Corporate secretary cost in Singapore: what’s included, what’s extra, and why the cheapest costs more

How the fee is built

A corporate secretary fee pays for three things. The statutory role itself: someone qualified is named on your ACRA record and carries the legal responsibility. The recurring work: annual return, AGM paperwork, keeping the registers, holding the registered address. And the attention: knowing your dates, telling you before they arrive, answering when you ask. Every firm prices the first two. Only some price the third, and it’s the one that determines whether you ever get a penalty letter.

Low quotes are low because they price only the statutory role and sell the recurring work back to you piece by piece. That’s not dishonest — it’s a model. But you need to know which model you’re buying.

What a proper annual fee includes

• Named, qualified company secretary on ACRA, registered as a corporate service provider
• Registered office address, with mail received and forwarded to you
• Annual return prepared and filed with ACRA
• AGM: notice, resolutions, minutes, or the written-resolution route for private companies that qualify
• Statutory registers maintained — members, directors, controllers, nominee directors, charges
• Routine resolutions through the year: bank matters, a straightforward director change, approval of accounts
• Deadline tracking and reminders for AGM, annual return, and the tax dates that run off your financial year end
• Someone who answers a question in hours, not days

If a quote doesn’t say which of these are in, assume they’re out.

What’s usually extra — and fair

Some things are fairly charged separately because they’re work most companies don’t need every year: share transfers and allotments, constitution amendments, striking off, a change of financial year end, ACRA filing fees themselves (which are the government’s, not the firm’s), and preparing accounts or XBRL, which is accounting work rather than secretarial. A fair quote lists these as extras up front. An unfair one lists nothing and surprises you in month four.

How a cheap quote becomes an expensive year

The pattern we see when companies come to us from a low-fee firm:

• The AGM paperwork was an add-on, and nobody told them until it was due, so it was late.
• Each resolution was billed — a bank signatory change, a director’s address update — and by year end the extras exceeded the annual fee.
• Nobody reminded them of anything. The annual return went late, and the penalty cost more than the difference between the cheap quote and a proper one.
• The registered address was a mail-drop that didn’t forward. An IRAS letter sat there for two months.
• Getting out cost money too — a “handover fee” or a delay releasing the registers.

None of these are illegal. All of them are predictable from the quote, if you know what to look for.

Four questions that expose the real price

1. “Is the AGM and annual return included, or extra?” The single biggest difference between quotes.

2. “How many resolutions a year are included?” Zero means every change is billable. A sensible number covers a normal year.

3. “Who tracks my deadlines, and how will I hear from you?” If the answer is “you can check BizFile,” you’re buying the statutory role only.

4. “What does it cost to leave?” The honest answer is “nothing beyond the ACRA filing; your documents are yours.”

Ask all four in writing. The firms that answer clearly are the ones you want; the ones that get vague are telling you something.

Where we sit

We’re not the cheapest firm in Singapore and don’t publish a price list, because the right fee depends on what your company actually does in a year. What we do say: the AGM, annual return, registers, address and a normal year’s resolutions are in; you’re in a WhatsApp group with the team and get answers in minutes; we remind you of every date before it matters; and leaving costs nothing. If that’s the model you want, our corporate secretary service page says how we work, and we’ll quote you after a five-minute conversation about your company, not before.

Common questions

What does a corporate secretary fee in Singapore include?

A proper annual fee covers the named qualified secretary, the registered address, the annual return, AGM paperwork, maintaining statutory registers, routine resolutions, and deadline reminders. Low quotes often cover only the statutory appointment and bill everything else separately.

Why do corporate secretary quotes differ so much?

Because some price the full year's work and some price only the statutory role, selling the AGM, resolutions and reminders as add-ons. Ask whether the AGM and annual return are included — that's the biggest single difference.

What is fairly charged as an extra?

Share transfers and allotments, constitution changes, striking off, changing the financial year end, ACRA's own filing fees, and accounts or XBRL preparation. A fair quote lists these up front.

Is it worth paying more for a corporate secretary?

Usually yes, if 'more' buys deadline tracking and fast replies. One late annual return penalty typically costs more than the difference between a cheap quote and a proper one.

Does it cost money to switch corporate secretary?

It shouldn't, beyond the ACRA filing. Your registers and documents belong to the company. A firm that charges a handover fee or delays releasing documents is a reason to leave, not a reason to stay.

Related: company secretary vs corporate secretary vs CSP, how to switch corporate secretary, what happens when your secretary resigns, and our corporate secretary service.