Before committing your resources to it, it would be wise to seek out advice from a CA (Chartered Accountant).

The expert can advise you on how different legal structures would affect the taxation of your business, or government grants or tax exemption schemes it can claim. In Singapore, a CA firm can act as your incorporation agent. So, it makes sense to hire one as your Singapore company incorporation services provider.

ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) has extremely strict guidelines regarding paperwork and timely filing. It expects Singapore companies to be prompt in updating their company register folder, payroll, and books of accounts.

ACRA also expects company directors to take the initiative and be prompt with their annual filing and XBRL filing. You may be running a new company, but you still have to assess whether or not it needs GST registration. Your services providing firm can assist you with the GST filing as it can with other taxes (including corporate tax).

Post incorporation, hiring someone with extensive knowledge and understanding of new statutory corporate governance and compliance requirements is, therefore, a plus for new companies in Singapore, as the continuous expanding rules, regulations, and documentation in the business environment coupled with the frequency with which they are modified and reviewed necessitate detailed attention.

Morsel of treats

Secretary

171.—(1)  Every company must have one or more secretaries each of whom must be a natural person who has his or her principal or only place of residence in Singapore and who is not debarred from acting as secretary of the company.

(1E)  Where a director is the sole director of a company, he or she must not act or be appointed as the secretary of the company.

(4A)  The office of secretary must not be left vacant for more than 6 months at any one time.

The company secretary must have at least one of the following credentials;

– At least three of the five years of prior secretarial experience immediately before his/her appointment

– He/she is a competent person as per the Legal Profession Act, Cap. 161

– A public accountant as designated under the Accountants Act, Cap. 2

– A member of Singapore’s Institute of Certified Public Accountants

– A member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators Association of Singapore

– Member of the International Accountants Association (Singapore Branch)

– A member of the Singapore Institute of Company Accountants

Want to know more you can contact us

<p>The post Corporate secretarial services first appeared on Ong and Liang Accounting Consultants.</p>

There is no easy way to quickly compare all the options available as they all include different service items at different price points and discount structure. We know first-hand of many company founders who have spent considerable amount of time doing lots of digging, settle on the seemingly best option, only to uncover hidden fees/extra expenses later for essential services that they assumed are included in the cheap packages they signed up for.

At Ong & Liang, we are entrepreneurs like you who have gone through the same process years ago. We aim to simplify the decision process and help founders and entrepreneurs alike to get the best value at the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.

Morsel of treats

Types of Business Entities – Which is the suitable one for you?

It is important to know the differences of these 4 types of business entities before you decide:

• Company
• Sole proprietorship
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Limited Partnership

A business can be a sole-proprietorship with one owner or a partnership consisting of 2 to 20 owners. Business owners are personally liable for the debts and losses of the business, which is also known as unlimited liability.

The next business entity, Company, usually has the words Pte Ltd or Ltd as part of its name. One of the advantages of owning a company is that the shareholders have limited liability, so they are not personally liable for the debts and losses of the Company.

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) is a partnership with a minimum of two partners and they have limited liability, however, for Limited Partnership (LP), there needs to be a general partner and a limited partner. Whilst the general partner is personally liable for debts and losses of the LP, the limited partner enjoys limited liability.

Make sure to adhere to the following rules for opening your business:

• At least 18 years old
• All entities must have at least one person who is residing in Singapore
• For Business, LLP, and LP, there is a requirement that the owner or partner’s Medisave must be paid up with a CPF board at all times
• Comply with all requirements for registration and post-registration

Want to know more you can contact us

<p>The post Company incorporation first appeared on Ong and Liang Accounting Consultants.</p>

• Helping client ensure tax returns are filed promptly
• Ensuring all tax deadlines duly complied
• Identifying tax incentives, grants and policies to new start-up SMEs, maximise tax benefits allowed by the government

Companies that fail to file their Corporate Income Tax returns on time or fail to e-File when required to, without reasonable excuse, are guilty of an offence and may face a fine of up to $1,000 and in default of payment, imprisonment for a term of up to six months.

Companies that do not file their Corporate Income Tax returns on time may receive a Notice of Assessment (NOA) based on IRAS’ estimation of their income. Tax must be paid within one month from the date of the NOA notwithstanding any objections. IRAS will review the estimated assessment upon receiving the Corporate Income Tax returns.

Companies that fail to file their Corporate Income Tax returns for a particular YA or fail to e-File when required to, for two years or more, may face a penalty of double the tax assessed and a fine of up to $1,000. In default of payment, an imprisonment term of up to six months may be imposed.

