Hiring a Secretary Service For Your Firm in Singapore

As a business owner who’s looking to incorporate a firm in Singapore, you should know that the Singapore Companies Act Section 171 requires corporations to appoint a company secretary service. Continue reading this informative article to learn the important facts concerning hiring a secretary service for your business.

There are specific queries that you need to think about such as: Does my firm really should employ a secretary? What qualifications will you seek in a secretarial service? What are the responsibilities of a company secretary? How much are secretaries paid? You have come to the right page where you could get the responses.

Does my firm really should employ a secretary?

A company in Singapore technically has to appoint a secretary in six months of its incorporation.  There is a provision not to hire a qualified secretary if you have got an Exempt Private Company. If you’re a Private Limited Company, you ought to hire one.

An Exempt Private Company has under 20 shareholders (compared to under 50 in a Private Limited Company) and is without corporate shareholder. One of the shareholders in the Exempt Private Company could be the secretary supposing he / she is familiar with the things to do.  It’s not that easy to work as a secretary, so if one of the shareholders cannot do it, it is better to appoint a professional who can do the job very well.

A secretary could be engaged after the company’s registration up to 6 months after that. This is good for small start-up companies and business owners who manage the process of incorporation themselves.  But when you think getting a secretary in the beginning can help you with the entire process of incorporating the business, then go.

What qualifications will you seek in a company secretary service?

An employed company secretary ought to be a resident in Singapore who’s either a citizen, permanent resident, having Dependent Pass or Employment Pass. It is also needed that a company secretary can prove her proficiency for the career by possessing any one of these: 3 years of working experience as company secretary, a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) diploma, qualification under the legal Profession Act or membership with the Singapore Association of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore, Institute of Company Accountants Singapore, Association of International Accountants (Singapore Branch).

What are the responsibilities of a company secretary? 

The Companies Act has tough requirements and when the company secretary is not able to do her job effectively, he/she may be penalized or imprisoned.  A few of the accountabilities of the company secretary include:

• Preparing minutes of shareholders meetings and upkeeping of important business documents such as the annual financial statements, incorporation papers, allotment of shares and director’s resolutions
• Filing, upgrading or amending of the company documents with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
• Functions as the primary contact person for the directors and shareholders to obtain information and facts concerning the Annual General Meeting

How much are secretaries paid?

Appointing a company secretary would demand an expense of no less than S$600. When you avail of any qualified incorporation services, ask if maybe they offer secretary service also. You could obtain a better package by obtaining both services.

Resources:

https://www.acra.gov.sg/uploadedFiles/Content/Publications/Guides/7Guides%28mobile%29/ACRASection8.pdf

Guide of How to Incorporate a Business in Singapore

Singapore is quite inviting to new traders and business owners. Native residents and people from other countries, 18 years of age and over, can register a firm in Singapore, provided that it is in compliance with the present rules and requirements for companies. It’s a good idea to get the assistance of a competent firm when incorporating a firm specifically for foreign entrepreneurs simply because Singapore law does not let foreign nationals to self-register a firm. More info on companyincorporationsg.com.

In Singapore, private companies are incorporated as private limited companies. The companies are possibly termed as private limited liability company simply because shares are restricted to just 50 and as far as the financial obligation of shareholders, it is just up to the extent of their share within the company.

It isn’t complex to register a business with the computerized platform available. The shortest time  that a firm could be incorporated is 1-2 days. To register a firm, let us discuss the essential information to consider.

1. Keep up with the incorporation requirements. It’s important for a business to have these just before incorporating a private limited company or Pte Ltd:

• Appoint one or more director and have got a minimum of one shareholder. It’s possible that the director can also be the shareholder. However what is important is that he is either a Singapore citizen, a Permanent Resident or maybe a Singapore Pass holder
• Get ready with a business name. To be accepted, be sure that it is unique, not indecent or reserved
• Have an office address to conduct enterprise operations. It mustn’t be a PO box.
• Identify its  SSIC (Singapore Standard Industry Classification) code for classifying the business
• Not have medisave financial obligations or have made payment plans.

2.The business name must be submitted for acceptance. A tip prior to submitting the application for business name approval is to consider two other probable business names. You ought to be ready to submit another business name application when your first submission is disapproved for some reason.

Generally, the decision on the company name application is accessible in only an hour or less. However for certain forms of businesses, the need for additional approval from other government authority lengthens the acceptance procedure to days or weeks. This applies to companies related to banks, financing, law and press.

3. Get the business incorporated. You have 60 days from the time your business name was official to incorporate your business.

The incorporation requires submitting an application and submission of a number of papers like the Memorandum and Articles of Incorporation. Pay the registration fee of S$300 to the Singapore Registrar of Companies.

There’s yet another channel where companies can submit incorporation requests referred to as the OBLS or Online Business Licensing Service. Private colleges, daycare facilities, video companies and like businesses need supplemental permits and licenses. OBLS instantly sends the request for additional permits and licenses to the concerned government authority hence making the process much simpler for business people.

The task of incorporation concludes as soon as the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority gives its acceptance. However, the business still has to observe particular things. These consist of appointing a business secretary within six months of incorporation, operating the registered office for at the least three hours on weekdays, publishing the registration number on invoices, official receipts, etc, opening up a business savings account and having the first Annual General Meeting of the company within 18 months of incorporation.

Marketing Your Business

Now that you have startup your own company. What’s next? Marketing of course.

Marketing is all about ensuring that your products/services meet the needs of clients/customers. If done successfully it will ensure that selling will be easy and buying from you will be a pleasure.

A good place to start is with your product or service and ask yourself the following questions?

1. Is there a market need for this product? If so how big is the market?
2. Who else is offering the product?
3. Can I sell it in sufficient volume and at a price that will give me a profit?

Product/Service

1. What is the product/service; what is special about it, how is it different?
2. How am I going to tell people about my product/service?

• Internet/email marketing.
• Direct Sales
• High Street presence
• Website
• Using distributors
• Direct Mail
• Cold calling
• Personal Networking.

Pricing

3. How much should I sell it for?

• Calculate using price purchased at plus profit needed
• Determine a market price
• Ensure b exceeds a
• Consider demand effect on price.

Promotion

4. What will I do to launch it on my chosen market?

Remember that when a business if first launched the most important single item is sales. Without sales the business cannot survive but there must be some profit and there must be cashflow to ensure the sustainability of the business.

For further information about starting a business go to: http://www.sba.gov/content/follow-these-steps-starting-business