If your books have slipped, you’re not the first, and it’s usually fixable. Annual compilation is how we rebuild a year of records from what you still have, tell you plainly what we couldn’t confirm, and get you to the point where filing is possible.
Last reviewed 17 October 2026.
Does this sound like you?
- You’ve fallen behind and don’t know where things stand
- Your accountant or bookkeeper stopped responding
- You’ve done the books yourself and want someone to check them
- A deadline is coming, or has passed
- A bank, investor or buyer has asked for accounts you don’t have
Any of those is a normal place to start.
Why it’s not just late bookkeeping
Catching up a year in one go isn’t the same as keeping books monthly. We’re working backwards from bank statements and whatever documents survive, so each transaction has to be identified before it can be recorded. Some will be obvious. Some won’t be.
What to bring
Bring what you have, even if it’s a mess:
- Bank and credit card statements for the year
- Whatever invoices and receipts you kept
- Payroll records and loan statements
- Your previous accountant’s files, if any
- Any notes you made, including “I don’t remember what this was”
How it goes
- Take stock. We list what exists and what’s missing.
- Reconcile the bank. Every account is matched to its statements first, since that’s the one record that’s hardest to lose.
- Identify transactions. We code each one from the documents, supplier records and your answers.
- Ask you. We send you one organised list of items we couldn’t identify, rather than a stream of questions.
- Close the year. We finalise the ledger and tell you what’s still unsupported.
When we can’t tell what something was
Some payments won’t have documents. We don’t guess. We record them in a clearly labelled way, tell you which items are involved, and discuss what to do with the directors. An honestly flagged gap is easier to deal with than one recorded as if it were certain.
Compiled books, financial statements and audits
These are three different things:
- Compiled books are your records rebuilt and reconciled. That’s what this service delivers.
- Financial statements are prepared from those books under the accounting standards. See unaudited accounts.
- An audit is an external opinion on the statements. A small private company that meets at least two of three criteria (revenue S$10 million or less, assets S$10 million or less, 50 employees or fewer) is exempt. See our audit exemptions guide.
The directors remain responsible for the statements and the records, even when an outside firm prepares them.
The dates your records feed into
For a company with a 31 December year end:
| Date | What |
|---|---|
| 31 March | ECI due (not needed if revenue is S$5m or less and ECI is nil) |
| 31 May / 30 June | Financial statements to members within 5 months, or the AGM within 6 months for a non-listed company |
| 31 July | Annual return, due 7 months after year end |
| 30 November | Form C-S or Form C |
If a date has passed, tell us. ACRA and IRAS have their own consequences for late filing, and we’ll help you work out what to do next. See our annual return penalties guide.
Example (illustration only)
ABC Pte Ltd has bank statements for the whole year, about half its invoices and no payroll summary. We reconcile the bank, code everything that has a document, send one list of 23 unclear items, and close the year with four items still marked unsupported for the directors to decide.
After the catch-up
Most clients move to quarterly or monthly bookkeeping, so it doesn’t build up again. That’s your choice, not a condition. If cloud software would help, see cloud accounting setup.
Questions people ask
How long does it take? It depends on how many months are affected and how complete the paperwork is. We’ll give you an estimate after we see what you have.
What does it cost? We quote after a first look at your records.
Will you tell me if something looks wrong? Yes. We’ll tell you plainly, and we’ll tell you what we couldn’t confirm.
Can you handle more than one year? Yes. We take them in order, oldest first.
Do you keep the records? We return your records and the compiled ledger. IRAS expects records kept for at least five years.
Sources
- ACRA: Audit exemptions, small company concept
- IRAS: record-keeping (five years), ECI and Form C-S/C dates, as set out in our corporate tax page
General information, not professional advice for your specific situation.
Want to see where you stand?
Send us what you have, even if it’s incomplete, and we’ll tell you what a catch-up would involve. Send us your records.