Annual return due? Don’t rush into Bizfile.
ACRA says incorrect company information must be updated before the annual return is filed. The annual return is not the place to fix an outdated director, address, business activity or shareholding.
Check these five areas first.
1. Is the company profile still correct?
Review the company’s registered office, primary and secondary business activities, directors and company secretary, shareholders and shares, and registered charges or loans.
If something has changed, lodge the relevant update before filing the annual return.
Tip from Marleti: pre-filled does not mean current
ACRA says most annual-return information is pre-filled from the previous filing. That saves time—but only if the information is still correct. Do not click through simply because the fields are already populated.
2. Do you know the financial-statement route?
Do not assume that “small”, “private” or “dormant” automatically means no financial statements.
Confirm whether financial statements must be prepared, whether they must be filed, and whether an XBRL filing is required. The answer depends on the company’s actual status and the applicable exemption conditions.
Get this wrong and the filing pack may not be ready when the annual return is due.
3. Is the AGM position clear?
The annual return requires the company’s AGM information. You must know whether the company held an AGM, was exempt from holding one, or dispensed with holding one.
Use the position for the relevant financial period. Do not carry forward the previous year’s answer without checking.
4. Are the statutory registers current?
Check the applicable requirements for the Register of Registrable Controllers, the Register of Nominee Directors and the Register of Nominee Shareholders.
The annual return does not replace these records. If a register needs updating, deal with it as a separate compliance step.
5. Are you filing in the right order?
- Correct outdated company information.
- Lodge outstanding director, shareholder, share or company changes.
- Confirm the financial-statement position.
- Confirm the AGM position.
- Check the applicable statutory registers.
- Review and file the annual return.
Why the order matters
Suppose the company appointed a new director, but the change was never lodged. Filing the annual return does not solve that earlier omission. The director update comes first; the annual return should then use the current company record.
The same principle applies to an unrecorded share allotment, outdated business activity or incorrect registered address.
What Marleti handles
Marleti handles annual-return preparation and filing, director, shareholder and share changes, company-particular updates, statutory-register and RORC maintenance, resolutions and supporting records, and recurring deadline tracking.
We check what is outstanding, put the work in the correct order and complete the required filings.
Want us to handle the annual return?
Send us the company’s UEN and financial year end. We will state whether the company is ready to file, what must be updated first, which documents are required and what happens next.
Ask Marleti to review annual-return readiness and handle the filing.
For broader Singapore operating guidance, see the Marleti Singapore resources hub.
