Your Books May Be Complete. But Are They Reliable?
Why Missing Documents and Outdated Numbers Create Problems Before Businesses Notice
One pattern I often see when providing outsourced accounting services in Thailand is that a business can grow much faster than its accounting processes. Whether a company manages its bookkeeping internally or relies on accounting outsourcing in Bangkok, the challenge is often the same: sales increase, new branches open and daily transactions multiply, while accounting quietly becomes something to catch up on later. For a while, nothing may appear to be wrong.
The problems I see most often come in two forms, and they usually show up together: incomplete supporting documents, and accounting records that no longer reflect the business’s current numbers.
Where Reliable Books Break Down
Incomplete Documents
Entries recorded, but the supporting evidence behind them is missing or gone
Outdated Numbers
Books that are complete but late, so decisions are made on stale figures
Reliable Books
A documented, timely process reviewed before the accounts are taken on
Real Consequence
A manufacturing client could not support two shipments in a Revenue Department input VAT review, and paid additional VAT and a surcharge on genuine purchases.
Where It Spreads
Import transactions, intercompany reconciliations, payroll, and the month-end close, including TFRS for NPAEs reporting.
When Documents Are Incomplete
As an external accounting team, we can only work with the information and documents provided to us. We may post an entry and complete the month-end close so the accounts appear complete, but recorded does not always mean supported.
An import transaction is a good example. A supplier invoice tells us what was purchased and the price, but not always when the goods moved, when the transaction should be recognised, or the full landed cost, which may also need the import declaration, airway bill, Incoterms, freight forwarder’s documents and withholding tax records. Without that complete package, a purchase can be in the accounts while its cut-off or cost is still incomplete, and by the time anyone asks, the shipping documents, the employee who arranged it, and the reasoning behind the entry can all be gone.
I saw this with one manufacturing client whose accounting we took over. Their previous team had recorded three years of imported raw material purchases, and the software showed documents attached to each entry, but when we checked, only the supplier invoice was there. The client could not locate the originals either. When the Revenue Department selected the company for a routine input VAT review, we could not produce support for two shipments. The purchases were genuine, but the company still paid additional VAT and a surcharge simply because the file was incomplete.
When the Books Do Not Reflect Current Numbers
An equally common problem is books that are complete but late: a purchase order sitting with operations for weeks before reaching the accounting team, a bank reconciliation running behind schedule, or a receivables balance not yet cleared against payments already collected. Management then makes decisions on numbers that are already weeks out of date, such as believing there is enough cash for a new branch when part of it is already committed, or overstating profit because certain costs have not yet been entered.
How We Put This Right
When we take on a new client’s accounting, the first step is a checklist of the documents each type of transaction needs, together with a full review of the client’s existing process to see what needs to change. We set a clear timeline for who has to send what and when, and map out the document trail: what should be kept, what should be sent, and what should be passed on to the accounting team. Wherever a step is missing or set up incorrectly, we tell the client directly, explain the risk involved, and ask them to confirm their understanding of each risk before we take the accounts on in full. This is also what a client gets that a cheaper provider usually will not: a flag the moment a document is missing or a number looks off, not a surprise months later.
The same pattern extends beyond import transactions. We see it in intercompany reconciliations, payroll services and the month-end close process for companies in Thailand, including those reporting under TFRS for NPAEs. Problems often arise when a working paper, the reason behind an adjustment, or an important assumption is never properly documented.
This is why I treat complete documentation and timely accounting entries as one discipline, not two, and why this review happens before we take on a client’s books, not after. As a business becomes more complex, this is also often where the need develops beyond basic bookkeeping into broader accounting advisory or outsourced CFO support in Thailand. The numbers can often be entered later. The story behind them, and the moment for a timely decision, cannot always be recreated.
If your Thai accounting setup is not giving you reliable, timely numbers, and you are not sure whether the records behind those numbers can be traced and supported, contact me directly to discuss what a proper outsourced accounting arrangement looks like.