Corporate Secretary Fees in Singapore: What You Pay and What Is Included

Quotes for corporate secretary services in Singapore range from under SGD 200 a year to well over SGD 1,500. The gap is not arbitrary. It reflects how much work the package actually covers and how much the provider bills separately every time something changes in your company.

This guide sets out the real market rates in 2026, what belongs in a package, which extras get charged on top, and how to compare providers on total annual cost rather than headline price.

What Are Corporate Secretary Fees in Singapore?

Five options exist, and the price difference between them is dramatic.

For almost every SME, outsourcing wins on cost. Hiring in-house only makes sense once you manage multiple entities and need the capacity year-round. Our comparison of the best corporate secretary services in Singapore sets out named providers and their published fees side by side.

Is a Corporate Secretary Necessary in Singapore?

Yes. Section 171 of the Companies Act requires every Singapore company to appoint a company secretary within six months of incorporation, and the office cannot remain vacant for more than six months at any point afterwards.

Statutory Requirements for Company Secretaries

• The secretary must be ordinarily resident in Singapore, which means having their principal place of residence here.
• The secretary must be a natural person, so a corporate body cannot itself hold the office, though a firm can supply an individual to fill it.
• The secretary cannot be the sole director. Where a company has only one director, that person cannot also act as the company secretary, so single-founder companies always need an outside appointment.
• For a private company, directors must take reasonable steps to ensure the secretary has the requisite knowledge and experience, while public companies face prescribed qualification criteria, such as membership of a recognised professional body or prior experience as a company secretary.

Since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024 took effect, any firm supplying company secretarial services by way of business must also be registered with ACRA. Ask for the registration number before you engage a provider.

Failing to appoint one is an offence that can attract a fine, and the practical consequences bite harder. Without a secretary, your annual return does not get filed, your registers fall out of date, and penalties accumulate against the company and its directors.

What Services Do Corporate Secretaries Provide?

The company secretary is a statutory officer, not an administrator. The role carries real legal responsibility for keeping the company compliant.

• Maintaining statutory registers, including members, directors, secretaries, controllers, and nominee directors.
• Preparing board and shareholder resolutions and recording minutes.
• Filing changes with ACRA within the prescribed deadlines, from a change of registered address to a new director.
• Convening the annual general meeting and preparing the notices and supporting documents.
• Filing the annual return with ACRA after the accounts are ready.
• Safekeeping the company constitution, registers, and corporate records.
• Advising directors on their statutory duties and on the filing consequences of decisions they take.

Our explainer on what a corporate secretary does covers the role and its qualification criteria in more depth.

What Is Included in Corporate Secretary Packages?

Most retainers cover the recurring statutory work. Anything triggered by a corporate event is usually billed separately, and this is where budgets slip.

Two related services are often priced separately. A nominee director typically costs SGD 1,200 to SGD 3,600 a year and may require a security deposit, and a registered address carries its own annual fee. Our breakdown of hidden incorporation costs covers the charges that surface after the package price.

What Are the Filing Deadlines for Corporate Secretaries?

Your secretary manages these dates. Knowing them yourself is still worth the five minutes, because the penalties fall on the company and its directors.

Late annual return filing attracts a penalty of SGD 300 when filed within three months of the deadline, rising to SGD 600 beyond that. Set against an SGD 400 retainer, one late filing can erase the savings from choosing the cheapest provider. Our guides to annual return filing and the annual general meeting walk through both processes, and your financial year-end determines every date in the table.

Why Do Corporate Secretary Fees Vary So Much?

• Scope. An SGD 300 retainer usually covers the bare statutory minimum. An SGD 1,200 retainer typically includes officer changes, resolutions, and advisory time.
• Company complexity. Multiple share classes, corporate shareholders, or frequent capital changes generate more work than a two-shareholder company that never changes.
• Service model. Digital platforms price low and route everything through a portal. Boutique firms cost more and give you a named person who answers the phone.
• Bundling. Providers that also handle your accounting often price the secretarial work lower, because the two functions share the same information.
• Turnaround expectations. Same-day resolutions and urgent filings usually carry a premium.

How to Find Affordable Corporate Secretary Services

Affordable means the lowest total cost, not the lowest retainer. Work through these five steps before you sign.

1. Estimate your year. Count the changes you actually expect: new directors, share issues, address changes, and an EGM. Then price the retainer plus those extras.
2. Ask for the full fee schedule, not just the headline package. A provider that hesitates to share it is telling you something.
3. Check ACRA registration. Any firm providing secretarial services by way of business must be a registered corporate service provider.
4. Confirm who holds the office. You want a named individual, not an anonymous service desk.
5. Consider bundling. Where the same team handles your books and your filings, your annual return aligns with your accounts, and nothing falls between two providers.

Compare providers on annual retainer plus expected ad-hoc fees plus ACRA government fees. An SGD 350 package that bills SGD 300 for each director change can cost more than an SGD 900 package that includes them.

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 your company with us.

• A named company secretary appointed within the statutory window.
• Statutory registers, resolutions, AGM documents, and annual return filing handled against your financial year-end.
• Remote access to your statutory records through your Statrys portal, so responding to a bank or investor request should not mean chasing a filing agent.
• Registered address and virtual mailroom in the same package.
• Accounting and tax filing from the same team, priced on your actual transaction volume. See our breakdown of the cost of accounting services in Singapore.

Current package pricing sits on our pricing page. If you are incorporating from scratch, our Singapore company registration guide covers the full sequence. Questions about your compliance calendar? Talk to our team.

Conclusion

Corporate secretary fees in Singapore sit between SGD 300 and SGD 1,500 a year for most SMEs, and the spread comes down to scope rather than quality alone. Price the whole year, including the changes you expect and the ACRA fees that often sit outside a quote.

The role itself is not optional. Appoint within six months, verify your provider is ACRA-registered, and make sure someone named is accountable for your filing calendar. That is what you are actually buying.