Compliance guides

ACRA & filings

Meet two of three size criteria — revenue, assets, employees — and skip the statutory audit. What s205C actually requires, and what the exemption does not remove.

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

ACRA & filings

When a venture ends, you can dissolve the company for free in four to six months — or park it dormant for a few hundred dollars a year. How each path works.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

ACRA & filings

Most companies file financial statements in XBRL with their annual return. A solvent exempt private company files a declaration instead. Which are you?

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

ACRA & filings

Five years is the statutory floor under both the Companies Act and the Income Tax Act. What to keep, how to organise it, and why bank statements deserve special care.

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Company setup

DBS, OCBC and UOB against Aspire, Airwallex and Wise — fees, FX, deposit protection, and the one government-payments limitation that decides the answer.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

Company setup

Every obligation a new Singapore private company faces in year one — who it is owed to, the statutory basis, and when it falls due.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

Company setup

One hundred percent foreign ownership is allowed — the catch is the resident director. Nominee arrangements, honest first-year costs, and the banking reality.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

Company setup

Limited liability, lower tax and a professional image — against real compliance costs and public records. The honest trade-offs before you register.

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Corporate secretarial

A separate bank account, no personal withdrawals, no casual loans to yourself — the habits that keep a founder-director on the right side of fiduciary duty.

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Employment & MOM

The two-stage EP test — qualifying salary plus 40 COMPASS points — the January 2027 increases, and why new companies start with exactly half the points they need.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

Finance basics

Real market rates — bookkeeping, annual filing bundles, GST, audit, corporate secretarial and payroll — and the add-on fees that turn a S$199 promo into S$1,000.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

Finance basics

Source documents, treatment, reconciliation, reporting — the four-step process behind every set of accounts, and why each step exists to protect somebody.

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Finance basics

Why your bank balance is not your profit. The accrual basis behind every Singapore financial statement, shown through three simple startup transactions.

2 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Finance basics

Create a subsidiary — or a holding company — and you may have created a consolidation duty. Who must consolidate, the exemptions, and what it does to your fees.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

Finance basics

What the balance sheet and income statement each actually tell you, the questions they answer, and the three numbers worth checking every single month.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

Finance basics

Most private companies can choose a deliberately simpler accounting standard. Who qualifies, what gets easier, and when full standards are worth keeping.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

Finance basics

Up to half your software and upgrading costs funded — if you apply before you buy. The grants worth knowing this year, and the deadlines quietly approaching.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

Finance basics

Corporate secretary, bookkeeping, payroll, tax, FP&A — which finance functions to delegate, when volume changes the answer, and what a founder must never hand over.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

Finance basics

Pricing, GST filing, InvoiceNow readiness and the payroll gap — a Singapore-specific comparison of the two incumbents and the AI-first newcomer.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

GST

Nine boxes, one month after each quarter, and a handful of mistakes that account for most IRAS assessments. A working guide to filing the F5 correctly.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

GST

Two ways to cross the threshold — looking back and looking forward — and a three-question framework for whether voluntary registration is worth it.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

GST

E-invoicing over Peppol is becoming part of GST registration — new voluntary registrants from April 2026, everyone by April 2031. What it is and how to get ready.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Equipment isn't deducted — it's written off through capital allowances, over one year or three, at your election. The rules, the S$5,000 shortcut, and the timing play.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

How Singapore corporate tax is actually computed — the flat rate, the start-up and partial exemptions, and the two filing deadlines every company shares.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

"Wholly and exclusively" is the test. S-plate cars, private spending, provisions and pre-revenue costs are where small company tax computations go wrong.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Until YA 2028, qualifying R&D, training and IP spending earns a 400% tax deduction — or a cash payout for loss-making startups. What qualifies and what it's worth.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Early losses can shelter future profits — unless a fundraise breaks the shareholding test. How carry-forward works, and when to defer capital allowance claims.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

The three clean ways to take money out of your company, how CPF and tax treat each, and worked numbers showing why most founders end up with a mix.

2 Aug 2026 · 9 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Your tax bill is never profit × 17%. The add-backs, deductions, allowances and exemptions between the two numbers — walked through with a worked example.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Pay a fair amount of tax — not more, never fraudulently less. The three-way distinction, what s33 lets IRAS unwind, and the planning moves that are simply fine.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

The start-up exemption runs for exactly three Years of Assessment, profitable or not. Why a first financial year of around 11 months usually protects it best.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Interest, royalties and services performed in Singapore — when s45 makes you the tax collector, the rates, and why the contract stage is where this is won.

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

Payroll & CPF

Xero, QuickBooks and Jaz don't do CPF — a local payroll tool fills the gap. The statutory checklist, the price bands, and how Talenox and friends compare.

2 Aug 2026 · 8 min read

ACRA & filings

What s197 actually requires, what BizFile asks for, and the three fields founders get wrong.

12 Jul 2026 · 8 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Most small companies never need to file ECI. Check the two conditions before you pay an agent to do it.

5 Jul 2026 · 6 min read

Corporate secretarial

Private companies can skip the meeting entirely — if the paperwork is signed in the right order.

28 Jun 2026 · 7 min read

Payroll & CPF

Rates, deadlines, and the wage ceiling changes that took effect in January.

21 Jun 2026 · 9 min read

ACRA & filings

You have 14 days to notify ACRA. Here is the BizFile path and what happens to correspondence in the meantime.

14 Jun 2026 · 5 min read

IRAS & corporate tax

Revenue thresholds, what each form asks for, and why filing the wrong one delays your assessment.

7 Jun 2026 · 10 min read