Incorporation Issues: Registered Office Address
April 25, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
In Singapore, a Company requires a registered office address. This is simply the address you lodge with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) for official correspondence and at which you are expected to carry out your main business activity.
If you do not intend to rent an office space (may be an unnecessary expense sometimes), then you have several options to choose from to fulfill this ‘registered office address’ criteria.
Using Your HDB Home Address For The Company
If you work from a HDB home, using your address would seem like the most natural and convenient thing to do. But there are a couple of criteria that your business or company would have to fulfill such that it remains eligible for the HDB Home Office Scheme.
As long as you’re above 18 years of age, you can consider using your HDB home address as your company’s. There are certain businesses which do not qualify for the scheme, so please check.
Also ensure that you apply for the necessary business licences.
When incorporating, take note that you will need to provide a copy of your home office business licence from HDB to prove that your home address has been approved by HDB to be used as an office.
For more detailed info, visit the HDB page on Home Office.
Whom Is A HDB Home Address Best For?
If prestige matters or if you would like to make your company look bigger than it is, a HDB home address will not be suitable for you.
Especially if you’re dealing with enterprise customers, it is advisable to get a more ‘recognized’ office address. This gives your customers an added psychological assurance that you’re not a run-by-night company.
Using Your Private Home Address For The Company
If you’re one of the 15% of the Singapore population who owns a private condo or estate, you can also use your home address as the company’s registered office address. Just register with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore. For this, no licence needs to be produced for ACRA when incorporating your company.
Virtual Offices
If you do not have a ‘real’ physical office and do not wish to use your home address as your company’s registered office address, you can consider Virtual Offices.
There are many such companies in Singapore that specialize in providing you with an office address so that you can use it officially. Be it using it as a registered office address when incorporating your company, or using it as a mailing address, these virtual offices can fulfill these needs.
Virtual offices typically have various packages to cater to different needs. If you just need an office address, this would probably be the easiest and cheapest service they provide. Most also provide mail forwarding or mail drop-off services.
Mail Services
If you opt for mail forwarding, on receiving any of your company’s mail, they will forward it off to your preferred address.
If you want mail drop-off services, this means that they store all your mail and send you an email to let you know that you have mail waiting for you. Then all you have to do is to drop by their office and collect your mail.
Be smart: know whether you can be exempted from audit, and be clear about the different types of incorporation and company secretary fees.
*If you need a recommendation to help you incorporate your company and/or provide a virtual address, drop us a message.
Picture courtesy of .Fabio.
About The Author
Gwendolyn Regina T - Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Apart from SGE, Gwen is also a Partner at Thymos Capital, where she focuses on early stage investments in technology firms. She has had two exits out of her investments via the firm, one of which is iHipo. A frequent judge for business competitions both locally and overseas, she graduated from the National University of Singapore. Gwen also spent some time in Silicon Valley and studied in Stanford University under the NUS Overseas College programme. Gwen is a mentor at Spanish incubator Tetuan Valley, Polish incubator Gamma Rebels, the Singapore Ambassador for the Sandbox network and the Singapore curator for StartupDigest. She enjoys languages, travelling, dance and adventure sports. Gwen can be found on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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