Written by Sneha Patwari, Corporate Secretary Lead
I've guided hundreds of founders through the incorporation process across Hong Kong and Singapore. The questions are always different; the mistakes are usually the same. I write to help people avoid them.
Key Takeaways
The market floor is roughly SGD 250 to SGD 400 a year for a basic corporate secretary package covering statutory registers and the annual return.
Cheap packages exclude corporate events. Director changes, share transfers, EGMs, and constitution amendments are almost always billed per transaction.
The role is mandatory. Every Singapore company appoints a company secretary within six months of incorporation, and the office cannot stay vacant longer than that.
Not everyone qualifies. The secretary must be a natural person ordinarily resident in Singapore, and a sole director cannot fill the role.
Verify ACRA registration. Any firm supplying secretarial services by way of business must be a registered corporate service provider.
The cheapest company secretary in Singapore costs around SGD 250 to SGD 400 a year, with some providers advertising from as little as SGD 25 a month. That is a legitimate price for a legitimate service, and for a simple dormant company it may be all you need.
The catch is what sits outside the package. This guide explains what the lowest tier actually covers, what gets billed separately, the statutory requirements your secretary must meet, how to appoint one, and how to find a cheap provider that is also reliable.
1. What Is the Cheapest Company Secretary in Singapore?
Providers cluster into three price bands. Naming a single cheapest provider is unhelpful because promotional pricing changes constantly, but the bands are stable.
Ranges reflect publicly advertised 2026 pricing across Singapore providers. Promotional rates change frequently, so confirm before you commit.
What the Cheapest Tier Actually Covers
An entry-level package is built for a company where nothing changes: same directors, same shareholders, same address, one AGM, one annual return. If that describes your company, the cheapest tier is genuinely sufficient.
It stops being sufficient the moment you issue shares to an investor, bring in a co-founder, move office, or amend your constitution. Each of those is a separate billable exercise, typically SGD 150 to SGD 800 depending on complexity. Our detailed breakdown of corporate secretary fees in Singapore itemises what each add-on costs.
The comparison that matters: annual retainer + the changes you actually expect + ACRA government fees. A SGD 300 package that charges SGD 300 per director change costs more over a year than a SGD 800 package that includes them. Cheapest on paper is rarely cheapest in practice.
2. Is a Company Secretary Mandatory in Singapore?
Yes. Section 171 of the Companies Act requires every Singapore company to appoint a company secretary within six months of incorporation. The office cannot remain vacant for more than six months at any point afterwards.
This is not a formality that lapses for small or dormant companies. A registered company with no trading activity still files an annual return, still maintains statutory registers, and still needs someone accountable for both.
3. What Are the Requirements for a Company Secretary?
- A natural person. A company cannot itself hold the office, although a firm can supply an individual to fill it.
- Ordinarily resident in Singapore. The secretary's principal place of residence must be here.
- Not the sole director. Where a company has only one director, that person cannot also act as company secretary.
- Qualified where required. For a public company, directors must take reasonable steps to ensure the secretary meets prescribed criteria, such as relevant experience or membership of a recognised professional body. A private company has no general equivalent requirement, although the Registrar can require one to appoint a qualified secretary where it has failed to comply with certain record-keeping obligations.
Can Anyone Be a Corporate Secretary in Singapore?
Not quite. A private company has latitude, so a suitably knowledgeable director, shareholder, or employee can serve, provided they are resident here and the company has more than one director. The practical test is whether that person can actually keep the registers accurate and the filings on time.
Two constraints bite in practice. Most single-founder companies have no eligible internal candidate. And since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, any firm offering secretarial services by way of business must be registered with ACRA, so you cannot simply engage an unregistered freelancer for the role.
Our explainer on what a corporate secretary does covers the duties and qualification criteria in more depth.
4. How to Appoint a Company Secretary
- Choose your secretary. An eligible individual within the company, or a registered corporate service provider supplying one.
- Obtain written consent. The appointee signs a consent to act and confirms they are not disqualified.
- Pass a board resolution. The directors formally approve the appointment and record the effective date.
- File with ACRA within 14 days through Bizfile, usually done by the provider.
- Hand over the records. Statutory registers, the company constitution, past resolutions, and minutes transfer to the new secretary.
How to Change Providers
The process mirrors an appointment. The outgoing secretary resigns or is removed by resolution, the new one is appointed, and both changes are filed with ACRA within 14 days. Check your existing agreement first for notice periods and handover charges, which are a common hidden cost when leaving a cheap provider.
5. What Is Included in Corporate Secretary Packages?
| Item | In a Cheap Package? | Typical Extra Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Named Company Secretary | Yes | - |
| Statutory Registers Maintained | Yes | - |
| Annual Return Preparation and Filing | Usually | SGD 100 to SGD 300, plus SGD 60 to ACRA |
| AGM Notice and Standard Resolutions | Usually | SGD 100 to SGD 300 |
| Change of Director, Secretary, or Address | Rarely, or capped | SGD 150 to SGD 400 per change |
| Share Transfer or Allotment | No | SGD 300 to SGD 800 |
| EGM or Special Resolution | No | SGD 300 to SGD 600 |
| Constitution Amendment | No | SGD 300 to SGD 800 |
| Registered Office Address | Sometimes bundled | SGD 200 to SGD 600 per year |
| XBRL Financial Statements | No | SGD 300 to SGD 600 |
Two adjacent services are almost always separate. A registered address carries its own annual fee, and a nominee director costs SGD 1,500 to SGD 3,000 a year. Our breakdown of hidden incorporation costs flags the charges founders discover late.