Morsel of treats

IRAS Warns Against Tax Evasion

IRAS takes a serious view of non-compliance and tax evasion. There will be severe penalties for those who wilfully evade tax. The authority will not hesitate to bring offenders to court. Offenders may face a penalty of up to four times the amount of tax evaded. Jail terms may also be imposed.

Want to know more you can contact us

<p>The post Income Tax Planning and Compliance first appeared on Ong and Liang Accounting Consultants.</p>

What is an audit?

An audit is a very thorough examination of the financial records for your business, which determines if the information correctly reflects the financial position at the given time.

An audit is a much more critical, systematic process that requires detailed testing such as examining your business’ accounting records and looking through financial statements. The auditor may even interview employees within your company to survey internal controls.

As a result, the results of an audit lead to the highest level of assurance that can be provided.

What is a compilation?

A compilation is a basic summary of your company’s financial statements written by a CPA using data provided by your company.

Unlike a review or an audit, this method provides no assurance. There are no tests performed, and the auditor does not examine any internal controls.

During a compilation, an accountant will review and inquire about your business’ financial statements, but will not compare them to any of their expectations. This means that they cannot provide any opinion or assurance.

A morsel of treats

Appointment of auditor

205.—(1)  The directors of a company must, within 3 months after incorporation of the company, appoint an accounting entity or accounting entities to be the auditor or auditors of the company, and any auditor or auditors so appointed hold office, subject to this section, until the conclusion of the first annual general meeting.

Small company exempt from audit requirements

205C.—(1)  a company that is a small company in respect of a financial year is exempt from audit requirements for that financial year.

A company is a small company from a financial year if —

(a)  it is a private company throughout the financial year; and

(b)  it satisfies any 2 of the following criteria for each of the 2 financial years immediately preceding the financial year:

(i)    the revenue of the company for each financial year does not exceed $10 million;

(ii)   the value of the company’s total assets at the end of each financial year does not exceed $10 million;

(iii)  it has at the end of each financial year not more than 50 employees.

Want to know more you can contact us

<p>The post Compilation and Audit first appeared on Ong and Liang Accounting Consultants.</p>

A morsel of treats

False and misleading statement

401.—(1)  Every corporation which advertises, circulates or publishes any statement of the amount of its capital which is misleading, or in which the amount of capital or subscribed capital is stated but the amount of paid‑up capital or the amount of any charge on uncalled capital is not stated as prominently as the amount of subscribed capital is stated, and every officer of the corporation who knowingly authorises, directs or consents to such advertising, circulation or publication shall be guilty of an offence.

(2)  Every person who in any return, report, certificate, balance sheet, financial statements or other document required by or for the purposes of this Act wilfully makes or authorises the making of a statement false or misleading in any material particular knowing it to be false or misleading or wilfully omits or authorises the omission of any matter or thing without which the document is misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

(2A)  Any person who, for any purpose under this Act —

(a)  lodges or files with or submits to the Registrar any document; or

(b)  authorises another person to lodge or file with or submit to the Registrar any document,

knowing that document to be false or misleading in a material respect, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

(3)  For the purposes of subsection (2), where a person at a meeting votes in favour of the making of a statement mentioned in that subsection the person is deemed to have authorised the making of that statement.

False statements or reports

402.—(1)  An officer of a corporation who, with intent to deceive, makes or furnishes, or knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the making or furnishing of, any false or misleading statement or report to —

(a)  a director, auditor, member, debenture holder or trustee for debenture holders of the corporation; or

(b)  in the case of a corporation that is a subsidiary, an auditor of the holding company,

relating to the affairs of the corporation, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

(2)  In subsection (1), “officer” includes a person who at any time has been an officer of the corporation.

Accounting records and systems of control

199.—(1)  Every company must cause to be kept such accounting and other records as will sufficiently explain the transactions and financial position of the company and enable true and fair financial statements and any documents required to be attached thereto to be prepared from time to time, and must cause those records to be kept in such manner as to enable them to be conveniently and properly audited.

(2)  The company must retain the records referred to in subsection (1) for a period of not less than 5 years from the end of the financial year in which the transactions or operations to which those records relate are completed.

(3)  The records referred to in subsection (1) must be kept at the registered office of the company or at such other place as the directors think fit and must at all times be open to inspection by the directors.

(4)  If accounting and other records are kept by the company at a place outside Singapore there must be sent to and kept at a place in Singapore and be at all times open to inspection by the directors such statements and returns with respect to the business dealt with in the records so kept as will enable to be prepared true and fair financial statements and any documents required to be attached thereto.

(6)  If default is made in complying with this section, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months and also to a default penalty.

Want to know more you can contact us

<p>The post Accounting and bookkeeping first appeared on Ong and Liang Accounting Consultants.</p>