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Seals Management in China

A seal is integral to the administration of a company and the key to legally authorise documents in China. Due to a multitude of actions that a company must take, many types of seal exist, such as company seal, financial seal, legal representative seal, contract seal and invoice seal; each carrying certain specific powers used for a specific situation or for a particular action.

The significant power entrusted to the seal presents a unique risk that companies operating in China must address.

 

Do You Face These Issues in China?

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How Can You Be Sure That:

  • Policies and procedures are complied with?
  • Approved requests for usage of seals result in corresponding effected contracts?
  • Seals have not been misused? Or used for unauthorised transactions?
  • All seals in circulation are completely accounted for?
  • All seals are authentic and complied with local regulatory requirements?
  • All contracts entered into using the seals are captured completely in a database?

Given the multitude of risks that can potentially arise from the use of seals, businesses must take measures to mitigate the risks of using seals in China. According to the nature and severity of each case, an individual who counterfeits a company seal is subject to penalties or treated as a criminal offence.  

 

A Cloud-based Seal Management Solution — C3

Based upon the 3Cs – Custodian, Compliance, and Certification, ‘C3’ is a comprehensive and proprietary cloud-based solution developed by SBA Stone Forest to help businesses build a robust system of internal control, mitigate business risks, and ensure corporate compliance with ease.

Developed by our team of accountants and in-house legal officers, C3 allows business owners and HQ controllers to authorise, track, and review business activities in China anytime, anywhere.

Enjoy peace of mind over seal usage with quick answers to the following:

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C3 Benefits

 

Compliance Risk Mitigation

  • Control and prevent unauthorised use of company seals
  • Mitigatie risk of total reliance on seal keeper (s)

 

Higher Efficiency & Convenience

  • Have a central depository system for all licenses contracts and resolutions
  • Access regional offices’ information at a glance, anywhere, anytime

 

Internal Control (Best Practice)    

  •  Establish clear policy statements on the usage of seals
  • Audit trials for easier tracking

 

Cost Savings

  •  Reduce administrative cost as request for seals are made online
  • Manage fewer manpower

 

How C3 Works?

 Use of Seals in China

 

 

 

 

Case study - One-stop Seal Management Solution

 

Corporation Background

  • A new American AI company in China, directly managed by its foreign headquarter.
  • The limited manpower in their China office was not enough to meet the daily operational needs in finance and administrative work

Customer Pain Points

  • Lacked of manpower to manage seals.
  • The company did not have an SOP, and clear segregation of duties in using and keeping seals.
  • In early 2020, seals were scattered at employees' homes, and there was no record of seals custody and handover.
  • Foreign management was unable to track and monitor the use of seals, such as financial seal, legal representative seal, and business license 24/7.

Solutions

  • Customised management solution: SBA Stone Forest actively communicated with the client, formulated a seal management system suitable for the client's business model based on their use of seals and scenarios.
  • Design authority approval: We designed an authority approval matrix according to the client's management structure.
  • Systematic management: We ensured each personnel had an account, and clarified the procedures of using seals through our C3 system.
  • Implementation: 
    - We ensured effective implementation of the seal management system.
    - We proposed our client to manage request, approval, asset issuance, and recovery online, instead of manual management offline
    - We also provided system operation training.

Why SBA Stone Forest?

  • Assist to establish internal management system:
    - Our C3 system helps in internal control, and segregation of duties to prevent unauthorised use of company seals
  • Ensure enterprise compliance:
    - Solve internal seals management problems.
    - All seals in circulation are accounted for. 
    - Preset reminders when seals or licenses are about to expire     
  • Risk supervision and sharing:
    • - Foreign management can access the use of assets record any time.      

 

How can we help?

Complete this form and a SBA Stone Forest representative will be in touch.