BizFile was introduced in Singapore over 15 years ago and it was considered as a serious innovation in government communication with the business. Presently, ACRA is being utilized to make online data management simple, swift, and efficient.
In this article, we are sharing a detailed insight into ACRA BizFile and how it works.
Anyone who intends to start a business in Singapore is required to register all the business’ relevant information with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). To improve this process of Singapore company incorporation, ACRA introduced BizFile which is an online web directory system to file and retrieve corporate data. In 2016, ACRA made a major update to improve the speed and efficiency of the portal and renamed it BizFile+, which is currently providing more than 400 services electronically to the businesses of Singapore.
What Can One Do with ACRA BizFile?
As an entrepreneur in Singapore, you or your corporate secretary will be interacting with the portal regularly. Here are the major activities (including but not limited to) that you can perform using BizFile.
- Company’s online registration
- Cessation of your company
- Making changes in information like the company’s address or hierarchy
- Annual return filings
- Getting industry reports
- Approval investigations with referral professionals
- Accessing the central directory of UEN
Filing of the Company’s annual returns; Change the Company’s particular
The entire the interface of the portal is completely user-friendly and provides you with direct payment methods and you also get confirmation emails and SMS after every transaction.
How can one register a company with ACRA BizFile?
For registration, you need to log in to the portal of BizFile+. If you are doing it for the first time, you will need a SignPass. This is the Singapore Personal Access Password which is available only to Singapore Residents. It serves as a digital signature to verify your identity. Foreigners, willing to start a business, will have to hire Corporate Service Providers, who will grant access on their behalf. After login, you need to fill in the required information about your business and adhere to the mentioned instructions. Once the setup gets completed, you will need a CorpPass to make transactions for your entity. CorpPass has the same rules as SignPass and is granted only to Singapore Residents or some work pass holders.
Details to be submitted for incorporation
You need to provide the following details online for registration purposes.
- Type of company
- Approved intended company name
- Key activities of the company
- Details of directors (Every the company should at least have one Singapore citizen or employment pass-holder as a director)
- Details of shareholder or contributors
- Details of share capital
- Registered address details (locally registered address only)
You should fill all these details with complete attention because making changes, later on, is quite extensive and boring.
How to File Annual Returns with ACRA BizFile?
For this, you need documents like the company’s financial statements and the latest necessary information about the shareholders and directors of your company. The following steps are helpful to file the annual returns easily.
- After the financial year-end, prepare and complete all financial statements that are generally made by in-house or outsourced financial staff.
- Schedule an AGM where all the directors and secretaries present the above financial statements to the shareholders.
- After the approval by shareholders, all the information can be uploaded on the BizFile portal easily along with other required details.
Certain companies can submit the return even without conducting an AGM and are exempted from some provisions. However, the submission for others needs to be completed within 30-days after the AGM to avoid any kind of penalties and fines.
Benefits of using ACRA Bizfile
The following are the major notable benefits of ACRA’s BizFile platform.
- Convenient for businesses
- Easy management along with data accuracy
- Faster and cost-efficient as no paperwork exists
- Better operational performance
- Provides direct payment gateways
- Better compliance with regulatory requirements
- Reliable information is available in industries.
Conclusion
ACRA’s BizFile is a complete and intelligently designed portal to take care of all processes of business registrations in Singapore. The interface is user-friendly and accessible to all for any kind of business services like making changes, renewing information, purchasing information, and checking transactions directly. There are many company secretarial services in Singapore who can take care of all your necessary work on the portal. All foreign citizens or businesses require the support of such services because of unique rules by ACRA. BizFile is helping Singapore citizens since 2004 and is constantly improved for better usage by everyone.
Corporate Solutions 
IMC Group