Accountant access models for company accounting systems in Malaysia

Four ways accountants get into company books

Malaysian companies usually give their external accountant access in one of four ways: sending exports, letting the accounting firm keep the books on its own software, granting the accountant a seat in the company's system, or linking the company to the firm's practice console. The right model depends on who owns the ledger, how often the accountant works in it, and how much control finance wants over access.

Below, each model is described by who holds the master records and what daily work looks like for both sides. Many enterprises have used more than one over the years, often without deciding deliberately.

Model one: the company sends exports

The company keeps its own books and sends trial balances, general ledger listings and reports to the firm at agreed points, typically for year-end or tax work. It costs nothing extra and suits an accountant who touches the books once a year.

The drawbacks grow with the company. The firm's working papers rest on a snapshot, so any adjustments it proposes must be keyed back into the company's system by finance staff, and differences between the two versions creep in. Questions arrive by email in batches, and each answer needs another export.

Exports also hide the supporting detail. An auditor looking at a ledger listing cannot click through to the invoice or the approval behind a line, so every sample becomes a document request, and finance spends audit season pulling PDFs.

Model two: the accounting firm keeps the ledger

Some companies, particularly those that outsource bookkeeping, let the firm maintain the ledger on its own platform. The firm posts transactions from documents the company sends and returns management reports.

This works when the company has little in-house finance capacity. For an enterprise with its own finance department, it splits the process in two: invoices and bills are created in one place and recorded in another, and managers wait on the firm's timetable for figures. Changing firms also means extracting the data, which can be slow if the firm's software was not built with handover in mind. If you use this model, agree in the engagement letter what data the firm will hand back, in what format, and how quickly.

Model three: a seat for the accountant in your own system

Here the company owns the accounting system and the ledger, and invites the accountant in with a personal login. The accountant reviews the same records finance works in, raises queries against specific transactions, and posts adjustments if the engagement allows it.

Control stays with the company. Finance decides who is invited and what they may do, and removes access when the engagement ends. The audit history shows which changes came from the firm. The commercial question is whether the extra seat is charged, which varies from product to product. For firms, the inconvenience is managing a separate login for every client that uses this model.

Model four: linking through the firm's practice console

Accounting firms that serve many clients often work from a practice console, a single dashboard of every client company they look after on a given platform. The company still owns its books but links them to the firm's console instead of inviting each accountant individually.

This suits firms with rotating staff, because the firm decides which of its people work on which client, and staff turnover at the firm does not require the company to issue or revoke individual logins. The company should still confirm what level of access the link grants and how it is revoked if the relationship ends.

Models three and four can coexist. A company might link to its bookkeeping firm's console for monthly work while inviting an individual audit manager through a seat for the year-end audit. What matters is that every route in is known, approved and listed in one place by finance.

Questions finance leadership should settle before choosing

Work through these with your current firm before committing to a model.

BukuCloud supports the third and fourth models. A company can give its accountant a free firm-staff seat, or its accounting firm can link the company through the BukuCloud Practice console. Details are on bukucloud.com.

• Who owns the master ledger, and where would it sit if you changed firms?
• How often does the accountant need to work in the books: annually, quarterly or monthly?
• Will the accountant only review, or also post adjustments?
• Who inside the company approves and removes external users?
• How will personal data in the ledger be handled under the PDPA, as confirmed by your adviser?
• What does each option cost, counting both subscriptions and staff time spent exporting and re-keying?

Frequently asked questions