Accounting
It is a best practice to account for the operations of the business on a monthly basis. However, it is our view that frequency of accounting work performed should justify the volume of transactions specific to the company to ensure cost efficiency.
If you are a GST registered trader, you should update your accounting records at least once every 3 months to ensure that your quarterly GST submission is true and accurate.
You should account for the results of your business operations every year to ensure information submitted to ACRA and IRAS are true and accurate for the financial period submitted.
If you are running a private limited company, you will be required to submit a set of audited financial statements to ACRA for annual return filing and IRAS for tax filing.
If you are running an exempt private limited company, you will be required to submit a declaration of solvency to ACRA if your company is solvent. If your company is insolvent, you will need to submit a set of unaudited financial statements to ACRA. In both cases, you will need to submit a set of unaudited financial statements to IRAS for tax filing.
If you are in a partnership, there is no requirement to prepare a full set of financial statements. However, if your business turnover is more than S$500,000, you will need to prepare a certified statement of accounts to IRAS for tax filing.
If you are a sole proprietor with business turnover of more than S$500,000, you will need to prepare a certified statement of accounts to IRAS for tax filing.
You may wish to consider the accounting services offered by ContactOne to assist you in the preparation of financial documents.
XBRL stands for extensible business reporting language. XBRL filing is mandatory for all companies with some exceptions including:
- banks, insurance and finance companies regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS),
- solvent exempt private limited companies,
- companies that are allowed by law to prepare their accounts in accordance to financial reporting standards other than the Singapore financial reporting standards and the international financial reporting standards,
- companies limited by guarantee and
- foreign companies and its local branches.
If you are running an exempt private limited company which is insolvent at financial year end, you are required to file your accounts with ACRA under XBRL filing. If you need assistance on compilation of XBRL financial statement report, you can contact us for our accounting services offered.
You are required to keep records of your accounts, including invoices, receipts, bank statements and any other documents that are incidental to your accounts for a minimum period of 5 years. You may keep the records in soft-copy format.
For a company, the directors are responsible for the state of accounts of the Company. In fact, the directors are required to sign off on the Financial Statements to confirm that the accounts are done up properly.
For a sole proprietor or partnership, the business owners are responsible for the accounts of their businesses.
