Twenty-five terms a foreign-headquartered group meets in its first years of Singapore ownership, defined in plain English. Statutory figures are verified against ACRA, IRAS, MAS, and MOM as at July 2026, and the current published criteria always govern. Each term links to the practice page where the working detail lives.
Singapore's regulator of companies, business entities, and public accountants. Foreign-owned groups deal with ACRA at incorporation, at each annual return, and whenever financial statements are filed. ACRA also publishes the small company audit exemption criteria and registers the public accountants who sign Singapore audit opinions.
A yearly statutory filing every Singapore-incorporated company makes with ACRA, confirming the company's particulars and accompanied by financial statements where filing is required. It is distinct from the corporate tax return filed with IRAS. Audit exemption does not remove the annual return, or the financial statements behind it.
Relief from statutory audit for a qualifying small company: a private company meeting at least two of three criteria, total annual revenue of S$10 million or less, total assets of S$10 million or less, and 50 employees or fewer, for the immediate past two consecutive financial years. Companies in groups are also tested on the consolidated group figures. Financial statements must still be prepared and filed. Figures per ACRA, verified July 2026. The full decision path is in the audit exemption guide.
MOM's points-based test for Employment Pass applications. An application must earn 40 points, scored on foundational criteria covering salary, qualifications, workforce diversity, and support for local employment, with bonus criteria for skills shortages and strategic economic priorities. The employer's profile counts as much as the candidate's. Per MOM, verified July 2026.
The auditor of one entity within a group whose results feed the group financial statements. A component auditor works under instructions from the group auditor: agreed materiality, reporting packs, and defined lines for questions and answers. Medora acts as component auditor for Singapore entities of parents in the UK, US, EU, Japan, and Korea.
A liquidation ordered by the Court, typically on a creditor's application against an insolvent company. A CWU commonly involves investigation into the company's affairs alongside the realisation of its assets, which is why insolvency and forensics work often travel together.
The preparation of group financial statements that present a parent and its subsidiaries as a single economic entity, eliminating intra-group balances and transactions. For a foreign-owned Singapore subsidiary, consolidation drives the group reporting pack, and the audit exemption group test applies the small company criteria to the consolidated group figures.
An association of independent accounting firms and business advisers with more than 200 member firms, over 430 offices, and a presence in over 85 countries, per dfk.com, verified July 2026. Medora is a Singapore member firm, and its Managing Director has sat on the DFK audit technical committee since 2014.
MOM's work pass for foreign professionals in Singapore. For applications before 1 January 2027 the minimum qualifying salary is S$5,600, or S$6,200 in financial services, rising progressively with age, and most applications must also pass the points-based COMPASS assessment. Per MOM, verified July 2026; the current criteria govern. The full scales are in the EP and immigration hub.
A private company with at most 20 members in which no corporation holds a beneficial interest in its shares. Under the older regime audit exemption ran through EPC status; it now turns on the small company test, so a subsidiary with a corporate parent can qualify without being an EPC. Per ACRA.
Singapore's broad-based consumption tax, charged at 9 per cent on standard-rated supplies made on or after 1 January 2024. Registration is compulsory when taxable turnover exceeds S$1 million, measured retrospectively or on a reasonable expectation for the next twelve months. Figures per IRAS, verified July 2026. Registration and advisory detail sits with the tax advisory practice.
Singapore's tax authority. IRAS administers corporate income tax, charged at a flat 17 per cent of chargeable income, together with GST, withholding tax, and the transfer pricing documentation requirements. Most of a Singapore entity's recurring tax filings, queries, and voluntary disclosures run through IRAS. Figure per IRAS, verified July 2026. See the tax advisory practice.
An international association of independent accounting firms with more than 140 members and over 20,000 professionals, which describes itself as the fourth largest accounting association in the world, per leaglobal.com, verified July 2026. Medora is a Singapore member firm, and its Managing Director has served as LEA Global Asia Pacific chairman since 2026.
Singapore's central bank and financial services regulator. For the readers of this site, MAS matters chiefly as the administrator of the fund tax incentive schemes used by family offices, Sections 13O and 13U, and as co-author, with ACRA, of the Variable Capital Company framework.
A solvent winding up. The shareholders resolve to close the company, the debts are paid in full, and the liquidator distributes the remaining assets to members. An MVL is the orderly exit for a structure that has served its purpose, and it turns on the company actually being able to pay its debts in full. See the insolvency and forensics practice.
The Singapore ministry that regulates employment and work passes, including the Employment Pass and the ONE Pass. MOM publishes the qualifying salary scales and the COMPASS criteria, and its published rules are the definitive source for any pass decision; the criteria in force at application govern.
MOM's top-tier work pass for senior movers. It requires a fixed monthly salary of at least S$30,000, earned over the twelve months before application from an established overseas employer or committed by a Singapore-based employer for a role starting within six months, with an alternative route for outstanding achievement. Per MOM, verified July 2026. Context sits in the EP and immigration hub.
The Income Tax Act fund tax incentive schemes most used by Singapore family offices, under which specified income from designated investments is exempt from tax. Under current published MAS conditions, Section 13O requires at least S$20 million in designated investments and two investment professionals; Section 13U requires S$50 million and three, in each case with at least one professional from outside the family. Verified July 2026; the current MAS conditions govern. The schemes are compared in the family office practice.
Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (International), the framework applied by many Singapore-incorporated companies. SFRS(I) standards are equivalent to IFRS Accounting Standards as issued by the IASB, which is why a Singapore subsidiary reporting to an IFRS parent can usually align its statutory accounts with the group framework. Framework selection sits with the audit and assurance practice.
The management entity in a Singapore family office structure: it employs the professionals who manage a single family's investible assets, which are typically held in a separate fund vehicle. The SFO is the operating heart of the arrangement, and the fund it manages is what a Section 13O or 13U incentive attaches to.
The annual independent examination of a company's financial statements required by Singapore company law, resulting in an audit opinion signed by an ACRA-registered public accountant. A Singapore company is audited unless it qualifies for the small company audit exemption, and many foreign-owned entities are audited voluntarily even where exempt. See the audit and assurance practice.
The pricing of transactions between related entities: intercompany sales, services, royalties, and financing. Singapore applies the arm's length principle, and IRAS sets documentation requirements that depend on revenue and the scale of related-party transactions. For a foreign-owned subsidiary, transfer pricing is usually the first tax question a group structure raises. See the tax advisory practice.
A Singapore corporate structure for investment funds, launched by MAS and ACRA in January 2020. A VCC permits flexible issue and redemption of shares and payment of dividends from capital, and can be standalone or an umbrella with segregated sub-funds; an umbrella VCC files a single corporate income tax return with IRAS. Verified July 2026. Structuring detail sits with the family office practice.
Singapore tax withheld at source on certain payments made to non-residents, under Section 45 of the Income Tax Act, with rates depending on the character of the payment and any treaty relief available. For foreign-owned groups it is the recurring question on interest, royalties, and service fees flowing offshore. See the tax advisory practice.
eXtensible Business Reporting Language, the structured digital format in which many Singapore-incorporated companies file financial statements with ACRA. The scope of a company's XBRL filing depends on ACRA's current filing requirements for its entity type. Filing obligations are mapped as part of audit planning.
