Filing Foreign Company Financial Statements

Key Points

An authorised representative or CSP files through Bizfile. Determine the head-office and branch requirements first, then prepare the FYE, relevant statements, auditor details and required register locations. The transaction asks about RORC and nominee-register exemptions or maintenance. Check prefilled entity information and the financial year carefully. The guide lists immediate processing; a submission confirmation is available in the Bizfile inbox.

Separate Head-Office and Singapore-Branch Requirements

Prepare a document checklist for the head office and the Singapore branch separately. ACRA’s annual-filing guidance distinguishes listed and unlisted head offices, with the applicable accounting and audit requirements depending on the category. Where financial statements are not in English, submit the original-language version together with an English translation. Do not apply a local company’s small-company audit exemption to a foreign branch without checking its own requirements.

An active Singapore branch files audited financial statements covering its Singapore operations and assets and liabilities. A dormant branch still files unaudited statements unless ACRA has approved a waiver. Dormancy is therefore not the same as having no filing obligation. A waiver under section 373(12) and relief under section 373(13A) have different effects; follow the scope of the actual approval rather than assuming it removes every requirement.

Before submitting, check the reporting period and FYE, head-office documents, branch statements and auditor information where applicable. Review the register-exemption answers and maintenance locations required by the form. The annual financial-statement filing service is free; the separately published S$200 non-refundable fee concerns an application for filing relief. Keep these transactions and their supporting documents distinct when organising the filing.