How to Register a Company in Singapore

Choose the Singapore company registration route

Use the local-company route when you intend to form a new Singapore private company limited by shares, usually called a Pte Ltd. This guide covers that incorporation, including foreign founders. A foreign business registering a branch, or an individual registering a sole proprietorship, needs a different transaction. The name reservation is only one input to the company filing.

Decide who can lodge before anyone reserves the name. ACRA’s foreign-applicant rules require foreigners to engage a corporate service provider (CSP). Its Bizfile authorisation guidance also directs applicants to a CSP whenever any position holder is a foreigner. Having a Singapore contact or access to Singpass does not settle every eligibility condition.

As checked on 2 November 2026, ACRA’s published company fees are S$15 for one name application and S$300 for incorporation: S$15 + S$300 = S$315. These are one-off government transaction amounts. Professional charges, address and officer services, banking costs, sector approvals and any applicable tax are separate; share capital belongs to another category. Obtain a written service quotation rather than treating S$315 as an all-in setup price.

Arrange the officers and a usable registered office

Have at least one eligible locally resident director in place at incorporation, and arrange how the secretary and audit decisions will be completed. A resident director appointment and ownership are separate questions: appointing someone to the board does not itself allocate shares to that person. Record the individual’s actual responsibilities, authority and availability rather than buying a name for a form.

ACRA’s officer requirements include a minimum director age of 18 and disqualification checks. FIN holders should check with their pass issuer before accepting a role. A nominee director still has director duties; if an appointment is a nominee arrangement, the nominator information must be disclosed as required. Every director remains responsible for the company’s statutory duties.

The secretary must be an eligible natural person meeting local residency rules, appointed within six months. A sole director cannot also be the secretary. Appoint an auditor within three months unless an applicable exemption removes that obligation. Make an explicit exemption assessment; the word “private” in the company description does not itself settle it.

The registered office must be in Singapore and can differ from operating premises under ACRA’s registration requirements . Effective 20 October 2026, ACRA’s registered-office changes removed the fixed minimum public opening hours. Lawful record-inspection duties remain: after reasonable notice, make the relevant records available for inspection for at least two hours on each relevant business day. File any registered-office address change within 14 days.

For a serviced address, agree who receives legal notices, how urgent mail reaches directors, where records can be produced and what happens when the service ends. Assign responsibility for arranging lawful record inspections. Test that arrangement before entering the address in the application.

Make ownership, capital and constitution agree

Approve a single ownership schedule before preparing the incorporation draft. It should explain the shareholders, their allocations, the economic investment and any different voting rights. Treat issued versus paid-up capital as a reconciliation, not two interchangeable labels.

ACRA’s capital guide distinguishes committed share capital from the amount actually paid. A company requiring share capital needs at least S$1, and the minimum issued-share count is one. That legal starting point is not an operating budget. Choose capital and funding that can support the business plan, while accurately recording what has been committed and paid.

These checks organise the working file; they are not a universal list of attachments uploaded to ACRA. A CSP may need additional verification for an overseas individual, a corporate shareholder or a layered ownership chain. Ask which item supports the statutory filing and which supports the provider’s separate client checks.

Under ACRA’s constitution guidance , you may upload a custom constitution or adopt the model. The model can apply as it stands at adoption or incorporate future model changes. Keep a subscriber-signed copy at the registered office. Constitution choice deserves review when investors expect special voting, transfer or exit rights: a model selection should express the agreed deal, not silently replace it.

Reserve the name without losing the filing window

Reserve the name once the entity classification, activities and lodger are clear, then use the reservation period to finish one reconciled packet. The company should be registered as the entity type selected in the name application. A corporate shareholder also makes the distinction between an ordinary private company and an exempt private company important; ACRA’s authorisation guide describes restrictions on corporate shareholders in the exempt-private route.

ACRA’s name-reservation procedure asks for the preferred name, structure and relevant Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) activities. Save the transaction number and complete registration within 120 days before the name is released. Supporting material is conditional: a proposed name requiring justification or consent needs its own evidence. Do not attach an invented standard explanation to every application.

Choose the SSIC activity that describes the planned revenue, then compare it with the business plan you will show to a bank or licensing authority. A broad-sounding code does not remove a controlled activity from the licensing rules. Name reservation also gives no automatic trade mark or matching domain entitlement.

Send the lodger the agreed packet with a dated list of open items. If an owner or investor changes the share terms, update the allocation schedule and constitution together before approval. This small version-control step prevents a signed draft from describing an earlier deal.

Submit the company filing and keep the approval evidence

Complete the Bizfile company transaction, then check the approved outcome rather than treating payment as incorporation. For a direct filing, the name applicant must also become a director or secretary; the foreign-position-holder restriction still applies. Use ACRA’s current Bizfile company procedure to confirm the live screens.

1. Retrieve the name reservation and enter the company details.
2. Add position holders, required control and nominator information, capital and share allotments.
3. Submit the constitution choice and review the declarations.
4. Complete the applicable endorsements and pay when the transaction is ready.
5. Check the Bizfile inbox for the notice of successful incorporation, UEN and Business Profile link.

