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Service guide
Bookkeeping in Thailand.
Bookkeeping in Thailand: the Accounting Act duty to keep books, the monthly cycle from documents to tax filings, and what a bookkeeping engagement includes.
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Key facts
- Is bookkeeping legally required in Thailand?
- Yes. Under the Accounting Act B.E. 2543 (2000), registered partnerships, limited companies, foreign juristic persons operating business in Thailand, and Revenue Code joint ventures are charged with the accounting duty and must keep proper accounts.
- Do the books have to be in Thai?
- Yes, in substance. The Act requires entries in Thai, or in a foreign language with the corresponding Thai attached, or accounting codes with a Thai translation manual.
- How long must records be kept?
- At least five years from the date of account closure, and the Director-General can extend that to up to seven years for some types of undertaking.
- How is bookkeeping different from outsourced accounting?
- Bookkeeping is the monthly books: entries, reconciliations, and the numbers behind the monthly filings. Outsourced accounting is the full external back office, adding financial statements, filings, and reporting on top.
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Bookkeeping in Thailand is a legal duty
Bookkeeping in Thailand is not optional housekeeping. Under the Accounting Act B.E. 2543 (2000), a registered partnership, limited company or public limited company established under Thai law, a foreign juristic person operating business in Thailand, and a joint venture under the Revenue Code are each the person charged with the accounting duty, and must have accounting undertaken for their business under the Act's rules.
The Act is specific about form too: account entries must be made in Thai, or in a foreign language with the corresponding Thai attached, and accounts with their supporting documents must be kept for at least five years from account closure. That is why even a small company here needs a qualified Thai accountant behind its books, usually through one of the accounting firms in Thailand that do this as monthly work.
This page covers that monthly work: the books themselves. If you want a firm to own the whole finance back office, statements, filings and reporting included, that is outsourced accounting, a wider engagement built on the same bookkeeping core.
What the Accounting Act requires
Core bookkeeping duties under the Accounting Act B.E. 2543 (2000), English translation published by the Federation of Accounting Professions.
| What the Act says | |
|---|---|
| Who must keep accounts | Registered partnerships, limited companies and public limited companies established under Thai law, foreign juristic persons operating business in Thailand, and joint ventures under the Revenue Code |
| Language of entries | Thai, or a foreign language with the corresponding Thai attached, or accounting codes with a Thai code translation manual |
| Supporting documents | The business must properly and fully furnish the accountant with the supporting documents used for making entries |
| Retention | Accounts and supporting documents kept for not less than five years from account closure, extendable to up to seven years for some undertakings |
- Who must keep accounts
- Registered partnerships, limited companies and public limited companies established under Thai law, foreign juristic persons operating business in Thailand, and joint ventures under the Revenue Code
- Language of entries
- Thai, or a foreign language with the corresponding Thai attached, or accounting codes with a Thai code translation manual
- Supporting documents
- The business must properly and fully furnish the accountant with the supporting documents used for making entries
- Retention
- Accounts and supporting documents kept for not less than five years from account closure, extendable to up to seven years for some undertakings
Source: Accounting Act B.E. 2543 (2000), Federation of Accounting Professions
Checked August 2026
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Accounting firmBangkokEnglish · Thai · Filipino · Swedish
Full service accountancy practice registered with the Thai Federation of Accounting Professions delivering accountancy and tax services in English.
The monthly cycle: documents in, filings out
Thai bookkeeping runs to a monthly beat because the tax calendar does. A VAT-registered business files its VAT return, form PP 30 (the Revenue Department's English materials call it VAT 30), every month, within 15 days of the following month. Withholding tax remitted on salaries and supplier payments runs to its own fixed monthly deadlines. The books have to be current before any of those returns can be right.
So each month the firm collects the paperwork: sales invoices, purchase invoices, receipts, bank statements, payroll records. It makes the entries, reconciles the bank, and hands the numbers to whoever files. On VAT work the bookkeeping and the return usually sit with the same firm; the year-end corporate return is its own cycle, covered under corporate tax filing.
Miss the bookkeeping and the filings slip with it. Most late returns in practice start as late books, not as forgotten forms.
One bookkeeping month, in order
Collect the documents
Invoices, receipts, bank statements and payroll records go to the firm, on a fixed monthly cutoff. The Accounting Act puts the duty to furnish supporting documents on the business, so this step is yours even when everything else is outsourced.
Make the entries
The firm's accountant records the month in the ledgers, in Thai or with Thai attached as the Act requires, and keeps the documents organised for the five-year retention rule.
Reconcile
Bank balances, receivables and payables are tied back to the records. Differences get chased now, while the paperwork is fresh, instead of at year end.
Hand off to the filings
The closed month feeds the monthly tax returns and, at year end, the annual financial statements. Clean handoffs here are the whole point of paying for bookkeeping.
What a monthly bookkeeping engagement includes
A typical engagement covers the ledger work, bank reconciliation, a monthly close, and preparation of the numbers behind the monthly tax filings, delivered by a qualified Thai accountant. Many firms bundle the monthly returns themselves into the same fee; others price filings separately. Firms usually price by transaction volume, so compare what the monthly scope includes rather than the headline figure, and ask who signs as the responsible accountant.
What bookkeeping does not include is the rest of the finance function: preparing and submitting the annual financial statements, management reporting, payroll administration, or advice on how the business is structured. Those sit in wider engagements, and a growing company often moves from pure bookkeeping to a fuller arrangement without changing firms.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules, deadlines, and procedures change; for a specific business, speak with a qualified professional.
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Accounting firmBangkokThai · English · French
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GPS Accounting
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Accounting firmBangkokEnglish · Thai · Filipino · Swedish
Full service accountancy practice registered with the Thai Federation of Accounting Professions delivering accountancy and tax services in English.
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Common questions
Frequently asked questions
- Who is required to keep accounts in Thailand?
- The Accounting Act B.E. 2543 (2000) charges registered partnerships, limited companies and public limited companies established under Thai law, foreign juristic persons operating business in Thailand, and joint ventures under the Revenue Code with the accounting duty. The business must also furnish its accountant with the supporting documents used for making entries.
- What does a monthly bookkeeping engagement in Thailand include?
- Typically: collecting the month's invoices, receipts, bank statements and payroll records, making the ledger entries in Thai as the Act requires, reconciling the bank, closing the month, and preparing the numbers behind the monthly tax filings. Some firms include filing the returns in the same fee; others price it separately, so compare scope, not headline price.
- How often do Thai companies have to file taxes from their books?
- Monthly, for most active businesses. A VAT-registered business files its VAT return within 15 days of the following month, and monthly withholding tax remittances run to their own fixed Revenue Department deadlines. The annual corporate income tax return is a separate year-end cycle built on the same books.
- Can a foreign owner keep the books in English?
- Working papers can be in any language, but the Act requires account entries in Thai, or in a foreign language with the corresponding Thai attached. In practice that means a qualified Thai accountant maintains the statutory books, and a firm can report to you in English on top of them.
- What happens if a company does not keep proper books?
- The Accounting Act carries penalties for failing to keep accounts as required, and messy books surface later as late or wrong tax filings. The exact exposure depends on the failure, so a firm reviews the specific situation rather than a page quoting a single figure.
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Accounting firmBangkokThai · English · French
Cloud-based accounting, tax filing & payroll for businesses in Thailand. All-inclusive pricing, zero hidden fees, 24/7 online access.
GPS Accounting
Free consultation
Accounting firmBangkokEnglish · Thai · Filipino · Swedish
Full service accountancy practice registered with the Thai Federation of Accounting Professions delivering accountancy and tax services in English.
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