Process of Company Incorporation
It is easy to open a Singapore company. Just as in all other countries, setting up a company in Singapore is mandatory when you start to run a business. Whether you are a local citizen, Singaporean, Singapore PR or a foreigner, you will need to follow all the required steps of registering a business so that you can officially conduct business operations. You will need all the required documentations when opening a Singapore company.
What to know before Incorporation
Company Name
The first thing you need to come up with is a unique name that has to be approved by the registrar of companies, namely ACRA (“Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority”), before the incorporation of your company can be done. You need a name that will be the identity of what your business is all about, perhaps a logical name that represents the seriousness of your products or services and a name that people can relate you with when it appears on advertisements or other displays. Branding of your company is also important.
Directors
Who will be the directors of your company? You need to know that the company has to have a minimum of one Singapore resident director. The other need not be a Singapore citizen. That means foreigners can be the other directors in a Singapore company. The number of local or foreign directors that a company can have is not limited, provided they meet or the requirements being over 18 years of age, have a clean criminal record and not being bankrupt.
Shareholders
When it comes to shareholding, the limited company may have a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 50 shareholders. A shareholder can be an individual, a director of the company or a legal entity such as a different company. It does not matter whether the shareholder(s) is local or foreign corporation.
Company Secretary
Based on the Singapore Companies’ Act, in Section 171, the secretary of the company has to be appointed within 6 months after it has been incorporated. For companies that have one director or shareholder, he or she cannot be the company secretary. A secretary should be a neutral Singaporean.
Share Capital
Share capital or Paid-up Capital in the case of Company Incorporation in Singapore is a minimum of SGD $1, which can be increased as needed after the company has been incorporated. Shares can also be transferred from one to another if required.
Registered Address
Before you decide to register a company in Singapore, you need to have a local address, which will be the registered office address of your company reflected in ACRA records. It should be a physical address, residential or commercial but not a P.O. Box address.
Other Incentives
Taxation for registered companies in Singapore is very impressive because of the incentives and exemptions given. There are also many government grants given by the government, which helps businesses and companies in Singapore.
Requirements for a Foreigner Incorporating Singapore Company
The process of incorporating a company here is not very different from the one explained above, but as a foreigner you will need the assistance from a professional firm for the registration of your company. You are not able to self-register the Singapore Company by yourselves unless you are a local Singaporean with a SingPass or CorpPass account. This professional firm you select must have a registered filing agent license in order to help you open the company. Service Provider like J Accounting will be able to assist you with this.
If you only want to incorporate the company with no plans to relocate to Singapore, you then don’t need a special visa or work pass like an Employment Pass.
You can operate the company from your home country. All you need is to apply for a visitor visa whenever you need to fly in and attend to your business matters. If need be that you relocate to Singapore to operate your business, you will have to apply for an Entrepreneur Pass or an Employment Pass.
Documents and information you need for Company Incorporation
Ensure you have the following documents in readiness for the incorporation of your company in Singapore.
- Name of your company
- Type of company – e.g. Private Limited Company
- Brief description of the activities that your business will engage in
- A registered office address in Singapore – J Accounting can provide you with an address
- Particulars of all the directors
- Company secretary – J Accounting can provide you with company secretary services
- The particulars of all shareholders & shareholdings
- Currency of Shares
If you dream of starting a business in Singapore, J Accounting Pte Ltd will be able to assist you in opening your Company. You just sit back and relax, and they will take care of the incorporation process for you.