In a non-CSP filing, other position holders must endorse within 60 days; that portal endorsement step is not required when a CSP files. Plan sign-offs with the actual people involved. CSP submission does not remove the need for accurate facts or informed approval of appointments and ownership.

Keep the filed version, transaction reference, payment receipt and final result in separate folders. A payment acknowledgement proves a payment event, while the incorporation notice proves the successful entity outcome. Compare the resulting record with the approved draft and ask the lodger to resolve any discrepancy before reusing it.

Allow separately for founder document preparation, provider verification, authority review and any follow-up. A projected customer launch date is not an ACRA processing promise. If a launch depends on a licence, account or work authorisation, its completion needs a separate date and owner.

Put appointment dates on a calendar at incorporation

Start the compliance calendar with the actual incorporation date and financial year end, not the date the founder paid a provider. Assign a person to each date, a reminder before it and a completion document. The calendar below separates the name window from the obligations that begin when the company exists.

ACRA’s post-registration guide requires applicable registers from incorporation, makes the free Profile available for 60 days and allows a Corppass application one day after the UEN is issued. The secretary and auditor deadlines come from the officer rules above. Scheduling an appointment early is sensible when the person will maintain records immediately; the statutory latest date is not a reason to leave the file unattended.

For a foreign founder, give the board a practical way to approve urgent actions across time zones. Agree who receives notices when the founder is travelling and who can recover company documents from the provider. Calendar ownership should survive a change of secretary, CSP or registered address.

Give tax, licensing, banking and immigration separate completion tests

The UEN identifies the incorporated company; it does not close every government or commercial approval. Open separate tasks for the company’s tax filings, any GST obligation, controlled activities, account onboarding and the founder’s work permission.

IRAS’s company tax guide separates Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI), generally due within three months of financial year end unless a waiver or specific exception applies, from Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite) or Form C, due on 30 November. First-year requirements depend on the first accounts period and assessment year. Do not wait for a reminder to decide whether a filing is due.

Assess GST against IRAS’s registration rules . The general compulsory threshold is taxable turnover above S$1 million under the retrospective calendar-year test or the prospective next-12-month test. Taxable turnover has defined inclusions and exclusions; registration exceptions, voluntary registration, reverse-charge and overseas-vendor cases need their own review. Incorporation is not automatic GST registration, and the application deadline follows the relevant liability test.

Check the exact activities and premises for licences through the GoBusiness route in ACRA’s post-registration guide. A company moving goods across the border also needs the appropriate Customs and trade-permit arrangements. Record why a permission applies, or why the company’s particular activity does not require it.

A bank decides its own onboarding application. Ask for its current document and attendance requirements before arranging travel or promising payment capability. A foreign founder who will work in Singapore must separately verify the appropriate pass and role permission. Remaining overseas, holding shares, joining the board and working locally are different facts; explain the intended combination rather than assuming incorporation authorises all four.

Keep the company record accurate after the first year

Maintain the company file while it remains live, including periods without trading. A dormant period does not automatically cancel ACRA reporting or make tax obligations disappear. Decide the annual-return and accounts process before the first financial year closes.

ACRA’s annual-return rules generally give a non-listed company seven months after financial year end to file. A non-listed company with share capital and an overseas branch register has an eight-month deadline. Live dormant companies still file an annual return, and the ACRA filing is separate from IRAS tax filing. Check meeting, financial-statement and audit obligations against the company’s actual exemptions rather than treating them as one annual bundle.

Under the annual-return changes effective 20 October 2026 , confirm the latest officer and relevant member particulars, updating Bizfile first where needed. The form also asks whether any individuals perform the CEO role; check the actual role rather than relying only on a job title.

Keep changes to directors, shareholders, office details, controllers and nominee arrangements on an event log. Send changes promptly to the person responsible for the statutory update; an updated spreadsheet in the founder’s folder does not update the registry. Preserve the submission result with the supporting approvals so a later bank review can distinguish a historical record from a current one.

When appointing support, compare the responsibilities described in Singapore Corporate Service Providers: Appointment and Regulatory Duties with your engagement. Identify who prepares, who approves and who holds the final record for routine filings and non-routine corporate actions.

Approve the filing and accept a defined handover

Release the filing when the owners can approve the complete company record and accept its first compliance calendar. Hold the submission if the resident director’s eligibility is unresolved, the share schedule contradicts the constitution or the provider cannot explain a controller declaration. Correcting those issues before incorporation is easier than explaining conflicting documents downstream.

Ask for a final draft containing the name, entity type, officers, address, activities, capital, allocations, financial year end and constitution choice. Confirm who will receive the outcome and which original records remain with the company. Then agree the first post-formation actions in writing, with separate responsibility for tax, licences, banking and work permission.

The HSJGlobal Singapore company registration page can be used to frame the support required for that handover. Give the adviser the actual ownership chain, founder location, intended activity and relocation plan. A useful scope ends in identifiable records and assigned obligations, so the company can operate and maintain its file after the incorporation transaction is complete.