Many entrepreneurs and business officials meet two important service providers; one is a company secretary, and the other is an accounting firm. Both play a significant role in assisting the operations of the business; their functions are mostly misinterpreted interchangeably.

It is important to understand the difference between an accountant and a company secretary since it is significant to ensure financial management, proper compliance, and efficiency of the business. In this blog, we will explore the key differences between a corporate secretary and an accounting firm in Singapore.

Role of a Corporate Secretary

The job of a company secretary is to meet the statutory obligations under the Singapore Companies Act. It is a requirement for every company in Singapore to appoint a corporate secretary within 06 months of company incorporation with ACRA. Moreover, the job of a company secretary tends to focus on corporate governance and legal compliance. The key responsibilities are:

• Maintenance of statutory dataUpdating the information of shareholders and directors of a companyFiling the annual returns with ACRAMonitoring the deadlines of regulatory compliance

• Advising the shareholders and directors on better compliance

• In other words, we can say that a company secretary helps ensure the smooth operations of the business within the legal framework.

Role of an Accounting Firm

The job of an accounting firm tends to focus on financial reporting and the health of a company. The accounting firm offers typical services, such as:

• Maintenance of financial records and bookkeeping

• Financial statements and their preparation

• Planning and financial advisory

• GST filing and registration

• Computation of tax with IRAS

• It is important to notice that the job of a company secretary is to deal with governance and compliance, while the accounting firm ensures tax-related matters and financial data.

Company Secretary v/s Accounting Firm.

It is important to understand that the difference between a company secretary and an accounting firm becomes easier when it comes to comparison, such as:

• The nature of the role reflects that the company secretary has to focus on legal and compliance matters, whereas accounting firms focus on tax and financial matters.

• Discussing the regulatory requirement, the company secretary has to follow the rules under Singapore law, whereas the accounting firm is not bound to follow them. It mentions that appointing a company secretary is important for all companies.

• It is the main responsibility of a company secretary to submit the annual filing with ACRA, maintain the statutory register, and help ensure regulatory compliance, whereas the main responsibility of an accounting firm is to prepare the financial data, manage the bookkeeping, and handle taxation filing.

• Discussing the governing authority, the company secretary has to work closely with ACRA, while an accounting firm has to work with IRAS at the start.

• The company secretary has to focus on legal obligations and corporate governance, whereas an accounting firm has to focus on financial reporting and performance.

Can Accounting Firm Offer Company Secretarial Services?

Yes, many accounting companies can offer company secretarial services as a portion of a customized solution.

It means that companies can get engaged with a single service provider for:

• Accounting and bookkeeping

• Filing of tax and advisory

• Company secretarial compliance

• However, it is to note that the company secretarial services must fulfil the legal requirements under the Companies Act, Singapore, even with a customization package.

Which Service Does Your Company Need?

The straight answer is: both. It is noticeable that every company in Singapore has to appoint a company secretary within 06 months of incorporation of a business to comply with legal requirements.

The common eye for startups and SMEs is to:

• Engage any accounting company for financial management

• Outsource the corporate secretarial services

Conclusion

At the end, it can be concluded that the comparison of a company secretary and an accounting firm illustrates two different functions within a company. The focus of a company secretary is to follow regulatory compliance and governance, whereas the accounting firms have to manage taxation matters and financial records.

It is important to understand the difference between a company secretary and accounting firms that enable the companies’ owners to have better decision-making and help ensure the financial and legal perspective of their business for better management.

Call to Inquire If you want to incorporate a company in Singapore or already have incorporated a business in Singapore and want to engage with a reliable company secretarial service along with a professional accounting company that can assist you to meet regulatory requirements, we, at FAST ACCOUNTING, are here to help you with company secretarial services, so you can focus on your core business operations.