The network covers Singapore within the South-East Asia region. Payslips there are drawn up in SGD, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Singapour, Jurong, Tampines, Woodlands.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In Singapore, running payroll on behalf of third parties is reserved by law to no registered profession: any company may take it on. The absence of a legal barrier shifts the checking onto you, and that is why the network itself verifies the registration, the tax and social security standing and the insurance cover of every firm before listing it.
Aucune licence n'est requise pour établir la paie d'un tiers à Singapour. Sont réglementés l'audit légal (Public Accountant inscrit à l'ACRA) et, depuis le Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, la fourniture de services de secrétariat de société et de dépôt d'actes. Si le candidat propose ces derniers services en plus de la paie, exigez sa licence CSP.
From a European standpoint Singapore is a third country with no automatic social security coordination. The consequence is gentler than elsewhere, however: the compulsory social scheme, the Central Provident Fund, applies only to citizens and permanent residents. An expatriate employee on a work pass does not contribute, which greatly simplifies payroll for an international team.
The Singapore dollar is the currency of pay, and its management gives a euro area employer a reasonably predictable wage bill. English is the language of the administration, of contracts and of payslips, alongside Mandarin, Malay and Tamil as official languages. A French employer therefore faces no language barrier, which is rare in Asia.
No licence is needed to run payroll for a third party. What is regulated is statutory audit, reserved to Public Accountants registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), and, since the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, the provision of company secretarial and filing services.
Immigration is the central operational constraint in Singapore, ahead of tax or social security considerations. Each pass category, based on pay level and qualifications, confers different rights and carries quotas or employer levies. Recruitment must also comply with the prior job advertising obligations, which are genuinely enforced.
Setting up usually means a Singapore company, which ACRA incorporates quickly but which requires at least one resident director. That residence requirement is the first point to resolve, ahead even of the hiring plan.
On the contract, the law requires a written statement of key employment terms. An itemised payslip is mandatory with prescribed minimum content, as is the keeping of employee records: these are formal duties the authorities do check.
Singapore payroll involves no withholding of income tax on wages: the employee is taxed on assessment, and the employer files an annual individual income statement with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). Central Provident Fund contributions concern only citizens and permanent residents.
Termination deserves particular attention where the employee is foreign, because the obligation falls on the employer rather than the individual: the employer must initiate the departure tax clearance procedure with IRAS and withhold monies owed until it is completed.
The network asks 9 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in Singapore. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 9 documents, 5 are required of every applicant and 6 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months. 1 of these documents exist only in Singapore and have no equivalent in the common core of the network.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACRA Business Profile (BizFile) et Certificate Confirming Incorporation of CompanyACRA Business Profile and Certificate Confirming Incorporation Le Business Profile est le document de référence : il porte l'UEN (Unique Entity Number), la date de constitution, le capital, les administrateurs, les actionnaires et le statut. Le certificat de constitution ne périme pas, mais il ne renseigne pas sur l'état actuel : réclamez toujours un Business Profile récent. | Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), portail BizFile | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Unique Entity Number (UEN) et GST registration notification letterUnique Entity Number and GST registration notification letter L'UEN sert d'identifiant fiscal unique. L'enregistrement à la GST n'est obligatoire qu'au-delà de 1 million SGD de chiffre d'affaires annuel : un cabinet de taille moyenne peut légitimement ne pas être enregistré. Le registre GST de l'IRAS est consultable en ligne. | Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) ; ACRA pour l'attribution de l'UEN | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Notice of Assessment (NOA) et Statement of Account IRASNotice of Assessment and IRAS Statement of Account Point à connaître : Singapour ne délivre pas de certificat de régularité fiscale pour les sociétés. L'expression « tax clearance » y désigne uniquement la procédure de solde de tout compte fiscal d'un salarié étranger qui quitte le pays (formulaire IR21) — n'employez surtout pas ce terme, il crée systématiquement un malentendu. La preuve utile est le dernier Notice of Assessment accompagné d'un Statement of Account sans solde dû. | Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| CPF Employer registration et CPF Contribution History StatementCPF employer registration and contribution history statement Le CPF n'est dû que pour les citoyens