Bookkeeping & Accounting Services in Singapore
Keeping the books a Singapore company is required to keep, and keeping them in a state that stands up when a bank, a buyer or IRAS asks. Bookkeeping, GST, payroll and year-end accounts.
Every Singapore company is required to keep proper books of account. We keep them, prepare the year-end financial statements, handle GST and payroll, and make sure the numbers behind your filings are ones you can rely on.
The reason to take this seriously is not the requirement itself. It is that the accounts are what everybody else reads: the bank considering a facility, the buyer running diligence, the investor, the landlord, and IRAS. Books kept casually all year are expensive to reconstruct at exactly the moment they matter.
What we handle
Bookkeeping and management accounts. Maintained through the year rather than assembled in a panic at year end, so you can actually see how the business is doing while there is still time to act on it.
Financial statements. Prepared in accordance with the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards, in the form required for filing and for your directors to approve.
GST. Registration when you cross the threshold, and the periodic returns after that. Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover exceeds the statutory threshold, and voluntary registration is sometimes worth considering below it, particularly where your customers are themselves GST registered and your input tax is material.
Payroll and CPF. Salary computation including overtime and bonuses, CPF submissions, the Skills Development Levy, and contributions to the self-help group funds. Payroll here is more intricate than it looks, and the deadlines are unforgiving.
Expense and claims processing. The manual, error-prone part of every small finance function, handled properly and reconciled.
Year-end coordination. Working with your auditors where an audit is required, and preparing what the tax filings need. See tax and accounting.
Does your company need an audit?
Not necessarily. Singapore exempts companies that qualify as small, based on revenue, assets and employee numbers, and most owner-managed companies fall within the exemption.
Being exempt from audit is not the same as being exempt from keeping proper accounts. The books still have to be kept, the financial statements still have to be prepared, and the tax return still has to be filed on the basis of them.
Working with the rest of it
Bookkeeping sits alongside corporate secretarial services, which handles the registers and the ACRA filings, and tax and accounting, which handles IRAS. Having them in one place means the numbers in your financial statements, your tax return and your annual return agree with each other, which sounds obvious and is a surprisingly common source of trouble when three providers each assume another is checking.
For companies being set up, see company registration.
Bookkeeping and accounting in Singapore: frequently asked questions
How long must we keep our records?
Accounting records and supporting documents must be retained for at least five years. That includes invoices, receipts, bank statements and payroll records, and it applies whether or not the company is still trading. Digital copies are generally acceptable provided they are complete and legible.
When do we have to register for GST?
Registration is compulsory once your taxable turnover exceeds the statutory threshold, tested on both a retrospective and a forward-looking basis. Registering late has consequences, including having to account for GST you never charged, so it is worth monitoring as you approach it rather than discovering it afterwards.
Should we register for GST voluntarily?
Sometimes. It lets you claim input tax, and it may make no difference to customers who are themselves GST registered. It is usually the wrong move where your customers are consumers, because you add nine per cent to your prices without any of them being able to recover it. It also commits you to the compliance cycle for a minimum period.
Do we need an audit?
Most small owner-managed companies do not, provided they meet the small company criteria on revenue, assets and headcount. The exemption removes the audit, not the obligation to keep proper books and prepare financial statements.
Can you take over from our current bookkeeper?
Yes, and it is routine. We take on the ledgers, reconcile the position, and tell you plainly if anything needs correcting before it becomes a problem in a filing or a transaction. The best time to move is at a financial year end, though it can be done at any point.
Our books are behind. How bad is that?
Common, and fixable. Bringing several months or years of records up to date takes work, and it is far better done now than in the middle of a bank application, a due diligence exercise or an IRAS query. Tell us how far behind you are; we have seen worse.
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