Who is legally responsible if my accountant files something wrong?
You are. The Accounting Act puts the duty to keep accounts on the company, not on the bookkeeper you hired, and section 40 imposes the same penalty on the managing director, managing partner or any person responsible for operations where the offence came from their act, or from their failure to act when they had a duty to. Outsourcing moves the labour; it does not move the liability.
Last reviewed 21 September 2026
Two roles, and Thai law keeps them apart
| Role | Who it is | What the Act says |
|---|---|---|
| ผู้มีหน้าที่จัดทำบัญชี, the person with the duty to keep accounts | The company itself. Registered partnerships, limited companies, public companies, foreign juristic persons operating in Thailand, and joint ventures under the Revenue Code. | Section 8 |
| ผู้ทำบัญชี, the bookkeeper | A named qualified individual the company must provide. Not the firm, and not a substitute for the duty above. | Section 19 |
Read section 19 slowly: the obligation it creates is an obligation on you, to provide a qualified person. Hiring one discharges that obligation. It does not transfer the underlying duty to keep the accounts.
What section 40 does
A foreign director who signed nothing, read nothing and asked nothing is not obviously inside that defence. "I did not know" and "I did not consent" are different claims, and only the second one is in the statute.
The duty that runs the other way
Section 12 requires you to deliver the supporting documents to the bookkeeper, complete and correct. That cuts both ways. A firm that filed from an incomplete box of receipts has a defence you do not, and a firm that never asked for the missing documents has a weaker one. Which is why the date you handed things over is worth recording.
What the fines are
| Failure | Fine | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Failing to provide a bookkeeper (section 19), or to hand over documents (section 12) | Not more than 10,000 baht | 29 |
| Failing to keep accounts at all (sections 8 and 9) | Not more than 30,000 baht, plus not more than 1,000 baht per day until corrected | 28 |
| Failing to submit the financial statements (section 11) | Not more than 50,000 baht | 30 |
| Breaching the retention and place-of-keeping duties (sections 13, 14, 15, 17) | Not more than 5,000 baht | 31 |
| False or incomplete accounts | Imprisonment up to 1 year or a fine up to 20,000 baht, or both | 36 |
| Aggravated false accounting | Imprisonment up to 2 years or a fine up to 40,000 baht, or both | 39 |
What to do about it, practically
- Get the named ผู้ทำบัญชี written into the engagement letter, not just the firm’s name.
- Keep your own copy of everything you hand over, with the date. Section 12 is the hinge and you want to be on the right side of it.
- Ask for the filing acknowledgements each month, not the report. A report says what the firm believes; an acknowledgement says what the government received.
- Keep the Thai ledger accessible to you. The records are legally yours and must be kept at your place of business unless the Chief Accounts Inspector has permitted otherwise.
- Ask what happens when the firm gets something wrong, and whether they carry professional indemnity cover. The answers vary enormously and almost nobody asks.
If the answers you are getting now are unsatisfying, changing accountant without losing your books is the practical next page. If you would rather see what three other firms would charge and what they would actually take responsibility for, compare three quotes.
Related questions
- What is actually included in a Thai bookkeeping fee, and what almost never is?
- What happens if you file PP 30 late?
- How do I change accountant in Thailand without losing my books?
Sources
- Accounting Act B.E. 2543, sections 8, 12, 19, 28 to 31, 36, 39 and 40 (Thai, full text)
- Accounting Act B.E. 2543, English translation (Samui for Sale law texts)
- DBD, Business Accounting Supervision Division: duties and the 10,000 baht penalty
This is general information about how a filing works, not accounting or tax advice for your company. Confirm anything that matters against the official notice or with your accountant. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.