13/08/2026
Operating a Malaysia Private Limited Company (Sdn. Bhd.)
Purchasing from China via 1688 / Taobao / Pinduoduo | How to Record Purchases Without a Standard English Invoice
When a Malaysian Private Limited Company (Sdn. Bhd.) purchases goods through Chinese e-commerce platforms such as 1688, Taobao, or Pinduoduo, some suppliers may not be able to provide a traditional English Commercial Invoice.
The absence of a standard English Invoice does not necessarily mean that the purchase cannot be recorded in the company's accounts.
What matters is that the company maintains sufficient, genuine, and cross-verifiable supporting documentation to establish:
Genuine Supplier → Genuine Order → Genuine Payment → Genuine Goods → Genuine Shipping / Delivery → Business Purpose
The company's accountant can then assess the appropriate accounting and tax treatment based on the complete supporting documentation and actual circumstances.
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Step 1 | Request Formal Purchase Documents from the Supplier Where Possible
When making a purchase, the company should first request appropriate documentation from the supplier, such as:
• Invoice / Commercial Invoice
• Chinese VAT Invoice (if available)
• Receipt or sales document
• Supplier's company name
• Unified Social Credit Code / registration details (if applicable)
• Description of goods
• Quantity
• Unit price
• Total amount
• Order date
If the supplier can only provide documents in Chinese, retain the original Chinese documents and do not alter the original records.
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Step 2 | Keep Complete Platform Order Records If No Standard Invoice Is Available
If the supplier cannot provide a standard commercial invoice, the company should retain complete purchase records from the relevant platform.
For example:
1688
• Order details
• Supplier / store name
• Product information
• Quantity and price
• Order number
• Order date
• Actual amount paid
• Payment status
Taobao / Pinduoduo
• Order Details
• Seller Details
• Product Description
• Quantity
• Unit Price
• Total Amount
• Order Number
• Payment Record
Where possible, download the electronic records. If the platform does not provide a download function, retain clear and complete screenshots or save/print the relevant pages as PDF files.
Do not retain only a single screenshot showing the payment amount.
The records should, as far as possible, identify who sold the goods, what was purchased, when the purchase took place, the quantity purchased, and how much was paid.
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Step 3 | Prepare an English Translation / Purchase Summary
As platform records and supplier documents are often in Chinese, it is advisable to prepare an English Purchase Summary / Translation for accounting and compliance purposes.
It should include at least:
• Supplier Name
• Platform
• Order Number
• Order Date
• Description of Goods
• Quantity
• Unit Price
• Total Amount
• Currency
• Payment Method
• Payment Date
The company should retain:
Original Chinese Order / Invoice + English Translation or Purchase Summary
The English document is intended to assist with accounting and compliance review. It should not replace or alter the original transaction records.
For material transactions, tax reviews, or where required by a regulatory authority, a professional or certified translation may be necessary.
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Step 4 | Ensure Payments Are Traceable
Where possible, purchases should be paid directly from the Sdn. Bhd.'s corporate bank account.
If payment is made through:
• International Bank Transfer
• Telegraphic Transfer (TT)
• Alipay
• WeChat Pay
• Chinese purchasing agents
• Third-party payment platforms
• Compliant cross-border payment service providers
complete payment records should be retained.
The payment records should, as far as possible, show:
Payer → Payee → Date → Amount → Currency → Transaction Reference
The payment should also be traceable to the corresponding platform order or supplier documentation.
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Step 5 | What If One Payment Covers Multiple Orders?
Platforms such as 1688 may allow a single payment to cover purchases from multiple suppliers or several orders.
For example:
Total Payment: CNY 50,000
comprising:
• Supplier A: CNY 20,000
• Supplier B: CNY 15,000
• Supplier C: CNY 15,000
In this situation, prepare a Purchase Reconciliation / Payment Breakdown showing how the total payment corresponds to each individual order.
For example:
Bank / Payment Record: CNY 50,000
= Order A: CNY 20,000
+ Order B: CNY 15,000
+ Order C: CNY 15,000
This allows the accountant to clearly reconcile the payment against the underlying purchases.
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Step 6 | What If a Director or Shareholder Pays Personally?
During the early stages of the company, the corporate bank account may not yet be operational. A director or shareholder may therefore use a personal:
• Bank account
• Alipay account
• WeChat Pay account
• Credit card
to make purchases on behalf of the company.
The company should retain:
• Platform order records
• Supplier information
• Personal payment records
• Product and logistics documentation
• Explanation of the business purpose of the purchase
• Records showing the payment was made by the director/shareholder on behalf of the company
Based on the actual circumstances, the accountant may determine whether the amount should be recorded as:
Director's Advance / Amount Owing to Director
or another appropriate accounting item.
Once the company's corporate bank account becomes operational, it is advisable to gradually transition to making business payments directly through the company account and minimise the long-term mixing of personal and company funds.
