The questions overseas companies ask us, answered in one place.

No. Overseas directors without Singpass access cannot file directly through ACRA's Bizfile system, so ACRA directs foreigners to engage a corporate service provider in Singapore to submit the application on their behalf. The process runs remotely: identification documents are certified where you are, resolutions are signed where your board sits, and the filing happens in Singapore.

ACRA states that most registrations are approved soon after payment, and that complex applications may take up to 15 working days; applications needing approval from a referral authority can take longer. The company name must be successfully reserved before registration is filed. In practice, preparation, name reservation, and verification of the people behind the company set the timetable more than ACRA's processing does.

Every Singapore company must have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore, such as a Singapore citizen, a permanent resident, or someone who meets ACRA's local residency rules. Where no one in your group qualifies, a nominee director arrangement fills the gap. The role carries real statutory duties, so the arrangement should be properly documented, with a defined mandate and clear boundaries.

ACRA's company registration fee is S$300, and a separate name application fee applies before that. Professional fees depend on the structure: the number of shareholders, whether corporate shareholders are involved, whether a nominee director is required, and how much verification work the ownership chain calls for. Speak to our team through the contact page for a scoped quotation.

The common gaps we see in companies formed without local support: no company secretary appointed within the six-month statutory window, statutory registers never created or never maintained, a registered office that does not meet ACRA's accessibility requirement, and no one tracking the annual general meeting and annual return deadlines.

We review what exists, list what is missing against the Companies Act requirements, and put the filings and registers right. The recurring side of that work is described under ongoing administration.

The standard route is a private limited subsidiary with its shares held by the UK parent. The requirements are the same as for any Singapore company: at least one locally resident director, a company secretary within six months, and a Singapore registered office. Documents are certified in the UK, resolutions are signed where the board sits, and the filing runs in Singapore, so nobody needs to travel. Our guide to setting up a business in Singapore covers the full sequence, and company formations runs it.

Keep the officer roles filled: at least one locally resident director, and a company secretary appointed within six months of incorporation and not left vacant. Keep a Singapore registered office that meets ACRA's accessibility requirement. Keep the statutory registers current. And meet the annual cycle: for non-listed companies, the annual general meeting within six months of financial year end and the annual return within seven months.

The calendar side of this is what our ongoing administration service exists for.

For non-listed companies, within six months after financial year end. A private company can be exempted from holding an AGM, including where it sends its financial statements to members within five months after financial year end, subject to the safeguards in section 175A of the Companies Act.

For non-listed companies, within seven months after financial year end. The return confirms the company's key particulars and carries the financial statements where filing applies, so the upstream work has to be finished first.

It depends on the company. Singapore-incorporated companies file financial statements with the annual return unless exempted; smaller and non-publicly-accountable companies use simplified XBRL, others full XBRL. A solvent exempt private company need not file financial statements and instead makes an online declaration of solvency when the annual return is filed.

Late filings carry consequences that scale with neglect: late lodgement penalties, composition sums, and in persistent cases enforcement against the company and its officers. The practical response is triage. Establish exactly what is outstanding, file the overdue items in the correct order, and put the calendar into standing hands so the pattern does not repeat. If you have just discovered a missed deadline, have that first conversation with us quickly through the contact page.

It has three layers, and quotations that name one number without asking questions are usually describing only the first. The standing statutory roles: the company secretary, the resident director where your group has no qualifying person, and the registered office. The annual cycle: accounts preparation, the AGM or its exemption route, the annual return, and XBRL where it applies. And activity costs that exist only if the company trades or employs: bookkeeping, GST returns, and payroll.

A dormant holding vehicle sits at one end of that range and a trading subsidiary with staff at the other, so the honest answer follows a conversation about which one you are, through the contact page.

Once approved, the gazette process that follows carries fixed objection windows, and removal comes at least three months after approval. Allow around four months or more from application to removal, plus whatever time the company needs beforehand to clear the debts, balances, and open matters that would otherwise draw an objection. The routes out, strike-off and liquidation, are compared under ongoing administration. Where the company has debts it cannot settle, strike-off is not available and liquidation is the route. That is a licensed insolvency practitioner's process, and we can make an introduction on request.