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XBRL Financial Report Services in Singapore

Package Fee for XBRL Filing Services

Packages Available Fee (SGD)
Preparation of full set of financial statements in Full XBRL format from $600 (W/GST $654)
Preparation of full set of financial statements in Simplified XBRL format from $400 (W/GST $436)

* Extra fee will apply for the Company with property, plant and equipment, employee compensation, financial assets, financial liabilities and other items.
** Extra fee will apply if the word copy of the audited financial statement provided by the auditor is not in full compliance with BizFin requirement

ACRA Announces Revised XBRL Filing Requirement and Releases New XBRL Preparation Tool for Companies

XBRL Financial Report
ACRA announced on 30 September 2013 that the revised XBRL filing requirements will be implemented from 2 December 2013. Replacing the online FS Manager will be a new offline tool, BizFinx, for preparing XBRL financial statements and the BizFinx Portal, for submitting the Annual Returns together with these financial statements.

Fast, Reliable Professional Service — Get Help With Your XBRL Filing!

We provide XBRL services starting from S$400 (W/GST $436), completed from 2 to 4 days. Call or email us today to get your quotation!

 

What do we need to prepare XBRL?

We need only the scan copy and word copy of the full set financial statements to prepare the XBRL.

 

What is XBRL?

XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language, a language used in computers to present financial statements such that they can be retrieved from online records and transferred directly to users such as auditors, regulators and financial analysts for various purposes. More information on XBRL can be found at www.xbrl.org. The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) implemented a new filing requirement for Singapore incorporated companies to file their financial statements (FS) in XBRL format as of 1 November 2007.

 

Why the need for XBRL?

Most companies currently file their FS in PDF format. ACRA believes that the use of XBRL will achieve the objectives of facilitating the conduct of business in Singapore, providing more value-added financial information and enhancing the regulatory environment with improved transparency and timely dissemination of relevant financial information.
XBRL enables source data to be tagged electronically, making the data machine-readable. Thus, the user’s system can automatically extract the information without the need for copy-pasting or keying-in. XBRL enables tagging of numbers, quantitative data and textual information. The benefits of XBRL go beyond compliance since any data collation process can be streamlined using electronic tags.

 

Who is responsible for the correct representation and accuracy of information?

Directors of the companies will continue to be responsible for the correctness and accuracy of FS in XBRL format filed with ACRA. They are therefore advised to check the information to be filed before authorizing their company or persons to submit the information on behalf of the company to ACRA.

 

Who is affected by the revised XBRL filing?

All Singapore incorporated companies (unless exempted below) which are either unlimited or limited by shares required to file their financial statements with ACRA will be required to file a full set of financial statements in XBRL format, according to a Minimum Requirement List within the new ACRA Taxonomy 2013 (i.e. Full XBRL). Filing of Option B (Partial XBRL), using FS Manager, will no longer be available.

 

Which businesses are excluded from XBRL filing?

To file Financial Statements (“FS”) in XBRL format, and the extent of XBRL filing varies based on the company’s nature and size of operations.
There have been a revision in the requirements to file the financial statements and the followings are mandatory from 1 May 2021.
The table below summarises the revisions to the filing requirements and data elements:

Group Companies that file FS that are made public XBRL Filing Requirements
 Requirements before 1 May 2021 Revised  requirements (mandatory from 1 May 2021)
1 SG-incorporated companies that are not covered in Groups 2 to 5 below. To file FS in Full XBRL template. To file FS in XBRL format, and the extent of XBRL filing varies based on the company’s nature and size of operations:

  • Smaller and non-publicly accountable companies (both terms are defined below):
    To file FS in Simplified XBRL template, together with PDF copy of FS authorised by directors; and
  • All other companies – To file FS in Full XBRL template.
2 SG-incorporated exempt private companies (EPCs) that are insolvent To file FS in either:

  • XBRL FSH (General) template, together with PDF copy of FS authorised by directors; or
  • Full XBRL template.
To file FS in XBRL format, and the extent of XBRL filing varies based on the company’s nature and size of operations:

  • Smaller and non-publicly accountable companies (both terms are defined below):To file FS in Simplified XBRL template, together with PDF copy of FS authorised by directors; and
  • All other companies – To file FS in Full XBRL template.
3 SG-incorporated EPCs that are solvent Not required to file FS. If the company opts to voluntarily file, to file FS in any of the following formats:

  • PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors;
  • XBRL FSH (General) template; or
  • FS in Full XBRL template.
Not required to file FS. If the company opts to voluntarily file, to file FS in either:

  • PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors; or
  • FS in XBRL format.

If the company opts to file FS in XBRL format, its extent of XBRL filing will vary based on the same criteria as Groups 1 and 2.

4 SG-incorporated companies in the business of banking, finance and insurance regulated by MAS To file FS in:

  • XBRL FSH (Banks) template; or
  • XBRL FSH (Insurance) template;

together with PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors.

