What is ACRA: Business owners' guide to understanding the Registrar of Companies in Singapore

If you plan to do business in Singapore, you will need to liaise with an agency known as ACRA¹ - the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority - to register your organisation, and to file your annual reports.

ACRA is a statutory board which has responsibility for the oversight of business entities and public accountants in Singapore - making it important that you know about what ACRA is, and what it does, before you launch your own business here.

Join us on our full guide to ACRA, for Singapore business owners and entrepreneurs. We'll cover:

What is ACRA Singapore?

ACRA is the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, a Singapore government agency which oversees the regulation of business entities, financial reporting, and public accountants.

You’ll need to go through ACRA to register a business here in Singapore, and whenever you need to file annual reports or make changes to your business information.

ACRA also manages company compliance with rules and requirements, such as issuing penalties and fines if businesses do not comply with the regulations.

Ensuring business owners and entrepreneurs understand the rules which apply to them, and giving them tools and advice to help them to comply is also a key part of ACRA’s role.

On the ACRA website you’ll find a wealth of information covering how to set up and register a business, reporting requirements, common offences and enforcement policies. Getting familiar with the tools and information here will help you stay on the right side of the regulator once you have set up your Singapore business.

Functions of ACRA

ACRAs functions cover every stage of the business lifecycle, from registering a company, to managing it in a compliant way, updating and making changes to registration and closing down defunct companies. This means that the functions of ACRA are pretty diverse, including:

• Providing information on proper business management, compliance and enforcement
• Registering of businesses and updating of business information as needed
• Issuing a UEN - unique entity number - to companies
• Collecting data on various company stakeholders
• Monitoring compliance with Companies Act
• Imposing fines, and issuing court summons to companies that fail to comply
• Ensuring businesses are closed down properly when they cease to exist

What is ACRA Bizfile+?

Any entity conducting business in Singapore, must register with ACRA. Exactly what ACRA registration and compliance rules apply to you may vary a little depending on the business entity type you choose to register.

As a Singapore business owner, when you interact with ACRA it’ll often be done through Bizfile+².

Bizfile+ is the ACRA self service online filing portal which lets you register your business, submit reports, and make applications and submissions. You can also use the tools on Bizfile+ to retrieve information on other businesses, and to find tools for professional development and learning.

Through Bizfile+, ACRA offers over 400 services online using a self service model which allows you to follow on screen prompts to complete whichever action you required, from looking up the right SSIC code for your business activity, to checking the business name registration, registering your business and filing your annual return.

This is convenient and cuts down on unnecessary admin time for busy business owners.

Common Bizfile+ services

Exactly what you’ll need to use Bizfile+ for will depend on your entity type - however some commonly required services include:

• Checking available business names and registering your own business formally
• Looking up other information about registered businesses, including buying business profiles
• Filing your annual report
• Updating business information such as changes in registered address, owners or directors

Common ACRA filing requirements

To comply with Singapore law, registered companies must submit an annual return every year, and also update business information as needed. Updates required for a locally registered business include changes to the company name, address, or business activity. You’ll also need to inform ACRA of changes in the key company personnel and shareholders.

This is needed if you change team members or auditors, or if the name, ID information, address or nationality of key company officers change.

ACRA Bizfile+ online filing is typically quick and easy to manage. You’ll log into your account with Singpass, and then the quoted average timescales and fees for different actions are as follows:

• File annual return - should take 5 to 10 minutes, with a cost of 60 SGD³
• Change company information - should take 4 to 15 minutes and may cost up to 15 SGD⁴
• Change information about company officers or shareholders - should take 3 to 5 minutes, with no fee to pay⁵

Changing your company information takes 3 working days to process, unless a review is needed. In this case it could take 14 to 60 days to be completed.

Annual report and changing information about company officers and shareholders is completed by ACRA on the same day you submit changes through Bizfile+.

Simplify your business with Wise Business account

If you have a Singapore business you must comply with the rules and regulations here - but it’s usually an easy and streamlined process, thanks to ACRA.

If you regularly engage overseas suppliers, contractors or employees, why not check out Wise Business?

Unlike banks and services like PayPal, Wise uses the real exchange rate and charges super low transfer fees, so that you can pay vendors and bills for less.