6. What Are the Filing Deadlines for Corporate Secretaries?
| Obligation | Deadline | Regulator |
|---|---|---|
| Appoint a Company Secretary | Within 6 months of incorporation | ACRA |
| Hold the AGM | Within 6 months of financial year end | ACRA |
| File the Annual Return | Within 7 months of financial year end | ACRA |
| Notify Officer or Address Changes | Within 14 days | ACRA |
| File Estimated Chargeable Income | Within 3 months of financial year end | IRAS |
| File the Corporate Income Tax Return | 30 November | IRAS |
Late annual return filing costs SGD 300 when filed within three months of the deadline and SGD 600 after that. One late filing therefore wipes out the entire saving from choosing the cheapest package. Our guides to annual return filing and the annual general meeting cover both processes, and your financial year end sets every date above.
7. What About Hiring In-House?
Some founders ask whether employing a company secretary is cheaper. For a single company it is not, by a wide margin.
Salary data for 2026 puts a corporate secretarial executive at roughly SGD 3,700 to SGD 5,400 a month, and an experienced qualified company secretary meaningfully higher. Add CPF and overheads and an in-house hire runs into the tens of thousands annually, against a few hundred dollars for an outsourced package.
In-house only becomes rational once you manage several entities in a group, or your filing volume genuinely fills a role. For one private limited company, outsourcing wins on every measure.
8. How to Find Reliable Corporate Secretarial Services
Cheap and reliable are not opposites, but you have to check. Five questions separate the two.
- Is the provider registered with ACRA? Ask for the registration number. This is a legal requirement under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, not a badge of quality.
- Who is the named secretary? You want an individual accountable for your filings, not an anonymous ticket queue.
- What is the full fee schedule? A provider reluctant to share its add-on pricing is telling you where its margin comes from.
- How do they track deadlines? Ask what happens if you miss an AGM date. A good provider chases you; a cheap one waits.
- How do you exit? Confirm notice periods and handover terms before you sign, not when you want to leave.
Warning Signs in Very Cheap Offers
- No verifiable ACRA registration, or evasiveness when asked.
- A headline price with no written scope document.
- Refusal to name the individual who will hold the office.
- Steep handover or resignation fees buried in the terms.
- No response time commitment of any kind.
For a provider-by-provider comparison, see our review of the best corporate secretary services in Singapore.
9. Four Legitimate Ways to Cut the Cost
- Bundle with incorporation. Many providers include the first year of secretarial services in an incorporation package, as our Singapore company registration guide explains.
- Bundle with accounting. Where one team holds your books and your filings, the annual return aligns with your accounts and nothing falls between two providers. See our breakdown of the cost of accounting services in Singapore.
- Batch your changes. Filing three officer changes in one exercise usually costs less than three separate ones.
- Keep your own records clean. Providers charge for reconstruction. Sending documents promptly avoids the surcharge entirely.
10. Corporate Secretary Services With Statrys
Statrys Corporate Services Singapore Pte. Ltd. is registered as a Corporate Service Provider with ACRA under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 (Registration No. FA20230475). Corporate secretary services are included when you incorporate with us, rather than sold as a separate line.
- A named company secretary appointed within the statutory six-month window.
- Statutory registers, resolutions, AGM documents, and annual return filing handled against your financial year end.
- Registered address and virtual mailroom in the same package, with remote access to your records.
- Accounting and tax filing from the same team, priced on your actual transaction volume.
We are not the cheapest line item on the market, and we would rather be clear about that than compete on a headline price that only holds until your first share transfer. Current package pricing sits on our pricing page. To compare against a quote you already have, talk to our team.
Conclusion
The cheapest company secretary in Singapore sits around SGD 250 to SGD 400 a year, and for a company where nothing changes, that price is entirely reasonable.
Price the year rather than the retainer. Count the changes you expect, ask for the full fee schedule, verify ACRA registration, and confirm someone named is accountable for your deadlines. A cheap provider that files on time is a bargain. A cheap provider that misses your annual return costs you SGD 600 and the saving disappears.
FAQs
What is the cheapest company secretary service in Singapore?
Entry-level packages start at roughly SGD 250 to SGD 400 a year, with some providers advertising monthly pricing from around SGD 25. These cover statutory registers, the annual return, and standard AGM documents, but bill corporate changes separately.
Is a company secretary mandatory for a small company?
Yes. Every Singapore company must appoint one within six months of incorporation, regardless of size or activity. Dormant companies are not exempt.
Can I be my own company secretary?
Only if your company has more than one director, you are ordinarily resident in Singapore, and you have the knowledge and experience to perform the role. A sole director cannot also be the company secretary.
How do I appoint a company secretary?
Obtain the appointee's written consent, pass a board resolution approving the appointment, file the change with ACRA within 14 days, and transfer the statutory registers and corporate records to them.
What happens if I do not appoint one in time?
Failing to appoint a company secretary within six months is an offence under the Companies Act. Beyond any fine, the practical consequence is that your annual return goes unfiled and ACRA late filing penalties start accumulating.
Does a cheap package include the ACRA filing fee?
Usually not. ACRA charges SGD 60 to file an annual return, and that is separate from your provider's fee unless the package states otherwise. Always ask whether quoted prices are inclusive.
7. Can I switch to a cheaper provider mid-year?
Yes. The outgoing secretary resigns or is removed by resolution, the new one is appointed, and both changes are filed with ACRA within 14 days. Check your current agreement for notice periods and handover fees, which can offset the saving.
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