Frequently Asked Questions
No.
Singaporean resident directors are taxed like any other local individual. Their income is subject to the same progressive tax rates as any other local.
For non-resident directors there is a special rule for income derived from Singapore:
- Director fees, consultant fees and all other incomes are taxed at 22%.
- The employment income of a non-resident director is taxed at a flat rate of 15% or the progressive resident tax rates, whichever is a higher tax amount.
* Here, we are referring to company directors solely and not shareholders. The distribution of dividends to shareholders is tax-free in Singapore regardless of where the shareholders are located.
According to the regulations in Singapore, a business entity is defined as small company if:
- it is a private limited company; and if
- it meets at least 2 of 3 following criteria for immediate past two consecutive financial years:
- Total annual revenue ≤ $10 million;
- Total assets ≤ $10 million;
- Number of employees ≤ 50
For a company which is part of a group:
- the company must qualify as a small company; and
- entire group must be a “small group” to qualify for the audit exemption.
Yes.
The Singapore Company Act mandates that all companies in Singapore must appoint a company secretary within 6 months of incorporation. This person will be responsible for keeping up with and ensuring your company’s regulatory compliance.
If you are unsure of all the guidelines, we’ve got you covered! You can outsource this requirement to us, and we will gladly take over all of your company secretary requirements.
Feel free to contact us if you have further questions.
Yes.
Every Singapore company must have at least one director who is “ordinarily” resident in Singapore.
This means that the director must either be a:
- Singapore citizen
- Singapore permanent resident
- An employment pass/entrepreneur pass holder, or
- A dependant’s pass with a residential address in Singapore.
Importantly, a company director and shareholder can be the same or different person in Singapore
For those who wish to set up a Singapore company but cannot relocate to Singapore, we provide the services of a resident nominee director on a long-term or temporary basis. This can help you in fulfilling the Singapore companies’ statutory requirement of a resident director.
Yes.
We can help you with your transition and integration into the local business environment and any other related services you may need such as:
- Checking and reserving of your company name
- Preparing memorandum & articles of the company for constitution (generally adopting the standard ACRA constitution)
- Filing registration with ACRA* and producing the e-certificate of incorporation and e-shares certificates
Contact us for more information.
An Accountant is responsible for managing and reporting an organization’s financial information.
General role & responsibilities:
- Ensure accuracy of financial documents, and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
- Prepare and maintain important financial reports.
- Prepare tax returns and ensure taxes are paid properly and timely.
- Evaluate financial operations to recommend best-practices, identify issues, strategize solutions, and help organizations run efficiently.
- Offer guidance on cost reduction, revenue enhancement, and profit maximization.
- Assist in new processes and system implementation when required.
If your business is too small to hire an in-house accountant or you simply don’t have the desire to do it yourself, you should consider outsourcing the task.
Although there are many free accounting software used used by small-business owners, the software can be more complicated than first realized.
By outsourcing your accounting, you free yourself to focus on other aspects of your business. There is also the peace of mind of quality bookkeeping and compliance with regulations.
We primarily use XERO and we are a silver partner under their partnership program.
That being said, we will work with other systems depending on your preferences and needs.
Examples of payroll functions that can be outsourced to us:
- Employee payroll account set up
- Setting up of payment methods
- Preparation of summary tables for approval
Benefits of outsourcing your payroll services to us?
- Cost Savings – We have required payroll software, equipment, expertise available, and you will not need to invest in them from scratch.
- Greater resources available and free to prioritize core business – By placing an expert in control of your payroll processing, you can better use your time in areas more closely related to your core business or revenue centers, such as customer service, sales and marketing.
- Saves you time – Avoid payroll mistakes and cuts time spent on processing and managing payroll.
- Access to experts
- Ensures regulatory compliance – Our experts settle and explain all legal and compliance requirements relating to payroll and lifts the complex burden off your shoulders.
At Count On Me, we focus on helping companies redefine their finance functions and provide them with value added services.
For companies that have yet to catch onto the trend of digitizing finance functions and implement automation, we help ease the transition process for them. We also offer services to help them get started with automating their routine processes.
For other companies that have already fulfilled this aspect, we provide similar consulting and advisory services to help you improve your cost-effectiveness at a fraction of the prices you observe from big name companies.
Apart from being a Global Trade Hub, Singapore is home to a growing network of startups and entrepreneurs. There is a plethora of funding and assistance schemes in place for start-ups or established companies, to ease the financial burden of starting a new company here.
Singapore is also known for its ease of doing business and pro-business regulatory environment, along with a very attractive corporate tax framework. Singapore also has comprehensive trade agreements with over 100 regions of the world, excellent connectivity, strategic geographical location, proximity to world’s largest emerging markets including India and China, and robust IP protection.
