TL;DR: Every Singapore company needs a physical local registered address, and P.O. boxes are not accepted. Since May 2026 the fixed three-hour daily opening requirement no longer applies. Your four options are a home office, a coworking desk, a virtual office or a registered address service.
Most founders meet the address question for the first time inside the BizFile form, and most type in their home address because it is the only one they have. That single field decides what appears on your public company profile and where ACRA serves legal notices for the life of the business. A registered address service Singapore companies use is one of four options worth comparing first.
What does ACRA require of a registered office address?
The baseline has not changed. Your registered office must be:
- A physical address located in Singapore. P.O. boxes are not accepted for company registration
- Able to receive statutory correspondence from ACRA, IRAS and MOM
- The place where your company registers and records are kept
- Updated with ACRA within 14 days of any change
What changed in May 2026
For decades, Section 142 of the Companies Act required the registered office to stay open to the public for at least three hours every business day. The Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 removed that fixed minimum opening-hours requirement, replacing it with a notice-based system under which someone entitled to inspect company records gives reasonable notice first. The first tranche of provisions commenced on 6 May 2026.
Much published guidance on registered office address requirements ACRA sets out still quotes the old rule.
Can I use my home address for company registration in Singapore?
Yes, under the Home Office Scheme, but approval must come first. Apply through GoBusiness before you incorporate, not after. Approval is instant on successful submission and payment of a $20 administration fee, with HDB handling flats and URA handling private residential property.
Then there is the part the rules do not mention. Your home address becomes publicly searchable on BizFile next to your company name. For anyone in a consumer-facing or contentious line of work, that is a live exposure. Our guide for locals and foreign entrepreneurs setting up here covers the wider set of decisions around new company registration Singapore founders face at this stage.
What are my four address options?
| Home Office Scheme | Coworking desk | Mail-forwarding virtual office | Registered address service | |
| Meets ACRA rules | Yes, with approval | Usually | Only if real staffed premises | Yes |
| Home address stays private | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Statutory mail handled | No | Varies | Varies | Yes |
| Provider is an ACRA filing agent | Not applicable | Rarely | Sometimes | Yes |
| Typical annual cost | $20 permit | Highest | Low | Low |
| Best for | Solo admin work | Teams needing desk space | Cost-first, low mail volume | Compliance handled end to end |
What separates a compliant provider from a mailbox is a real office unit with staff who can receive and log registered mail and court documents.
What happens if ACRA mail goes undelivered?
This is the risk nobody prices in. Statutory notices are treated as served once sent to your registered address. If nobody collects them, the clock keeps running. A missed annual return becomes an ACRA reminder, then a composition fine, then prosecution, and in serious cases director disqualification.
That exposure grew this year. From 6 May 2026, maximum fines for directors who breach their duties rose from $5,000 to $20,000, and for serious offences directors may face both the fine and imprisonment of up to 12 months. Undelivered correspondence sits behind more ACRA annual return filing mistakes than you would think.
How does a registered address service work?
The provider is an ACRA-registered filing agent whose commercial premises become your registered office. Statutory mail is received, logged, and either scanned or forwarded. When the address changes, the provider files the update through BizFile on your behalf and prompts you to refresh your letterheads, invoices and website footers, since the registered address must appear on business correspondence.
Most companies bundle it with Singapore corporate secretary services so the address, the annual return and the register updates sit with one party instead of three. The same logic applies when engaging incorporation services Singapore business owners use at the start, since the address has to exist before the company does. Our background piece on registered address services covers what a standard package includes.
“An address is only as good as the mail handling behind it. The compliance failure is almost never the address itself, it is the letter nobody opened.” ContactOne Corporate Secretarial Team
Choose a Registered Address That Keeps You Compliant
Work backwards from exposure. If your home address on a public register does not trouble you and your work is purely administrative, the Home Office Scheme is cheap and legitimate. If it does, or if statutory mail cannot afford to sit in a letterbox, a registered address service Singapore providers offer is the straightforward fix. Whether you are handling company registration in Singapore for the first time or moving an existing entity, our registered address service covers the address and the mail behind it. See the full range of corporate support at ContactOne.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a P.O. box as my registered address in Singapore?
No. ACRA requires a physical Singapore address capable of receiving correspondence. P.O. boxes are not accepted.
Does my registered address have to be where I actually work?
No. Your registered office and your operating premises can be different addresses.
Is my registered address visible to the public?
Yes. It appears on your company’s business profile on the ACRA register and can be searched by anyone.
Author
Written by the ContactOne Corporate Secretarial Team. ContactOne Professional Services Pte Ltd is a Registered Filing Agent with ACRA (FA20092306), serving over 10,000 clients since 2009.
Last updated: September 2026
Sources cited: ACRA, Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025; ACRA, Commencement of Key Changes, 16 April 2026; URA and HDB, Home Office Scheme guidelines.
