EDGE Grant for Singapore’s Own Professional Services Firms: How Accounting, Legal and Corporate Secretarial SMEs Can Fund Their Own Digitalisation

Most of the coverage on the EDGE Grant, the consolidated scheme that will replace the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) and Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) from 30 September 2026, is written for a business owner thinking about a client project: automating a warehouse, expanding into Vietnam, digitalising a retail till system. Almost none of it is written for the accounting practice, the corporate secretarial firm or the law firm actually doing the paperwork on that project’s behalf.

That is a gap worth closing. A Singapore accounting firm, a registered filing agent, or a small legal practice is itself an SME in the eyes of Enterprise Singapore (ESG), and in most cases a Singapore-incorporated, majority Singaporean or Singapore permanent resident owned professional services firm can apply for EDGE support in exactly the same way as any of its clients. Given the compliance load now sitting on the sector, particularly under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, this is a scheme professional firms should be looking at for their own operations, not only advising clients on.

What EDGE actually offers from 30 September 2026

Under the EDGE Grant, each qualifying company has an annual grant cap of S$100,000 across all eligible activities, refreshed every 1 April. Within that cap, up to S$30,000 can be used specifically on single-function digital solutions, integrated enterprise systems and selected automation activities. Support rates run up to 70% of qualifying costs for SMEs and up to 50% for non-SMEs, varying by the specific activity chosen, and grants are paid on a reimbursement basis once the activity is completed and paid for in full.

EDGE organises supportable activities into business areas covering automation and digitalisation, business strategy, financial management, innovation, internationalisation, standards, sustainability and talent development. A professional services firm does not need to pick one lane exclusively; a single application can combine a digitalisation activity with a standards-related activity if both genuinely support the same underlying project.

Applications for EDG, MRA and PSG submitted before 30 September 2026 continue to be assessed under those schemes’ existing rules, and ongoing projects will still be supported through to completion and claim. No new applications under the three legacy schemes will be accepted after that date. Our detailed look at what happens to existing EDG, PSG and MRA approvals after the sunset covers the transition mechanics for anyone with an application already in the pipeline, and our step-by-step EDGE application guide walks through the Business Grants Portal process itself.

Why professional services firms have a genuinely distinct case

The Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 came fully into operation on 9 June 2025. It requires anyone carrying on a business of providing corporate services in Singapore, including forming companies, acting or arranging for someone to act as a director or secretary, providing a registered office or correspondence address, or handling ACRA transactions on a client’s behalf, to register with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) as a corporate service provider. Section 2 of the Act sets out that definition of “corporate service” in detail, and section 4 states the Act’s purpose plainly: detecting and preventing money laundering, proliferation financing and terrorism financing through the sector that sits closest to company formation and administration.

That registration comes with ongoing obligations: customer due diligence, screening, record keeping and staff competency requirements that did not exist in the same form under the old Registered Filing Agent framework. Firms that have not yet automated their onboarding, screening or document management workflows are now doing manually what the regulator expects to be done systematically. That is precisely the kind of project EDGE is designed to part-fund.

Automation and digitalisation: the most obvious fit

Practice management systems, e-KYC and sanctions screening tools, document management platforms, and workflow automation for recurring filings (annual returns, XBRL submissions, GST filings) all sit comfortably within the automation and digitalisation business area. A small accounting or corporate secretarial firm replacing spreadsheet-based client onboarding with an integrated e-KYC and case management system is a natural EDGE candidate, and the S$30,000 sub-cap for single-function digital solutions and integrated enterprise systems is often enough to cover the bulk of a modest software rollout for a firm with a handful of staff.

Standards: quality frameworks the sector is being pushed towards

ESG has previously supported adoption of recognised quality and management standards under its Standards track. For professional services firms, this can extend to internal quality management frameworks, information security standards relevant to handling client financial and identity data, or sector-specific competency frameworks tied to the qualified individual regime under the Corporate Service Providers Act. Firms preparing staff for the qualified individual criteria, or building internal AML/CFT training programmes, should check whether the specific activity they have in mind is listed as supportable before committing spend, since EDGE’s full activity list is only published in detail from launch.