singapouriens et les résidents permanents : un cabinet dont l'effectif est entièrement composé de titulaires d'Employment Pass n'aura pas de compte CPF actif, ce qui n'est pas une anomalie. Demandez alors les relevés MOM (Ministry of Manpower) des quotas et permis de travail. | Central Provident Fund Board (CPF Board) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Professional Indemnity Insurance certificateProfessional indemnity insurance certificate Aucune obligation légale générale. Elle est en revanche imposée aux cabinets d'audit enregistrés auprès de l'ACRA et aux titulaires de certaines licences. À exiger contractuellement pour un prestataire de paie. | Assureur agréé par la Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| Chartered Accountant of Singapore (CA Singapore) / Public Accountant registered with ACRAChartered Accountant (Singapore) or ACRA-registered Public Accountant La paie n'est pas une activité réservée à Singapour et n'exige aucune licence. Seul l'audit légal l'est, via l'inscription comme Public Accountant auprès de l'ACRA. Le titre CA (Singapore) de l'ISCA reste le meilleur repère de compétence pour la partie comptable. | Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) ; ACRA pour l'inscription des Public Accountants (Accountants Act) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| Corporate Service Provider licence / Registered Filing Agent registration (Corporate Service Providers Act 2024)Corporate Service Provider licence Le Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, entré en application en 2025, soumet à licence toute entité fournissant des services de secrétariat de société ou de dépôt d'actes auprès de l'ACRA pour le compte d'autrui. La paie seule n'est pas visée, mais la plupart des cabinets singapouriens qui proposent la paie proposent aussi le corporate secretarial : si c'est le cas du candidat, la licence CSP devient obligatoire et doit être vérifiée sur le registre de l'ACRA. | Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| NRIC, FIN or passport copy of a director, plus proof of a locally resident directorDirector's NRIC, FIN or passport, and evidence of a locally resident director Toute société singapourienne doit compter au moins un administrateur résidant ordinairement à Singapour (Companies Act). Le Business Profile le fait apparaître : vérifiez-le, un défaut sur ce point fragilise la société. | ACRA ; Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) pour les documents d'identité | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Appointment of a Data Protection Officer and registration of the DPO's business contact informationDPO appointment and registration of DPO business contact information Le Personal Data Protection Act 2012 impose à toute organisation de désigner un Data Protection Officer et de rendre publiques ses coordonnées professionnelles. Demandez au candidat le nom et le courriel de son DPO, et faites-lui confirmer que les coordonnées sont bien déposées auprès de l'ACRA. | Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) ; enregistrement via le portail BizFile de l'ACRA | No expiry Required | Official website |
Singapore is administratively very legible: the ACRA business profile and IRAS statements can be ordered online within minutes and establish most of what needs to be known about a company.
The main trap is linguistic. The expression tax clearance does not denote a company compliance certificate, as a European reader would assume, but the procedure applying when a foreign employee leaves. Ask for a Notice of Assessment and a statement of account, never a tax clearance certificate.
The absence of Central Provident Fund contributions in a firm's records is not suspicious where its workforce is expatriate: it is simply the normal consequence of the scheme's own scope.
The Corporate Service Provider licensing regime, in force since 2025, is the real seriousness filter for firms that also sell company secretarial services.
Singapour est administrativement très lisible : l'ACRA Business Profile et le relevé IRAS suffisent à établir l'essentiel, et tous deux se commandent en ligne en quelques minutes. Le piège linguistique majeur est le terme « tax clearance », qui à Singapour ne désigne pas une attestation de régularité de la société mais la procédure IR21 applicable au départ d'un salarié étranger : demandez un Notice of Assessment et un Statement of Account, jamais un tax clearance certificate. Second point : l'absence de cotisations CPF n'est pas suspecte si l'effectif est expatrié. Enfin, le nouveau régime de licence des Corporate Service Providers, entré en application en 2025, est le vrai filtre de sérieux pour les cabinets multiservices.
The network opens 3 partner slots in Singapore, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in Singapore has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
In Singapore payroll is unrestricted, so we judge on other grounds. The ACRA business profile, employer registration with the CPF Board and IRAS statements form the documentary base. Status as a Chartered Accountant of Singapore, awarded by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants, or as a Public Accountant registered with ACRA, marks out a serious firm. Where the candidate also offers company secretarial work, the Corporate Service Provider licence is required. Appointment of a Data Protection Officer, mandatory locally, is verified.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in Singapore yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in SingaporeMobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in Singapore.