From 1 January 2009, all Singapore registered entities such as businesses, local companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) have a Unique Entity Number (UEN) as its identification number. his shall be used for correspondence and interaction with government agencies.

The UEN is the identity to interact with the Government, such as filing of corporate tax returns, applying for import and export permits or submitting their employees’ CPF contributions. UEN will replace all other identification numbers issued to them by different government agencies.

From 1 January 2009, 51 government agencies will use UEN to interact with entities including (ACRA), the Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB), the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Singapore

Businesses and local companies currently registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) will retain their ACRA Registration Number as their UEN. Other registered entities, such as foreign companies, societies and management corporations, will be issued with a new UEN.

Renewal of Major Exporter Scheme Status for Existing MES Traders

IRAS had reviewed the renewal process for the Major Exporter Scheme (MES).

With effect from 15 May 2008, submission of Form R1 and Positive Assurance Reports for existing MES traders are not required. Instead, these traders will only need to complete a self-review checklist to be submitted within one month from the date of their MES renewal invitation letter.

New applicants for the MES will still be required to submit a Positive Assurance Report from the Auditors.

With effect from 1 Apr 08, the approval period for all new applications and renewals for the registered office under the Home Office Scheme will be extended from the existing 3 years to 5 years, with no increase in the administrative fee of $20!

A home office scheme allows would-be entrepreneurs the flexibility of conducting business from their homes to save on costs and build up their business.

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will provide local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with affordable IT packages that come with one-stop helpdesk and advisory services.

For the first 5,000 SMEs that sign up, these SMEs could pay as little as S$800 for a package comprising a computer preloaded with software such as the operating system and antivirus applications.
Web development services that will be also available for S$50 or less.

Singapore’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will get a helping hand to improve their business practices over the next 3 years. The Government will inject S$12.6 million for the SMEs.

The fund is available from Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs), and will be available to the EDC from April. EDC will provide consultancy and advisory services to the SMEs.

Start-up in Singapore can register their domain name can register with a “com.sg” and “.sg” when they register or incorporate their business with ACRA. , All businesses or companies without an existing ‘.sg’ domain name are entitled to a S$30 discount for their first-year of registration. The offer is valid till Until December 2010

In the previous post, companies filing the financial statements had the options of filing in XBRL in 2 ways

1. Partial XBRL
2. Full XBRL

ACRA will also waive penalties up to a month for companies filing in full xbrl. The FS Manager, an free online tool for XBRL filing is not as user friendly as a spreadsheet or a word processing. Thus the preparation of the financial statements in XBRL added both time and therefore cost to the preparation of the financial statements and the filing process.

Singapore companies which are limited by shares are required to file their financial statement in XBRL format on or after 1 November 2007 in respect of financial periods ending on or after 30 April 2007 using ACRA’s FS Manager.

You have the following options:-

OPTION A - Filing full set of FS in XBRL format i.e. Full XBRL

OPTION B - Filing only its Balance Sheet & Income Statement in XBRL format with a full set of the FS in PDF format i.e. Partial XBRL

If a company chooses to file its full set of FS in XBRL format for its AR, it should use FS Manager to prepare its full set of FS for tabling at the AGM. If FS Manager was not used to prepare the financial statements, Partial XBRL or Option B should be selected.

Companies filing their financial statements relating to financial periods before 30 Arpil 2007 will continue to file their FS by attaching a PDF copy of the FS.

You can do your market research using ACRA’s Market Search services. Through this service, yo can request to request for lists of companies specified by location, industry and capital.

The searches available are for your market research are

• Companies audited by a specific audit firm
• Companies in a specific location
• Companies in a specific industry and location
• Companies by share capital in specific location

The fee is $30 for every 200 records range generated and an additional $30 is payable for every incremental 200 records. Processing time can take up to 3 days. This market research tool is available via http://www.bizfile.gov.sg/.

Companies audited by a specific audit firm
This research may be of interest only to audit firms and possibly a new client of the audit firm.
Companies in a specific location or Companies in a specific industry and location
This provides a more specific information especially when searching for companies in a specific industry or location. However the information provided may not be sufficient as a marketing research tool. The information provided are

However, it can act as a starting point for a market research.

Companies by share capital in specific location
This search may not be of value. Share capital may be important when a specific share capital is required to be maintained, for example companies vying for contracts which are defined by their share capital

You can do your market research using ACRA’s Market Search services. Through this service, yo can request to request for lists of companies specified by location, industry and capital.

The searches available are for your market research are

• Companies audited by a specific audit firm
• Companies in a specific location
• Companies in a specific industry and location
• Companies by share capital in specific location

The fee is $30 for every 200 records range generated and an additional $30 is payable for every incremental 200 records. Processing time can take up to 3 days. This market research tool is available via http://www.bizfile.gov.sg/.