no revenue should still record its costs and funding movements. Monthly bookkeeping is normally more efficient than rebuilding an entire year of transactions later.

Step 3: Confirm the Company Secretary and Statutory Records

A Hong Kong company must have a company secretary, and the appointment should already have been made during incorporation. The post-registration task is to confirm that the appointment and service arrangements remain active.

If the secretary is an individual, that person must ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. If the secretary is a body corporate, its registered office or place of business must be in Hong Kong.

Confirm who maintains statutory records, handles Companies Registry filings, and receives official correspondence. Company-secretarial service does not automatically include banking, bookkeeping, payroll, or tax.

Confirm that the company maintains a Significant Controllers Register (SCR) and has appointed an eligible designated representative. Most Hong Kong-incorporated companies, except listed companies, must keep the register in Hong Kong and make it available to law-enforcement officers on request.

Step 4: Record Renewal and Annual Return Deadlines

Check the Business Registration Certificate and confirm the company name, Business Registration Number, registered address, commencement date, and expiry date. A certificate may be valid for one year or three years.

When the company commences business, notify the Business Registration Office within one month. The notification should include the business name, if different from the company name, the nature of business, the business commencement date, and the business address, if different from the registered office address. The notification may be submitted in writing or by using Form IRBR200.

The Business Registration Office generally issues the renewal demand note around the middle of the month before the renewed certificate begins. Business Registration renewal is separate from the Companies Registry annual return.

A local private company generally files its annual return within 42 days after each anniversary of incorporation, except in the year of incorporation. Add both deadlines to the compliance calendar.

Step 5: Prepare for Profits Tax Obligations

A new company should prepare for tax from the beginning, although its first Profits Tax Return is not usually issued during the first 90 days. A newly registered business generally receives its first return about 18 months after commencement or incorporation.

The company must follow the deadline shown on the return. It should not ignore a return merely because it has no revenue, no profit, or limited activity.

Keep contracts, invoices, customer records, supplier documents, and evidence explaining transactions. Reliable bookkeeping makes tax preparation more accurate.

Agree the company’s financial year-end with its accountant and prepare for the statutory audit. The first accounting reference date must generally fall within 18 months after incorporation, and Hong Kong-incorporated companies generally submit audited financial statements with their Profits Tax Returns unless an exception applies.

Step 6: Prepare for MPF and Employment Matters

Employment obligations begin when the company hires staff, not simply when it is incorporated. A company with no employees does not need to create employee MPF accounts immediately.

Employers generally must enrol eligible full-time and part-time employees aged 18 to 64 in an MPF scheme within the first 60 calendar days of employment. Different rules apply to certain casual employees in the construction and catering industries.

Employee enrolment and ongoing MPF administration are generally handled through the eMPF Platform.

Prepare written employment contracts, payroll processes, employee files, and wage records before hiring. The Labour Department recommends written contracts because they clarify both parties’ rights and obligations.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The most common early mistake is postponing bookkeeping until the company becomes active. This can create missing evidence, unclear transactions, and higher accounting costs.

Another mistake is mixing personal purchases, shareholder funding, and company expenses without proper descriptions. Every transfer between a founder and the company should have a clear purpose.

Founders may also assume that the company secretary handles every requirement. Assign banking, bookkeeping, tax, employment, and payroll responsibilities separately, and maintain a single calendar that shows each deadline and the responsible person.

First 90 Days Action Checklist

1. Store all incorporation documents securely.
2. Begin the business-account application.
3. Separate personal and company transactions.
4. Establish monthly bookkeeping and document storage.
5. Confirm the company secretary and registered office arrangements.
6. Review registered particulars and statutory records.
7. Notify the Business Registration Office within one month after the company commences business.
8. Record the Business Registration Certificate expiry date.
9. Add the incorporation anniversary to the compliance calendar.
10. Prepare for the first Profits Tax Return and assess whether notification of chargeability is required.
11. Arrange employees’ compensation insurance and set up contracts, payroll, wage records, and MPF procedures before any employee starts work.

How Captime Helps

Captime Corporate Management Limited (TCSP Licence No. TC010212) helps founders manage the practical work that follows Hong Kong company incorporation. The objective is to build a clear compliance system before deadlines or problems appear.

Captime can support company-secretarial administration, registered-office arrangements, statutory filings, Business Registration renewal, bookkeeping, accounting, tax compliance, and audit coordination. The team can also organise documents commonly requested in business account applications.

This gives founders a clearer view of what must be completed, when it is due, and which records should be retained.

Official References

· Hong Kong Companies Registry — Directors and Company Secretaries

· Hong Kong Companies Registry — Annual Return for a Local Private Company

· Inland Revenue Department — Record Keeping

· Inland Revenue Department — Renewal of Business Registration

· GovHK — Profits Tax Return and Supplementary Forms

· Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority — Enrolment for Employees

· Hong Kong Labour Department — Sample Employment Contract

· Hong Kong Companies Registry — Significant Controllers Register

· Hong Kong Companies Registry — Accounts and Audit

· Inland Revenue Department — Profits Tax Return Supporting Documents