Real People, Real Difference

Guidance Before Incorporating Your Company

Professional and corporate services offered by ContactOne offer excellent cost savings for business owners who wish to outsource their support function activities to us.

In addition, check out our incorporation packages and integrated service packages for an comprehensive suite of services to cater to your business needs.

You are encouraged to take time to browse through our Checklist Before Incorporation so that you are aware of the incorporation pre-requisites and conditions.

Contact us for a tailored fee quote for your business now if you have other matters besides registering a company. You can also fill in the online Service Fee Quote form and our staff will get back to you within 2 working days to assist you in arriving at a quote for the services you are interested in.

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Category Guidance

Company Name & Principal Business Activities (SSIC codes)
ContactOne recommends that you provide us with a minimum of 3 proposed Company names for your new Company. Please note that the following are not ALLOWED:
  • Undesirable names
  • Names which are similar to a sole-proprietorship / partnership name or to that of any other company, corporation, limited liability partnership or limited partnership
  • Names which are similar to a name being reserved under the Business Registration Act, the Companies Act, the Limited Liability Partnerships Act or Limited Partnerships Act
  • Names which the Minister has directed the Registrar not to accept for registration e.g. Temasek
  • Names should not contain “National” or “of Singapore” unless justified.
Please note that each of the following common descriptive word is considered as similar with those mentioned in the same line:
  • Trading; trade; marketing; enterprise
  • Investment; holding
  • Construction; building; builder; build
  • Contractor; renovation contractor
  • Systems; solutions; information technology; I.T.; technologies
  • Travels; travelling; traveller
  • Movers; transports; logistics
  • Freight forwarders; freight forwarding, express.

Graphical words and phrases, including names of countries and places are not considered to be sufficiently distinguishing or descriptive. Eg. "ABC Trading" is similar to "ABC Trading International" / "ABC Trading Singapore", etc. Conversely, "XYZ South-East Asia" is similar to "XYZ", etc.

Punctuation marks are not considered to be sufficiently distinguishing or descriptive. Eg. "Super! Trading" is similar to "Super Trading" "Onceuponatime”" is similar to "Once-upon-a-time"

Please check for similar company and business names, whether the proposed name is for a company or a business. Eg. "ABC Pte Ltd" is similar to "ABC Trading", etc. "XYZ Enterprise" is similar to "XYZ Inc." / "XYZ Pte Ltd"/ "XYZ Sdn. Bhd.", etc.

The typical approval time for a Company name is application is usually immediate. However If your Company Name and/or SSIC Code used are listed below, the approval time will most likely be extended to up to 14 working days subject to approval from relevant referral authorities:

  • Names and activities involving “Architect”, “Architectural Services”
  • Proposed activities involving “Real Estate Agent” or "Real Estate Agency”
  • Names and activities involving “Physical Rubber”, ”Commodity futures” e.g. "Rubber trading", "Commodity brokers", "Commodity Futures Exchange", "Commodity / Commodities Exchange", "Futures brokers", "Commodity Futures", "Clearing Exchange / House / House Exchange"
  • Names containing "Military" or "Defence"
  • Names containing "Academy", "College", "Institute", “Institution", "University"; and "National", "Singapore"
  • Names containing "Association of Southeast Asian Nations" or "ASEAN"
  • Names and activities containing or involving "Islam", "Muslim", "Halal" and their derivatives
  • Names containing "Merlion", "eMerlion" and activities involving "Tourist", "Travel". Entities wishing to carry out tourism related activities could register for their license with the Singapore Travel Exchange
  • Names and activities containing or involving “Law”, "Law Corporation", "LLC", “Legal”, "Lawyer(s)", "Advocate(s)", "Solicitor(s)" will be referred to the Law Society.
  • The terms "Clinic", "Medical", "Medical Hall", etc and not to be used by Chinese Physicians. But applicants may use "Chinese Medical Hall" or "Traditional Medical Hall"

SSIC Codes (Singapore Standard Industrial Classification) subjected to referral authorities’approval include:

  • 68201 (Real estate agencies and valuation services)
  • 68209 (Real estate activities on a fee or contract basis nec.)
  • 66124 (Commodity and futures brokers and dealers)

  • 71111 (Architectural services)

  • 87021 (Residential care services for the elderly)
  • 87022 (Residential care services for the children e.g. Children's Homes, Orphanages)
  • 88913 (Social services for children and youths)
  • 88919 (Social services without accommodation for children, youths and families nec.)
  • 88101 (Social services for the elderly)
  • 88102 (Social services for persons with disabilities)

  • 85211 (Secondary schools)
  • 85212 (Junior colleges and centralised pre-university institutes)
  • 85213 (International and foreign system schools - secondary)
  • 85214 (Schools for the handicapped and educationally sub-normal - secondary)
  • 85221 (Technical and vocational education)
  • 85223 (Specialised trade schools)
  • 85301 (Polytechnics)
  • 85302 (Universities)
  • 85303 (Teachers' training institutes)
  • 85304 (Commercial schools offering higher education programmes)
  • 85494 (Academic tutoring services)

  • 20299 (Manufacture of other chemical products nec.)
  • 25200 (Manufacture and repair of weapons and ammunition, e.g. ordance and accessories)
  • 50011 (Sightseeing cruise services)

  • 52299 (Other transportation support activities nec)
  • 79102 (Travel agencies and tour operators - mainly outbound)
  • 79103 (Ticketing agencies - including airline, tour bus and cruise ship)

  • 69100 (Legal activities)

    • Please note that the above list is non-exhaustive. Other SSIC codes not listed above may also be subjected to further name checks prior to approval of application.

