Everything else in your accounts starts here. Your financial statements, your GST returns, your tax return and your ACRA filing all come out of the same set of records, so when the records are right the rest is mostly checking. This page helps you choose where to begin.
Last reviewed 17 October 2026.
Pick your starting point
| If this sounds like you | Start with |
|---|---|
| Regular invoices, payroll, several suppliers, and you want to see your numbers each month | Monthly bookkeeping |
| A small team and fewer than roughly 20 to 30 transactions a month | Quarterly bookkeeping |
| Your books are behind, or an accountant has gone quiet | Annual compilation of accounts |
| You want to move to Xero or QuickBooks | Cloud accounting setup |
The 20 to 30 transactions figure is our own rule of thumb, not a legal threshold. A common path is catch-up first, then quarterly, then monthly as the business grows.
What bookkeeping covers, whichever you choose
- Bank and credit card accounts reconciled to the statements
- Sales and purchases recorded and coded
- GST tracked, if you’re registered
- Payroll and CPF entries recorded
- Director and shareholder loan movements kept apart from business costs
- Records organised so a filing can be built from them
How a year of books feeds your filings
For a company with a 31 December year end:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Each GST period | F5 return due one month after the period ends (quarterly unless IRAS has approved monthly) |
| 31 March | Estimated Chargeable Income due within 3 months of year end. A company with revenue of S$5m or less and nil ECI doesn’t need to file it |
| 31 May or 30 June | Financial statements to members within 5 months, or the AGM within 6 months |
| 31 July | Annual return, due 7 months after the year end, with the financial statements filed in XBRL |
| 30 November | Form C-S or Form C |
Your dates move with your year end. All of these start from the same books.
Two rules worth knowing
Keep your records for five years. IRAS expects accounting records to be kept for at least five years.
The directors are responsible for the company’s records, even when an outside firm keeps them. We keep them for you, but the responsibility doesn’t transfer.
What we need from you
- Bank and credit card statements
- Sales and purchase invoices and receipts
- Payroll summaries and loan statements
- Access to your accounting software, if you already have one
Lost a few receipts? Bank statements and supplier records can often fill the gap. Mixed personal and business spending goes to the director’s loan account, not into business costs.
Questions people ask
Monthly or quarterly? If you want to see your numbers each month, or you have enough activity that a quarter’s worth would take a long time to untangle, go monthly. Otherwise quarterly is fine.
Does bookkeeping include my tax return and financial statements? No, they’re separate services, and we agree the scope in writing. See corporate tax and unaudited accounts.
Can I keep my current software? Yes. We suggest cloud accounting only if it would help you.
My books are months behind. Is that a problem? It’s very common, and fixable. See annual compilation.
Do you handle payroll too? Yes, see payroll.
Sources
- IRAS: record-keeping (five years), GST F5 deadlines, ECI and Form C-S/C deadlines (as set out in our GST and corporate tax pages)
- ACRA: AGM, annual return and financial statement deadlines (see our annual return guide)
General information, not professional advice for your specific situation.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us roughly how many transactions you have a month and where your books are today, and we’ll point you to the right option. Tell us where your books stand.