5 Questions To Ask Corporate Secretary Service Providers

Are you planning to start a company in Singapore? If you want to incorporate it, then, according to the Singapore Companies Act, you’re required to appoint a corporate secretary within six months of your company’s inception. Also, by law, you are not allowed to leave the job vacant for longer than half a year or six months at any time.

With that said, there are many companies offering company secretary services in Singapore. However, because of this, choosing one can be difficult.  As such, it’s important to look through the set of criteria and determine which corporate secretary service provider is able to offer transparent and efficient services.

To do that, one good way to start is by asking the right questions. Below are examples of five questions that you can start with to assess their renown.

Are your staff qualified?

It doesn’t matter if your company is a startup or looking to go public. The best decision is always to work with companies with the highest qualifications available – this includes company secretary service providers.

At the minimum, a company secretary candidate should have the following qualifications:

• Prior experience of at least 3 years as a secretary of a company
• Recognised by the Legal Profession Act
• Registered under the Accountants Act as a public accountant
• Membership at the following organisations:
  • Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
  • Chartered Institute of Secretaries Singapore
  • Association of International Accountants (Singapore Branch)
  • Institute of Company Accountants, Singapore

Keep in mind that these are just minimum qualifications – always go for those with better qualifications. This is because the qualification helps guarantee that the staff can handle the secretarial duties in private and public firms.

Are you aware of all local laws and regulations?

Among the many duties of a company secretary includes making sure that the company is compliant with local laws, tax filing, the arrangement of AGMs and EGMs, and on-time company records filing. Also, if your company operates in other countries, the secretary must know if this has any impact on local proceedings.

What kind of solutions and services do you offer?

The more non-core functions you can outsource to a single service provider, the better. This helps establish an intimate relationship between both companies that can serve your startup or soon-to-be-public company better.

Essential functions include financial accounting, tax filing, company payroll processing, and more. If a service provider can handle all those (and more), that’s a good sign.

Will my company be assigned a dedicated account manager or a dedicated corporate secretary?

It’s worth paying the premium for having a single point of contact for your company, especially since many of the duties handled by a corporate secretary are time-sensitive.

Can you grow with my company?

Your company won’t stay as it is right now – it will grow eventually. This is why it’s crucial to work with service providers that can evolve and provide beyond what you first availed of when you first started. Hence, why it’s a good idea to look for a provider who has had previous experience handling companies who’ve gone public or evolved their corporate structure.

Conclusion

In short, the best company secretary services in Singapore help you focus on what your business needs: to grow. Looking for a service provider with a proven track record and a full suite of corporate services can help make sure that your company stays compliant, saves money, and is adequately organised to help streamline important processes. This can help add to your company’s bottom line and ensure future growth.

With OneStop Professional Services, gain access to all the corporate services you’ll need to grow. Our specialised services include corporate financing, financial outsourcing, auditing, and accounting, and more.