What Is a Unique Entity Number (UEN) in Singapore & How to Find It

Every registered business in Singapore holds a Unique Entity Number (UEN), a standard identifier used across government agencies. Think of it as your company's official registration ID, the way a National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) or Foreign Identification Number (FIN) identifies a person.

You need the UEN any time your business deals with the government: filing corporate tax returns, applying for licences, submitting employee CPF contributions, or registering for PayNow. Without it, a company can't complete most transactions with public agencies.

This guide covers what a UEN is, which agency issues it, the formats used by different entity types, what it's used for, and the fastest ways to find or check any company's UEN.

This guide is based on research conducted in October 2026, using ACRA and Bizfile guidance, IRAS and CPF Board pages, and the Association of Banks in Singapore.

What Is a Unique Entity Number (UEN) in Singapore?

A UEN is the standard identification number for registered entities in Singapore. Since 1 January 2009, one number, recognised across government, has replaced the separate reference numbers that different agencies used to issue. Businesses and local companies already registered with ACRA simply kept their ACRA registration number as their UEN, per the government's 2008 announcement.

The number stays with your entity for life. It doesn't expire, and it doesn't need renewing. A company keeps the same UEN through a name change, a change of directors, or a move to a new registered address.

Two things a UEN is not. It's not proof that a business is trading, since a struck-off company keeps its UEN on the register. And it's not always the same as a GST number, though for most companies it is (more on that below).

Who Issues the UEN in Singapore?

Most UENs come from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), which registers companies, businesses, and partnerships. Entities that register with another government body receive their UEN from that body instead. Per ACRA's guide to Bizfile search, the issuance agencies are:

The rule is simple: whichever government authority registers your entity also issues your UEN. You never apply to a second agency for a second number.

Who Needs a UEN?

Any entity registered in Singapore gets a UEN. That includes:

• Singapore companies, such as private limited companies (Pte Ltd)
• Sole proprietorship businesses
• Partnerships, including Limited Partnerships (LPs) and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)
• Foreign companies operating through branches or representative offices
• Societies, charities, co-operatives, and trade unions

There's one main exemption for small traders. ACRA's registration requirements say you don't need to register a business if it uses "Your full NRIC name only" or "The full NRIC names of all partners (including yours)". A business called "Flowers by Tan Mei Ling", for example, must still register. Unregistered businesses don't receive an ACRA UEN, and running a business that should be registered without registering it can lead to a fine of up to SGD 10,000 or up to two years in jail under the Business Names Registration Act 2014.

A foreign company with no registered presence in Singapore holds no Singapore UEN. Once it registers a branch, a subsidiary, or a representative office, that local entity receives its own UEN. The parent company's foreign registration number has no standing with Singapore agencies.

What Is a UEN Used For?

Entities registered in Singapore quote their UEN whenever they transact with government departments:

• Filing corporate income tax returns with IRAS
• GST registration and GST returns
• Applying for licences, such as real estate, financial, or F&B licences
• Applying for permits, including import and export permits
• Submitting CPF contributions for employees
• Registering for PayNow Corporate, which links your UEN to a bank account so you send and receive SGD instantly, with no account number needed. The Association of Banks in Singapore administers PayNow.
• Accessing Corppass, Singapore's corporate digital identity system
• Applying for government grants and completing annual compliance filings

Benefits of a UEN

The UEN does more than satisfy a registration requirement. Four benefits stand out.

1. One identifier, every agency. Before 2009, a business juggled a different reference number for ACRA, IRAS, and CPF. The UEN collapsed all of them into one. You quote a single number and each government body pulls up the same record.
2. Faster payments. PayNow Corporate turns your UEN into a payment address. Customers pay you by entering your UEN, with no bank account number to mistype.
3. Public credibility. Anyone can verify your UEN for free on Bizfile in seconds. Suppliers, investors, and enterprise customers run that check before signing. A live UEN with a clean filing history answers the first question every counterparty asks.
4. Access to the wider economy. Grants, government tenders, digital services, and most B2B platforms in Singapore ask for a UEN at sign-up.

What Does a UEN Look Like? The UEN Format

A UEN is 9 or 10 characters long, and always ends in a check letter. There are three formats, depending on who registered the entity:

Source: the government's UEN format annex.

How to Read a UEN

Take T26LL1234X apart and the structure becomes clear:

• T: The prefix. A UEN that starts with T or S belongs to a specific entity type, or to an entity registered through an agency other than ACRA. Sole proprietorships and local companies use sequential numbering with no prefix.
• 26: The year of registration, 2026 in this case.
• LL: The entity code. Common codes include LL for LLPs, LP for limited partnerships, SS for societies, TU for trade unions, CC for charities, and RF for representative offices.
• 1234: The sequential number issued that year.
• X: The check alphabet. This final letter comes from a formula applied to the digits before it. Systems use it to catch a mistyped UEN before the transaction goes through.