Internationalisation and business strategy: for firms serving overseas clients

Many Singapore corporate secretarial and accounting firms serve a substantial base of foreign-owned clients and increasingly operate cross-border referral arrangements or regional offices. Market entry studies, overseas business development, and business strategy consultancy engagements aimed at expanding a professional practice’s own footprint (rather than a client’s) can fall under the internationalisation and business strategy areas, subject to the specific eligibility criteria for each activity.

Practical sequencing before and after the 30 September switch

Firms already partway through a PSG or EDG-funded digitalisation project should not delay submission in anticipation of EDGE; the two schemes are not interchangeable mid-project, and an application must be filed and assessed under one regime or the other. If a project is genuinely ready to go and falls squarely within an existing PSG pre-approved solution category, submitting before 29 September 2026 avoids any uncertainty about how the same project would be treated under EDGE’s activity list. If a project instead depends on a bespoke system, or spans more than one business area, waiting for EDGE to launch and reviewing the full activity list before applying is usually the safer route, since EDGE is intended to reduce the friction of navigating three separate schemes rather than narrow what is supportable.

Our comparison of EDG, PSG and MRA is still useful background for understanding what each legacy scheme covered and how those categories are expected to map onto EDGE’s business areas, and our piece on common mistakes and rejection reasons under the EDGE framework is directly relevant to any firm assembling its first application, professional services or otherwise.

Common pitfalls specific to a professional services applicant

A handful of issues come up disproportionately often when a professional services firm applies for its own grant, rather than helping a client apply:

• Treating the firm’s own filing as a conflict. There is no rule against a registered filing agent or corporate secretarial firm applying for a grant for its own operations; the conflict concern only arises if the same firm is also acting as the paid grant consultant on its own application, which most schemes do not permit in the way they would for a genuinely independent client engagement.
• Ownership eligibility gets overlooked. The applicant must be a Singapore-registered business entity with at least 30% Singaporean and/or Singapore permanent resident ownership. Firms with foreign principals holding a majority stake should check this threshold carefully before assuming eligibility.
• Confusing a compliance cost with a supportable activity. Registration fees, statutory levies and routine legal costs of complying with the Corporate Service Providers Act itself are not what EDGE funds; it is the digitalisation, automation or standards-adoption project a firm undertakes in response to that compliance pressure that may qualify.
• Claims and audit exposure. As with the legacy schemes, EDGE support is disbursed on a reimbursement basis after the activity is completed and paid for, and clawback risk applies if the underlying project or vendor selection does not match what was approved. Our guide to grant claims, audit and clawback risk sets out how that process works in practice.

Firms that are still building out their broader compliance posture under the new regime may also find it useful to revisit our compliance guide for Singapore professional services firms, which covers obligations beyond grant funding.

A note on timing

With EDGE launching on 30 September 2026 and the legacy schemes ceasing on 29 September 2026, professional services firms considering their own internal digitalisation or standards projects have a narrow but real choice to make in the coming weeks: file now under the scheme they already understand, or wait a few days and apply under the new single front door. Either way, the underlying case for the sector to modernise its own back office, rather than only helping clients modernise theirs, is stronger than it has been at any point since the Corporate Service Providers Act came into force. Keeping an eye on Singapore business news around the EDGE launch is worthwhile, since the detailed activity list and pre-approved vendor catalogue are only being published at launch.

Getting the ownership structure, cap allocation and activity selection right the first time matters more than it might seem, particularly for a firm juggling this alongside its own sound financial management planning. If your firm’s application, or a client’s, runs into a dispute over eligibility or a claim rejection, legal advice on the process is often worth taking early rather than after a rejection letter arrives.

How Raffles Corporate Services can help

Whether you are weighing up filing before the 29 September 2026 sunset or waiting for EDGE to launch on 30 September, getting the eligibility assessment and activity mapping right from the outset saves time and avoids clawback risk later.

To speak with the team at Raffles Corporate Services, you can email [email protected] or call, SMS, or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133. We are happy to assist with any queries.

The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services