What your corporate secretary should be doing, and probably isn’t

Before every date, not after it

Every company’s compliance calendar runs off its financial year end. A good secretary knows your dates and tells you before each one, not after the penalty notice arrives:

• The AGM, due within six months after the financial year end, or the written-resolution route if your company qualifies to skip a physical meeting.
• The annual return to ACRA, due within 30 days after the AGM.
• The tax dates that hang off the same year end: ECI about three months after it, and Form C-S or Form C by 30 November. Strictly that’s tax work, but a secretary who sees the whole calendar flags it anyway.

If you’ve ever found out about a deadline from ACRA rather than from your secretary, this is the first box that isn’t ticked.

Every time something changes

A new director, a director leaving, a new shareholder, shares issued or transferred, a change of address. Each one needs a proper resolution, a filing with ACRA within a short time limit, and the company’s own records updated to match. A good secretary turns these round in days and tells you what’s needed from you, in one message, before you ask.

The records nobody sees until they matter

Some records only get looked at when a bank, a buyer, an investor or ACRA asks for them, and that’s exactly when you need them to be right:

• The register of registrable controllers: who ultimately owns or controls the company. It must be kept up to date and lodged with ACRA.
• The register of nominee directors, where one applies.
• Minutes and resolutions for the decisions that need them: approving accounts, director fees, dividends, bank mandates.
• The constitution and share records, consistent with what ACRA shows.

When you open a new bank account, sell part of the business or bring in an investor, these are the first things asked for. Finding them missing then costs weeks.

Telling you before you make a mistake

The most valuable part of the job doesn’t show up on any list: hearing “wait, that needs paperwork first” before you do something. For example, paying a dividend when the company may not have the profits or solvency to support it; taking money out of the company as a “loan” to yourself, which the law restricts; changing the financial year end without thinking through what it does to your tax and filing dates; or bringing a partner in on a handshake instead of with shares. A secretary who only files what you send them will never stop you. A good one asks what you’re planning.

Keeping your file current

Since the Corporate Service Providers Act came into force in June 2025, registered firms have to know who their clients really are and keep that information up to date. A good secretary checks in on this once a year and when something changes, so it’s a two-minute message, not a sudden document chase when you’re in the middle of something else.

Five questions to test yours

1. When is our next AGM due, and has anyone told me?

2. If I asked for our register of controllers today, how long would it take to get it?

3. When did my secretary last contact me about anything other than an invoice?

4. Who exactly is named as our secretary, and do I have their number?

5. When I send a question, how long does the reply take?

Three or more uncomfortable answers and you’re paying for the statutory role only. That’s fixable, and switching is simpler than most people expect. Our switching guide walks through it, or take our one-minute corporate secretary check.

How we do it

Every client is in a WhatsApp group with our team, and you get answers in minutes, not days. We send reminders before every date, not after. Changes are turned round with one clear message about what we need from you. The registers are kept so we can send them the same day a bank asks. And when you tell us what you’re planning, we tell you what it needs before you do it. See our corporate secretary service.

Common questions

What does a company secretary do in Singapore?

Keeps the company's statutory side in order: tracking the AGM and annual return dates, filing changes with ACRA, maintaining registers such as the register of controllers, preparing minutes and resolutions, and flagging when a decision needs paperwork first.

Should my company secretary remind me of deadlines?

A good one does, before each date. If you've found out about a deadline from ACRA or IRAS rather than your secretary, you're paying for the statutory role only.

What records should my company secretary keep?

The register of registrable controllers, the register of nominee directors where one applies, minutes and resolutions, and the constitution and share records, all consistent with what ACRA shows.

Is the company secretary responsible for compliance?

The directors carry the legal responsibility. The secretary's job is to make sure they can meet it: tracking dates, keeping records and flagging problems early.

How do I know if my company secretary is any good?

Ask when your next AGM is due, how quickly you could get your register of controllers, and when they last contacted you about anything but an invoice. Vague answers tell you what you need to know.

Related: sole director can't be secretary, company secretary vs corporate secretary vs CSP, what a corporate secretary costs, how to switch, and our corporate secretary service.