    Share Capital / Paid Up Capital / Initial Capital
    The minimum Share Capital of a Singapore Company is S$1.Share capital refers to equity committed by the shareholders to the Company.
    The equity committed creates a liability from the shareholders towards the Company, and hence, the usage of "Private Limited" Company. The shareholders' liabilities are completely discharged once their share capital commitment is fully paid to the Company. 

    Paid up capital refers to equity already paid/injected into the Company.
    Any remaining unpaid capital will be a liability of the shareholders towards the Company.

    In layman terms for new start-ups, share capital represents money you will be giving to your Company. The money will be owned by the Company and no longer by you. (However you still own the Company based on your proportion of shares held.).
    Share capital can be used for ongoing company expenses incurred in the running of the business. You do not need to maintain the declared amount in your Company Bank Account. 
    However, do take not that most banks in Singapore require you to maintain a minimum monthly average balance in your Company account (bank charges apply for balances below the stipulated average balance).
    Share capital is represented by      Number of Shares Issued      x      Issue Price Per Share

    Typically, issue price per share is set at S$1 for most Private Limited Companies. However, this does not restrict you to issue each share of your Company at $10 / $100 / $0.10 during incorporation.

    Example 1 : A $10,000 share capital is issued by way of 10,000 shares of $1 per share.
    Example 2 : A $10,000 share capital is issued by way of 100 shares of $100 per share.
    Example 3 : A $10,000 share capital is issued by way of 100,000 shares of $0.10 per share.

    Particulars of Shareholders and / or Directors
    You will need to confirm the role of the personnel involved. You will need to finalize whether each of the personnel involved is:
    • a Director only; (A Director runs the company and assume the strategic and management functions of the company)
    • a Shareholder only; or (A Shareholder is purely an owner of the Company and is not involved in the runnings of the Company)
    • as Both Director and Shareholder. (Essentially an owner-manager role whereby the owner is also the operator of the business)
    • For each shareholder, please indicate the number of shares allotted or the percentage of shares allotted.
    Key requirements
    • A Company must have a minimum of 1 director and 1 shareholder.
    • A shareholder may or may not be appointed as a director of the Company.
    • A corporate shareholder cannot be appointed as a director of the Company as a director can only be a natural person.
    • Every Singapore Company is required to have a minimum of 1 resident director.
    • A director must be above the age of 18, is not an undischarged bankrupt, and is not prevented by the Court or any rulings to act as a Director for a Singapore Company.

    Resident Director
    • A Resident Director can be a Singapore Citizen, Singapore Permanent Resident, Entre-Pass Holder or Employment Pass Holder who is ordinarily residing in Singapore.
    • For an Employment Pass Holder, you can only be a Silent Director of the Company (ie, you cannot be involved in the business operations of the Company)

    For Local Residents, we will require the following information from you:
    • A copy of Your NRIC for Citizens and Permanent Residents, or Employment Pass for EP/EntrePass Holders
    • Residential Address in Singapore
    • Mobile number and Email Address

    For Foreigners, we will require the following information from you:
    • A copy of Your Passport
    • Proof of Residential Address overseas (ie, Utilities bill, Credit Card Statements etc)

    For all local residents/foreigners in Singapore during the incorporation period, we will require your presence in our office prior to the actual incorporation. Kindly bring along your original Identification documents as listed above.

      For foreigners/local residents who are overseas during the incorporation period, we will require original notarized copies of your identification documents (NRIC / EP for Local Residents or Passports for Foreigners) and Authorization letter for incorporating a Company to be sent to us before the actual incorporation takes place.


      For a corporate shareholder, we will require the following documents:
      • Minutes of Resolution approving of the incorporation of a Subsidiary/investment in a Pte. Ltd. Company
      • ROC Document of intended Corporate Shareholder
      • Business Profile of Corporate Shareholder
      • All Corporate documents should be appropriately certified by the Directors of the Corporate Shareholder.


    Company Registered Address
    Every Company must have a Singapore Registered Address.
    Every Company is required to have a Registered Address whereby all official letters and correspondences will be forwarded to.
    You may select incorporation packages with bundled registered address service if you do not have a registered address for your business at the moment.

    Company Secretary
    ContactOne will provide a Company Secretary for your Company for all Company incorporation packages listed.Every Company is required to appoint a Company Secretary. The primary role of a Company Secretary is to assist the Directors of the Company in meeting the compliance requirements mandated. This is also applicable to Dormant Companies.