A local company reads differently: 202612345X gives the full four-digit year, five running digits, and the check letter. The year gives you a quick sanity check when a supplier claims a decade of history. One caution: for some entities that existed before UENs were introduced in 2009, the year in the UEN can reflect an older registration date.

What Is a Special UEN (SUN)?

A Special UEN (SUN) is a UEN you choose instead of the one the system assigns. A standard UEN is free. A SUN lets you pick a more memorable or auspicious number, for a fee. Per ACRA's guide to Special UENs, you can choose one for a new company, business, or LLP, but only when you first register: "You cannot apply for a SUN if your business is already registered."

You choose only the running digits: the prefix and check letter are generated by the system. Bizfile's Special UEN FAQ gives you "30 minutes to complete Special UEN selection and payment", together with your registration fee; after that, the number is released. SUNs are non-refundable and can't be exchanged.

Before you spend, note that a SUN changes nothing about your legal standing, tax treatment, or compliance obligations. You're paying for memorability.

How to Apply for a UEN in Singapore: Step by Step

You don't apply for a UEN separately. It's issued automatically when your registration is approved. The only choice is whether to take the free number or pay for a SUN.

Step 1: Register Your Business With ACRA

• Reserve your entity name on Bizfile.
• Prepare the required documents, including identification for shareholders and directors, and your company constitution.
• Submit your incorporation application online through Bizfile.

Sole proprietorships and partnerships need an owner who lives in Singapore. If all owners live overseas, ACRA requires "One authorised representative who is ordinarily resident", and foreigners without Singpass must use a corporate service provider (ACRA). A company needs at least one shareholder (individual or corporate), at least one director who ordinarily lives in Singapore, which foreign founders often meet with a nominee director, a company secretary, and a registered office address.

Step 2: Choose a Standard UEN or a Special UEN

At the payment stage of your registration, Bizfile asks whether you want a Special UEN.

Answer no, and you get a standard UEN for free.

Answer yes, and you can browse available numbers or search for digits you want. Then pay the SUN fee with your registration fee within 30 minutes.

Step 3: Receive Your UEN and Business Profile

Once ACRA approves your registration, you receive your UEN and a free Business Profile, the official record of your entity. Since 27 March 2026, ACRA says the free Business Profile is delivered to the person who filed, "to your Bizfile inbox as an attachment within 15 minutes of successful filing", and "Downloads are available for 60 days from notification" (ACRA announcement). After that, a copy costs SGD 5.50.

How to Find and Check a Company's UEN

The fastest route is Bizfile's free entity search. It's public and needs no login.

1. Go to bizfile.gov.sg and open the search.
2. Enter the business name, or the UEN if you want to verify one you already have. You can also search by a previous UEN.
3. Read the result. ACRA says the free search lets you "check basic information about ACRA-registered entities, such as their live status and registered address", alongside the entity name and UEN.
4. For more detail, such as officers, shareholders, and share capital, buy the Business Profile for SGD 5.50. It's delivered within 15 minutes, and ACRA gives no refunds for incorrect purchases (ACRA).

To find an entity registered with another agency, such as a society, charity, trade union, or clinic, use the "Issuance agency" filter in the same search.

How to Check UEN Status

The status tells you whether the entity can legally trade. These are the statuses that appear in ACRA's register:

Run this check before you sign a supplier contract or extend credit. A short search tells you what a reference letter can't.

Two Other Places to Check

• IRAS GST Registered Business Search. IRAS's GST services include a public search "to check if a business is GST-registered". Use it before paying GST on a supplier's invoice. Only GST-registered businesses appear.
• ACRA's open data. ACRA publishes register data, including UENs, as open datasets on data.gov.sg, which is useful if you need to check many entities at once.

When Does a UEN Change?

Almost never. A UEN changes only when a new entity is created:

1. A sole proprietorship becomes a company. There's no direct conversion: the company is incorporated as a new entity with its own new UEN, and the old business is ceased. Update your bank, customers, and PayNow registration when this happens.
2. A business or company converts to an LLP. ACRA says it "will become a new LLP registered (i.e. new UEN)", and the old entity's status becomes "Converted to LLP".
3. Amalgamation. Where an amalgamation creates a new company, that company is registered separately and receives a new UEN; ACRA charges a separate registration fee for it. Where one of the original companies continues, it carries on under its existing registration.

A name change, a new director, a new registered address, or new business activities all leave your UEN unchanged. A struck-off company keeps its UEN on the historical register, though it can no longer trade.

UEN vs Other Singapore Identifiers

Founders often mix these up in their first year:

For most companies, the GST registration number and the UEN are the same. IRAS's invoicing guidance shows the exception: some GST-registered businesses have a different GST number, such as one starting "M2", and must show that number on their tax invoices.