Shareholder loans — where a shareholder or director lends money to their own company, or where the company makes a loan to a director — are a common feature of Singapore SMEs, especially in the early stages when access to bank financing is limited. However, these arrangements carry important legal and tax implications that many [...]
Opening a corporate bank account is one of the first practical steps after incorporating a Singapore company — and increasingly, one of the most scrutinised. Singapore banks apply stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks, and requirements have tightened further following the Corporate Service Providers Act and the commencement of the Corporate [...]
If you are a director of a Singapore company — whether as founder, executive, or non-executive board member — how you receive remuneration has real consequences for your personal tax position, CPF obligations, and the company's deductible expenses. The distinction between director's fees and a director's salary is both a legal and a tax matter, [...]
Accessing financing remains one of the most practical challenges for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. The Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS), administered by Enterprise Singapore, is the government's flagship programme designed to help Singapore SMEs secure debt financing through participating financial institutions. With the government bearing a share of the credit risk, banks and [...]
Not every Singapore company is required to have its financial statements audited each year. For thousands of small businesses, the small company audit exemption under the Companies Act 1967 removes the mandatory audit requirement — saving directors significant time and cost without compromising their core compliance obligations. But qualifying is not automatic, and changes may [...]
Opening a corporate bank account is one of the first practical steps after incorporating a Singapore company — and increasingly, one of the most challenging. Singapore banks apply stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks, and the requirements have tightened further following the Corporate Service Providers Act and the commencement of the [...]
If you are a director of a Singapore company — whether as the founder, an executive, or a non-executive board member — how you receive remuneration from the company has real consequences for your personal tax position, your CPF obligations, and the company's deductibility of that expense. The distinction between director's fees and a director's [...]
Accessing financing remains one of the most practical challenges for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. The Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS), administered by Enterprise Singapore, is the government's flagship programme designed to help Singapore SMEs secure debt financing through participating financial institutions. With the government bearing a share of the credit risk, banks and [...]
Not every Singapore company is required to have its financial statements audited each year. For thousands of small businesses, the small company audit exemption under the Companies Act 1967 removes the mandatory audit requirement — saving directors significant time and cost without compromising their core compliance obligations. But qualifying is not automatic, and changes may [...]
When a Singapore company is struck off the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) register, it ceases to exist as a legal entity. For a creditor owed money by that company, this is often deeply frustrating: the debtor has, in effect, been administratively dissolved — removing the entity the creditor needs to sue, enforce against, [...]