From 6 May 2026, every audit report for a Singapore company must now name the individual public accountant primarily responsible for the engagement. This change — introduced under the Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 (CALA 2025) — is one of the most significant shifts in Singapore’s audit accountability framework in years, and it carries direct practical implications for company secretaries, directors, and audit committees.
If your company is required to have a statutory audit, this requirement applies to you for any financial year ending on or after 6 May 2026. Understanding what has changed — and what action you need to take — is essential for staying compliant and avoiding any procedural issues at your next AGM.
What Has Changed: Named Audit Partners in Audit Reports
Previously, audit reports in Singapore were signed off in the name of the audit firm. The identity of the individual engagement partner — the public accountant who actually conducted and was responsible for the audit — was typically not disclosed in the audit report itself. Stakeholders who wanted to identify the responsible partner would need to search the ACRA register separately.
Under the amended framework, audit reports must now identify by name the public accountant primarily responsible for the engagement. This applies to all audits for financial years ending on or after 6 May 2026. The requirement is part of the first tranche of CALA 2025 provisions that commenced on that date, alongside heavier director duty penalties and expanded AML disqualification rules.
Why Singapore Made This Change
Singapore is aligning itself with international best practice. The United States (via the PCAOB), the United Kingdom, and Australia have each required engagement partner identification in audit reports for several years. The rationale is straightforward: named partners have greater personal accountability for audit quality. Shareholders, audit committees, and other stakeholders can assess the track record of the individual responsible — not just the reputation of the firm.
ACRA’s view is that this change enhances audit transparency and reinforces the personal responsibility of public accountants for the quality of their work. It complements the broader audit quality framework that ACRA has been building over recent years, including the Audit Quality Indicators Disclosure Framework.
Which Companies Are Affected?
Not every Singapore company is required to have a statutory audit. Under the Companies Act, private companies that qualify as “small companies” may claim an audit exemption. A company qualifies as a small company if it is a private company that satisfies at least two of the following three criteria in each of the two preceding financial years:
- Annual revenue of S$10 million or less
- Total assets of S$10 million or less
- 50 employees or fewer
Small companies that qualify for the audit exemption are not required to have their accounts audited at all, so the named audit partner requirement does not apply to them.
The named audit partner requirement therefore applies to:
- All public companies (listed and unlisted)
- All private companies that do not qualify for the small company audit exemption
- All subsidiaries of listed companies (regardless of size)
- Companies that are required to be audited under other legislation (e.g. certain licensed entities)
If you are unsure whether your company qualifies for the audit exemption, your company secretary or auditor can advise you. The qualification criteria are assessed on a two-year rolling basis, so a company that exceeded a threshold in one year may still qualify if it was within the limits in both of the two preceding financial years.
What the Requirement Means in Practice
The change is straightforward in its mechanics but requires some proactive co-ordination between the company, the company secretary, and the audit firm.
The Audit Report Must Name the Engagement Partner
The audit report — which forms part of the financial statements tabled at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) — must now include the name of the individual public accountant who was primarily responsible for the audit engagement. This is the engagement partner: the public accountant registered with ACRA who signed off on the audit opinion.
The engagement letter and management representation letter between the company and the audit firm should also confirm the identity of the engagement partner. These documents are typically prepared and exchanged at the start of the audit engagement, so firms that have not already updated their standard templates should do so immediately.
The Named Partner Must Be a Registered Public Accountant
Under the Accountants Act and ACRA’s registration framework, only individuals who are registered as public accountants with ACRA may sign audit reports for Singapore companies. The named engagement partner must hold a valid public accountant registration. Company secretaries should confirm this when reviewing the audit report before it is tabled at the AGM or circulated to shareholders.
Transitional Note: Prior Financial Years Are Not Affected
The requirement applies prospectively. Audit reports for financial years ending before 6 May 2026 are not required to name the engagement partner. If your company has a 31 March financial year end, for example, audit reports for FY2026 (ending 31 March 2026) are not affected. The requirement would first apply to your FY2027 audit (ending 31 March 2027).
However, companies with a 31 May or 30 June financial year end — both of which fall after 6 May 2026 — are immediately affected by this change. Auditors for these companies should have already updated their report templates.
Practical Steps for Company Secretaries
Company secretaries play a key role in ensuring that the audit report tabled at the AGM complies with the new requirement. Before the audit report is finalised and tabled, company secretaries should:
- Confirm with the audit firm that their report template has been updated to include the name of the engagement partner.
- Review the draft audit report to verify that the named engagement partner’s full name appears clearly in the report.
- Check that the named partner is a registered public accountant by searching ACRA’s public accountant register if necessary.
- Update the annual report review checklist to include a standing check for the named partner requirement going forward.
- File the Annual Return with the audited financial statements within the required timeline after the AGM (within 7 months of the financial year end for non-listed companies).
These steps should be incorporated into the standard annual close and AGM checklist. Given that the requirement is now in force, any audit report for a qualifying financial year end that does not name the engagement partner would be non-compliant.
For Audit Committees: New Considerations
For companies that have audit committees — which is mandatory for listed companies and certain public interest entities — the named engagement partner requirement opens up a new dimension in audit oversight discussions.
Audit committees may now wish to:
- Factor the named partner’s track record and experience into their annual assessment of audit quality.
- Request information from the audit firm about the engagement partner’s qualifications and prior audit experience.
- Review any public information from ACRA’s audit oversight programme about the firm or partner, including any adverse findings from audit quality reviews.
- Consider engagement partner continuity or rotation as part of the annual auditor evaluation process — particularly given that ACRA imposes maximum tenure rules on engagement partners for public interest entities.
In practice, many sophisticated audit committees already have these conversations informally. The named partner requirement formalises the framework and makes the information publicly available on the face of the financial statements. For companies filing XBRL with ACRA, the named partner information will also be visible in the structured data filing.
How This Fits Into the Broader CALA 2025 Reforms
The named audit partner requirement is one part of the broader package of governance and accountability reforms that CALA 2025 has introduced. The same commencement date of 6 May 2026 also brought in:
- Significantly heavier penalties for directors who breach their duties under the Companies Act — fines of up to S$20,000 and up to 12 months’ imprisonment for certain offences.
- Expanded grounds for director disqualification where a director has been connected with AML/CFT violations.
- New double-tier approval requirements for selective share buybacks (see our separate article on this).
Taken together, these changes reflect a clear policy direction from the Singapore government: greater individual accountability, both for directors and for the professional advisers — including auditors — who play key roles in Singapore’s corporate ecosystem. Directors and company secretaries who stay ahead of these changes will be better placed to advise their boards and clients on compliant, well-governed corporate practice. If you need legal advice on your compliance obligations under the new framework, we can point you in the right direction.
For the latest Singapore business news and regulatory updates, there are useful resources for directors and business owners staying on top of compliance changes.
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
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