To file FS in:

  • XBRL FSH (Banks) template; or
  • XBRL FSH (Insurance) template;

together with PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors.

5 SG-incorporated companies preparing FS using accounting standards other than prescribed accounting standards in Singapore or IFRS To file FS in XBRL FSH (General) template, together with PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors. To file only PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors.
6 SG-incorporated companies limited by guarantee To file only PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors. To file only PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors.
7 Foreign companies with SG branches To file only PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors. To file only PDF copy of the FS authorised by directors.

 

Definitions:

  1. An exempt private company is a private company with less than 20 members, and does not have any corporations holding beneficial interest in its shares (whether directly or indirectly)
  2. A smaller company refers to a company whose revenue and total assets for the current financial year do not exceed S$500,000and S$500,000, respectively.
  3. A non-publicly accountable company refers to a company that is not:
    • a company that is listed or is in the process of issuing debt or equity instruments for trading on a securities exchange in Singapore;
    • a company whose securities are listed on an exchange outside Singapore;
    • one of the following financial institutions:
    • entity that is part of the banking and payment systems (namely, licensed banks1, financial institutions approved under section 28 of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act (Chapter 186), operators of payment systems designated under section 42 of the Payment Services Act 2019 (Act 2 of 2019), settlement institutions of payment systems designated under section 42 of the Payment Services Act 2019, persons that have in force a standard payment institution licence granted under section 6 of the Payment Services Act 2019, persons that have in force a major payment institution licence granted or deemed to have been granted under section 6 of the Payment Services Act 2019 and licensed finance companies);
    • licensed insurer, foreign insurer under Lloyd’s Asia Scheme and registered insurance broker;
    • capital market infrastructure provider (namely, approved holding companies, approved exchanges, recognised market operators, approved clearing houses and recognised clearing houses under the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289));
    • capital markets intermediary (namely, holders of capital market services licence, licensed financial advisers, registered fund management companies, licensed trust companies and approved trustee for collective investment scheme);
    • licensed trade repository, authorised and exempt benchmark administrator under the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289);
    • operator of the Central Depository System under the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289);
    • trustee-manager of listed registered business trust;
    • designated financial holding company under the Financial Holding Companies Act2; and
    • licensed credit bureau under the Credit Bureau Act2.
  1. “Licensed banks” should be read as “banks or merchant banks licensed under the Banking Act (Chapter 19)” when section 24 of the  Banking (Amendment) Act 2020 relating to merchant banks come into force.”
  2. Applicable once the Act commences.

 

Applicable financial periods

The revised XBRL filing requirements will be applicable for companies if they are filing financial statements with periods ending on or after 30 April 2007. Companies filing financial statements relating to financial periods ending before 30 April 2007 will continue to file their financial statements in PDF format and their financial highlights in respect of the financial statements in their Annual Return (AR).

 

What are the advantages of preparing the XBRL voluntary?

Free data analysis will be made available at ACRA’s new one-stop financials filing portal, BizFinx, which will commence operations when the revised filing requirements take effect in October. Company directors and officers can log into BizFinx Portal to generate the free analysis within 30 days after filing their AR form with a full set of financial statements in XBRL format. This analysis is only available once a year upon the filing of the AR by the company and companies can utilize these data to:
– Benchmark themselves against peers
– Compare their performance against competitors
– Gain a competitive edge with improved analytics
– Understand industry trends and make appropriate decisions
– Achieve cost savings within your company with better business insights and quicker and more accurate decision-making
– Compare, share and transmit data with related subsidiaries and different company divisions even if different accounting systems are being used.

 

How can I prepare?

You can either:

  • Do-it-yourself: download the tool at ACRA website, go through all the procedures and prepare the XBRL report yourself, OR
  • Free yourself of the hassle by engaging a professional firm like 3E Accounting Pte. Ltd. to assist you in the preparation

To facilitate DIY XBRL filing, ACRA has provided a free offline tool known as “BizFinx” to enable companies to prepare and manage their FS in XBRL.

 

What are the advantages of outsourcing if I can do it myself?

Because directors are responsible for the correct representation and accuracy of the information filed, this task is not something that directors or owners of businesses often leave for their subordinates to do. However, the filing process can be time-consuming and daunting for directors.

Outsourcing the filing to a professional accounting services firm will give you the peace of mind in meeting your company’s compliance needs. For a small investment, you are likely to save a lot of time which can be devoted to doing more business, rather than going through the hassles of figuring out how to use the system, extracting what to disclose, keying in, and checking.

We will be pleased to clarify any doubts that you may have on the above. If you need assistance with your accounts to meet the reporting deadlines or for assistance in tax filing, please feel free to contact us at 3e@3ecpa.com.sg .