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Step 7 | Additional Documentation When Using a Chinese Purchasing Agent
If the company does not pay the 1688 supplier directly but instead makes payment to a Chinese Purchasing Agent / Sourcing Agent / Consolidation Agent, additional documentation should be retained, including:
• Agent Agreement
• Agent Invoice
• Supplier Order Details
• Purchase Breakdown
• Agent Payment Record
• Service / Commission Fee
• Logistics Documents
• Goods Receiving Record
The company must be able to explain:
Why was the payment made to the Agent when the actual goods were supplied by another Supplier?
Otherwise, the payee shown on the company's bank records will differ from the actual supplier, potentially creating additional questions during accounting, tax, or bank compliance reviews.
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Step 8 | Keep Consolidated Shipping / Freight Forwarding Records
Purchases from Chinese e-commerce platforms are frequently shipped through consolidation warehouses or freight forwarders.
The company should retain:
• Domestic Chinese courier records
• Consolidation warehouse receiving records
• Packing Lists
• Freight Invoices
• Shipping Records
• Air Waybill / Bill of Lading (where applicable)
• Customs Declarations (where applicable)
• Import Documentation
• Malaysian goods receiving records
These documents provide further evidence that:
The goods purchased through the platform actually entered the company's supply chain or were used for genuine business purposes.
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Step 9 | What If the Goods Never Enter Malaysia?
Some Malaysian companies operate cross-border e-commerce or dropshipping models where:
Chinese Supplier → Direct Shipment → Customer in the US / Europe / Australia / Other Countries
The goods may never physically enter Malaysia.
In such circumstances, the absence of Malaysian import or customs documentation does not necessarily mean that the transaction is not genuine.
The company should instead maintain more comprehensive documentation, including:
• Customer Sales Order
• Sales Invoice
• 1688 / Taobao / Pinduoduo Purchase Order
• Supplier Payment Record
• Supplier Shipping Record
• International Tracking Information
• Customer Delivery Confirmation
This establishes a complete dropshipping transaction trail:
Customer Order → Malaysian Company Sale → Purchase from China → Company Payment → Chinese Supplier Shipment → Overseas Customer Delivery
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Step 10 | How Should Foreign-Currency Purchases Be Recorded?
Purchases from China are commonly settled in Chinese Yuan (CNY), while a Malaysian company's accounts are generally maintained in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR).
For example:
1688 Purchase: CNY 30,000
The accountant will translate the foreign-currency transaction into MYR based on the applicable accounting policies and circumstances of the transaction.
The company should therefore retain:
CNY Purchase Record + Payment Record + Exchange Rate / Accounting Record
If the order/invoice date differs from the payment date and exchange-rate movements create a difference, the accountant will account for the relevant Foreign Exchange Gain / Loss in accordance with the applicable accounting standards.
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Step 11 | Never Create a False Invoice for Accounting Purposes
This is an important compliance principle.
If the supplier does not provide an English Invoice:
Do not create an invoice that falsely appears to have been issued by the supplier.
You should also never:
• Alter the supplier's original invoice
• Change the order amount
• Change the payment date
• Change the payee
• Create non-existent supplier documents
• Backdate documents
• Fabricate payment records
The appropriate approach is:
Retain Original Documents + Prepare an English Translation / Purchase Summary + Supplement with Order, Payment, and Logistics Evidence
All accounting records should be based on genuine transactions.
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Step 12 | Organise Purchase Records Monthly
Do not wait until year-end accounting or tax preparation to search for 1688 orders from several months—or even a year—earlier.
Consider creating monthly purchase folders such as:
2026-01 Purchases
2026-02 Purchases
2026-03 Purchases
For each purchase, organise the documents as follows:
01 Platform Order
02 Supplier Document
03 English Purchase Summary
04 Payment Proof
05 Shipping / Logistics
06 Customs / Import Documents
07 Goods Received
This allows the accountant to reconcile and record purchases more efficiently.
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Core Compliance Logic for 1688 / Taobao / Pinduoduo Purchases
Even without a traditional English Commercial Invoice, the company should establish the strongest possible documentary trail:
Platform Order
↓
Supplier Information
↓
Original Chinese Documentation
↓
English Purchase Summary / Translation
↓
Company or Authorised Person's Payment Record
↓
Shipping / Consolidation / Customs Records
↓
Proof of Receipt by the Company or End Customer
↓
Accounting Record
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Important Advice for Business Owners
The main issue is not the absence of an English Invoice. The real risk is being unable to demonstrate that the purchase genuinely occurred.
Cross-border e-commerce transactions differ from traditional trading arrangements. Businesses should therefore establish comprehensive digital transaction records from their very first purchase.
The three key principles are:
Genuine Transaction
Traceable Payment
Verifiable Documentation
When the order, payment, logistics, and sales records can be properly reconciled with one another, even if the original supplier documents are not in English, they can provide stronger supporting evidence for the accountant to assess the appropriate accounting and tax treatment.
Compliance Reminder: Whether a particular purchase may be recognised as a company expense, inventory cost, or tax-deductible item should ultimately be determined by the company's accountant and tax professional based on the nature of the transaction, available supporting documentation, and prevailing Malaysian tax requirements. For high-value, unusual, or insufficiently documented cross-border purchases, the company may be required to provide additional supporting evidence
