Professional Accounting Services in Singapore

Accounting Services in Singapore — Bookkeeping, Financial Statements & GST Compliance for SMEs

By Terra Advisory Services  ·  ACRA-Registered Filing Agent FA20122913  ·  Updated 2026  ·  Sources: ACRA, IRAS, SFRS

Most Singapore companies do not have a problem understanding that they need accounting — they have a problem finding a firm that actually keeps up with them. Books fall behind. Emails go unanswered for days. Year-end becomes a scramble. IRAS deadlines arrive and suddenly fees triple. Terra Advisory Services exists to make that a problem of the past.

We handle bookkeeping, management accounts, SFRS-compliant financial statements, GST filing, and year-end reporting for Singapore small and medium businesses — from freshly incorporated startups setting up their books for the first time, to established local businesses that have outgrown their current provider, to foreign-owned SMEs that need an English-first team who understands cross-border structures. If you need corporate secretarial alongside accounting, we handle that too through our corporate secretarial services — one firm, one point of contact.

Who Terra's Accounting Service Is For

Three very different situations — one consistent service standard.

What Terra's Accounting Service Covers

Full-cycle accounting for Singapore SMEs — from day-to-day bookkeeping through to IRAS-ready financial statements.

Already Have an Accountant? Here Is How Switching Works

Most business owners stay with a firm that is not working for them because they assume switching is complicated. It is not.

If your books are behind, your current firm takes days to respond to basic questions, or you are getting a stack of invoices at year-end with no clarity on what you are actually paying for — those are signals to move. The switching process is straightforward and does not require your business to pause or your existing records to be perfect before the handover.

1. Initial conversation — You tell us your current situation: what software is being used, how far behind the books are, what your financial year-end is, and whether there is any backlog. We assess the scope honestly and give you a clear quote.
2. Engagement letter and access — Once agreed, you sign an engagement letter and grant us access to your accounting software and bank statements. You notify your previous accountant that you are moving — we can guide you on the standard handover letter if needed.
3. File retrieval — We request the working files, trial balance, and prior year financial statements from your previous firm. This is standard practice and they are obliged to provide it. If there are gaps, we work with what exists.
4. Backlog clearance — If your accounts are several months behind, we clear the backlog as a one-off project before moving to regular monthly bookkeeping. We scope this separately and price it transparently upfront.
5. Ongoing service begins — Once accounts are current, monthly bookkeeping, management accounts, and statutory deadlines are handled by us from that point forward. You have one contact, clear timelines, and no surprises at year-end.

The whole process typically takes two to four weeks from first conversation to fully operational. The only thing we ask is that you give us accurate bank statements and respond to clarification questions promptly — the rest is on us.

Why Clients Choose Terra for Accounting

Experienced, transparent, and down to earth — not a firm that disappears after you sign.

Terra Advisory Services has been handling Singapore company accounting, compliance, and immigration for over 14 years. We are not a volume processing firm — we are a team that works directly with clients and treats each business as its own situation, not a template. The three things clients tell us matter most when they come to us from another firm:

What Singapore Law Requires — and What Good Accounting Prevents

ACRA and IRAS obligations are not optional. Understanding them early prevents penalties later.

Every Singapore Private Limited Company must prepare financial statements in accordance with SFRS, regardless of whether it qualifies for audit exemption. Under the Companies Act, accounts must be prepared within 5 months of the financial year-end and filed with ACRA as part of the Annual Return. Separately, the Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) must be filed with IRAS within 3 months of the financial year-end, and the corporate income tax return (Form C-S or C) by 30 November each year. For a full breakdown of deadlines and penalties, see our post-incorporation compliance guide.

Good accounting does not just satisfy these obligations — it prevents the situations that create them. Companies that update their books monthly have no year-end scramble. Directors who receive quarterly management accounts can spot cash flow issues before they become banking problems. Accurate payroll records mean Employment Pass and S Pass renewals proceed without complication. The accounting function is not an overhead — it is the financial foundation everything else runs on.

For companies that qualify, audit exemption under the "small company" criteria removes the requirement for a statutory audit. However, audit-exempt companies still need proper financial statements — exemption means no audit, not no accounts. Terra prepares compliant, compiled financial statements for audit-exempt companies as part of the standard service.

Frequently Asked Questions — Accounting Services in Singapore

Questions Terra receives most often from new clients and businesses considering switching.