What It Costs to Keep a Malaysian Sdn Bhd Compliant After Registration: First-Year Audit, Accounting, Tax and Secretarial Fees (2026)

Incorporating a Sendirian Berhad (Sdn Bhd) in Malaysia can cost as little as RM1,000 in SSM registration fees through direct incorporation. Yet many founders discover that keeping the company compliant each year costs several times more than setting it up.

In this blog, we break down the annual compliance costs and what accounting services Malaysia providers charge for secretarial, audit and tax work. We cover:

• company secretary annual fees
• accounting and audit charges
• LHDN tax filing costs

This helps avoid surprises after registration.

What Makes Up the Annual Compliance Cost of an Sdn Bhd?

Many Sdn Bhd owners use accounting services in Malaysia to manage these recurring obligations. An Sdn Bhd's annual compliance cost typically covers:

• the SSM annual return
• company secretary fees
• accounting and bookkeeping
• a statutory audit or exemption
• corporate income tax filings

Every Sdn Bhd in Malaysia must meet recurring obligations under the Companies Act 2016 and the Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA). These duties start upon incorporation, when SSM issues a notice of registration, and they continue even if the company has no revenue; a certificate of incorporation is issued only upon application and payment of the prescribed fee.

In practice, the annual compliance cost of an Sdn Bhd depends on whether the company is dormant, audit-exempt, or required to appoint an auditor. Transaction volume, payroll headcount and SST registration also affect the bill.

Below are the five recurring obligations that drive the annual compliance cost of a Malaysian Sdn Bhd.

1. Annual Return With SSM

An Sdn Bhd must lodge its annual return with SSM within 30 days of each anniversary of its incorporation. The lodgment fee for a private company is RM150 under the SSM fee schedule (2026). Most companies also pay their Corporate Services Provider a service fee to prepare and submit the return.

2. Appointing a Company Secretary

Every Sdn Bhd must have at least one company secretary appointed within 30 days of incorporation. The secretary must ordinarily reside in Malaysia and be a member of a prescribed professional body or licensed by SSM. This is a legal requirement, not an optional service.

3. Accounting Records and Financial Statements

Directors must keep proper accounting records and lay financial statements before the shareholders each year. Both SSM and the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) require business records to be kept for seven years. Smaller companies often engage a provider for bookkeeping and the compilation of unaudited financial statements instead of handling this in-house.

4. Statutory Audit or Exemption

Unless the company qualifies for exemption, a statutory audit by an independent auditor is required annually. Under SSM's audit exemption practice directive (as applied for 2026), dormant companies, zero-revenue companies and smaller threshold-qualified companies may be exempted. Exempt companies still prepare financial statements, usually with a compilation report.

5. Corporate Tax and Employer Filings

Companies must submit an estimate of tax payable (Form CP204) and pay monthly instalments (Form CP207). They must also file the annual income tax return (Form e-C). Employers must also meet annual payroll reporting requirements:

• file Form e-E
• submit employee remuneration data through e-CP8D or e-Data Praisi
• issue Form CP8A (EA) to employees

Follow LHDN's Return Form Filing Programme for 2026.

How Much Is the Company Secretary Annual Fee in Malaysia?

The company secretary annual fee in Malaysia typically ranges from RM1,200 to RM3,600 per year for a small Sdn Bhd. Dormant companies are at the lower end.

The company secretary annual fee in Malaysia varies with the scope of service. A basic package usually covers the named company secretary, registered office address, maintenance of statutory registers and minutes, and compliance reminders.

Busier companies pay more. Extra charges commonly apply for additional resolutions, share transfers, changes of directors, and attendance at board meetings. Ask any provider to state clearly what the annual fee includes before you engage them.

For newly incorporated companies, the first year can be lighter on the wallet. Our Malaysia company incorporation services package, for example, includes first-year secretarial and registered office services at no extra charge. The company secretary annual fee then starts from the second year.

What Do Accounting and Audit Services Cost in Malaysia?

The cost of accounting services in Malaysia typically ranges from RM200 to RM800 monthly for bookkeeping at a small Sdn Bhd. A statutory audit starts from around RM2,500.

Accounting charges scale with transaction volume. A company with a few hundred monthly transactions pays far less than one running retail operations with payroll for 20 staff.

The audit line item is the biggest variable. Whether you need one depends on your company's profile under SSM's audit exemption framework. Here is how the main cost components typically break down.

1. Bookkeeping and Monthly Accounting

Providers of accounting services in Malaysia generally charge monthly fees that cover recording transactions, bank reconciliations and management reports. Fees rise with invoice volume, multi-currency transactions and payroll headcount.

2. Financial Statement Preparation

Year-end financial statements must be prepared in compliance with approved accounting standards. Audit-exempt companies engage a Corporate Services Provider to compile the statements, usually at a fraction of audit cost.

3. Statutory Audit Fees

Where an audit is required, fees for a straightforward small company commonly range from RM2,500 to RM8,000 depending on complexity. Consolidated groups, inventory-heavy businesses and companies with many related-party transactions pay more.

What Tax Filings and Fees Do You Need to Budget For?

Budget for CP204 estimate submissions, monthly CP207 instalments, the annual Form e-C, and employer filings — plus the corporate tax itself at 15%, 17% or 24% for qualifying smaller companies.

According to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN), a newly incorporated company with a first basis period of at least six months must submit Form CP204 within three months of commencing operations. From the second year, the estimate is due at least 30 days before the basis period begins.

To qualify for the reduced corporate tax rates, a Malaysian-resident Sdn Bhd generally must have paid-up ordinary share capital of not more than RM2.5 million and not be more than 50% owned by a company with paid-up capital above RM2.5 million. Companies that do not qualify are taxed at 24% on all taxable income.

Tax instalments under Form CP207 fall due by the 15th of each month. Form e-C must be filed within seven months of the accounting period end, and any balance of tax is due by the same deadline. Loss-making companies must still file, and dormant companies must file Form e-C annually even though CP204 is not required.

Our corporate tax compliance packages start from RM500 for dormant companies and RM1,000 for active companies, with CP204 and CP204A submissions included at no extra charge. For a deeper explanation of the estimate of tax payable rules, see our dedicated guide.

What Is the Total Annual Compliance Cost for a Small Sdn Bhd in 2026?

For a dormant Sdn Bhd, provider-service costs in accounting services Malaysia range from RM1,700 to RM3,400 a year. For a small active company, they range from RM6,100 to RM18,700 when audit-exempt and can be higher when an audit is required.

The total annual provider-service cost of running an Sdn Bhd in 2026 covers secretarial, accounting, audit and tax service fees. The table above shows indicative market ranges for typical small-company profiles.

These figures exclude the RM150 SSM annual return lodgement fee and taxes themselves. Dormant-company totals also exclude financial statement compilation, which audit-exempt companies still need. SST filing costs are excluded where applicable. Use them as a planning baseline, then obtain quotations matched to your transaction volume.

Conclusion

Keeping a Malaysian Sdn Bhd compliant involves an annual return, a company secretary, proper accounting, possible audit exemption and a series of LHDN filings. The annual compliance cost Sdn Bhd owners face in 2026 ranges from RM1,700 to RM3,400 in provider fees for a dormant company to RM8,600–RM26,700 for an audited, active one.

We help clients manage this end to end — incorporation, secretarial services, bookkeeping, financial statement compilation, corporate tax compliance and filing reminders — so no deadline is missed. Our packages start from RM500, with CP204 submissions included free when you engage our annual filing service.

Contact 3E Accounting Malaysia today for a quotation tailored to your company's profile, and focus on growing your business while we handle the compliance calendar.

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