In accordance to the Companies Act, every company in Singapore is required to prepare their Financial Statement and to at least file their unaudited Financial Statement as part of their Annual Filing with ACRA. Most SME companies when it is first incorporated, are classified as Exempt Private Companies (EPC), which is a private company with no more than 20 shareholders, all of which are Individual Shareholders (i.e. No Corporate Shareholders).
Most private limited companies in Singapore can qualify for audit exemption as long as they satisfy the definition of being a “small company”. A company is considered a “Small Company” if it satisfies 2 of out 3 of the following criteria.
- Total annual revenue of less than $10 million
- Total Assets as at the end of the financial year of less than $10 million.
- Total no. of employees as at the end of the financial year of not more than 50
We recommend most companies to be incorporated and remain as EPC (if possible) because the filing and compliance requirements will be the simplest and least costly.
As an Exempt Private Company (EPC), you can prepare its financial statements in its format so long as it is in accordance to the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (FRS).
A Private Company (non-EPC) however must prepare its financial statements in XBRL format and upload these financial statements when filing for their Annual Returns. Due to the tedious nature of preparing financial statements in XBRL format, the cost to get a professional to prepare them will be higher too.