How to incorporate a Singapore company yourself

You can incorporate a Singapore private company yourself if you are eligible to submit the Bizfile application. The government filing is relatively simple and the statutory price is fixed at S$315. What is easy to underestimate is the legal structure and continuing administration that begin when the company comes into existence.

Self-filing therefore separates two decisions that are often blurred together: whether you can complete an online application, and whether you are ready to run the resulting company compliantly. If you are still deciding whether a company is the right structure, start with whether you should incorporate.

Who can file without an agent

Only an individual with a SingPass account can submit an incorporation application on Bizfile. Foreigners must engage a registered filing agent — a law firm, accounting firm or corporate secretarial firm — to file for them. In practical terms, self-filing is for people who already hold SingPass. A foreign founder planning from abroad should instead use the remote registration guide. ACRA requires foreigners to engage a corporate service provider.

The company must have at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore. ACRA lists the qualifying statuses as a Singapore citizen, a Singapore permanent resident, or a valid holder of an Employment Pass, Personalised Employment Pass or Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass. An Employment Pass holder must first obtain a Letter of Consent from the Ministry of Manpower before taking a role. ACRA sets out the local-residency requirement.

Under Companies Act s145, a company must have at least one ordinarily resident director, and a sole director may also be the sole member. A one-person company is therefore expressly permitted. The same Companies Act s145 says that a director must be a natural person aged at least 18 who otherwise has full legal capacity.

What self-filing actually costs

ACRA's published fee schedule lists S$15 to apply for a new business entity name and S$300 to register the new entity. The statutory incorporation cost is therefore S$315. There is no fee for lodging Register of Registrable Controllers (RORC) information.

That figure is the government cost of creating the entity, not the total cost of keeping it compliant. Self-filing removes professional help from the incorporation stage; it does not remove the secretary requirement or the directors' responsibilities. Anyone comparing routes should distinguish the one-off filing price from the work that follows.

The filing sequence

Before opening Bizfile, settle who will reserve the name, who will be the director or directors, who will hold the shares, and what share capital and shareholding will be stated. Then proceed in this order:

1. Apply for the company name. Pay the S$15 name application fee through Bizfile. If approved, the name is reserved for 120 days; after that it is released for others to use. Complete registration within that window or the reservation lapses. ACRA's name reservation guidance.
2. Check the identity of the reserver. Only the person who reserved the name can register the company. That same person must be appointed as a director or secretary of the new company.
3. Register the entity. Use the "Register new business entity" eService, enter the required company particulars, state the share capital and shareholding, and pay the S$300 registration fee.
4. Lodge the RORC information within the application. For current incorporations, this is not a later clean-up task. It forms part of the same registration eService.

ACRA states it plainly: "Only the person who reserved the company name can register. This person must also be appointed as a director or secretary of the new company" (ACRA). So do not reserve the name through a spouse's or colleague's SingPass because that account happens to be to hand. If that person is not intended to be an officer, the person you do intend cannot complete the registration.

The RORC deadline has changed

Many older guides say a new company has 30 days to establish and file its RORC. That is no longer correct.

For companies incorporated on or after 16 June 2025, the RORC must be set up and filed on the date of incorporation. For companies incorporated on or after 24 November 2025, the information is lodged while applying for incorporation through the "Register new business entity" eService. It is part of the application, not a follow-up filing. ACRA's current RORC guidance should be used rather than an older checklist.

There is no lodging fee, but the obligation is substantive: failure to lodge RORC information may lead to prosecution and, on conviction, a fine of up to S$25,000. Prepare the controller information before beginning the incorporation application rather than expecting a later 30-day window.

The company secretary is the real dividing line

Every company must have one or more secretaries. Under Companies Act s171, each must be a natural person whose principal or only place of residence is in Singapore and who is not debarred under Companies Act s155B. The directors must take all reasonable steps to ensure that each secretary appears to have the knowledge and experience needed to perform the role.

Most importantly, Companies Act s171 prevents a sole director from acting or being appointed as secretary. It also says the secretary's office must not be vacant for more than six months at any one time.

The consequence is direct. A founder may own all the shares and serve as the only director, but cannot fill the secretary role as well. A one-person company must bring in another suitable person or a firm within six months. This is where the day-one saving from self-filing usually goes: incorporation can be handled alone, but the resulting company cannot remain a one-person administrative arrangement indefinitely.

Deciding with the full sequence in view

Self-filing fits the narrow incorporation task when the filer has SingPass, the officer and ownership arrangements are settled, the correct person reserves the name, and the RORC information is ready for the application. The S$315 statutory cost is transparent.

Professional help becomes relevant when eligibility, roles or controller information are uncertain, or when there is no suitable secretary solution. The choice is not between a "simple" company and an "admin-heavy" one: the same obligations attach after registration whichever filing route is used.

Before submitting, map the next obligations using the first-year compliance guide. Keep company and personal funds distinct; the guide to directors' duties and company money explains why. Once the entity exists, the business bank account guide covers that separate practical step.