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To change a Singapore company's registered address, update the Office address on the Entity information page in Bizfile. ACRA, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, charges no fee and processes the change immediately. The deadline is 14 days. Everything here was checked on .
What does the change cost?
ACRA's guide to updating entity information lists the fee as free, with immediate processing. That covers the entity name, email address, business activities, registered office address and the address where registers are kept. Some provider pages mention a filing fee for this change. ACRA's own page does not show one, so treat such figures with care and check Bizfile's payment screen before you pay.
What can cost money is the address itself. A virtual or serviced address is rented from a provider, and you pay that provider. Prices vary by provider and ACRA does not set them. See virtual office in Singapore and registered address for how those services work.
What rules does the new address have to meet?
The rule is the same one applied when the company was set up. ACRA requires:
- a Singapore address;
- open and accessible to the public for at least three hours on each business day;
- no need for the business to operate from it.
ACRA says breaking the opening hours rule may bring a fine of up to S$5,000. This is where ACRA and others deliver notices and legal papers, so a mailroom that does not accept post causes real problems.
Who files and how?
A director, secretary or a corporate service provider files through Bizfile. Log in as a business user with Corppass. If you use a provider, it selects your company from its own profile. The step by step list above shows the clicks. Once submitted, you get a confirmation on screen and a notification in the Bizfile inbox. Save both.
When must you file?
Within 14 days from the date of the change. Foreign companies have 30 days. Directors and secretaries are the ones responsible for reporting. ACRA's late lodgement table for company filings shows S$50 if you are within three months late and S$200 after that. It lists registered office changes as an example of covered filings. If you are already late, file right away rather than waiting.
Should you update the registers address?
Companies keep a register of members and, for local companies, a register of debenture holders. If those registers sit anywhere other than the registered office, ACRA wants that address on file too. On the Entity information page, choose Registers address and Edit, tick the registers you are updating and enter the new address. You can do more than one in a single transaction.
What else needs updating after the move?
ACRA's record is one of several. Go through this list within the same week:
- The bank, so statements reach the new place.
- IRAS, so tax letters are not sent to an old address.
- CPF, if you are an employer.
- MOM, for work pass holders on your payroll.
- Your website, invoices, contracts and business cards.
- Any trade licence or sector permit tied to the old address.
If the move also changes your accountant or secretary, read corporate secretary and the ACRA business profile page to see how the new address will appear to the public.
What goes wrong most often?
- Moving first and filing later. The 14 days run from the date of the change. Moving on the first of the month and filing on the twentieth already counts as late.
- Picking an address that is closed. If nobody is there for three hours on business days, you break the rule even if the postcode is valid on Bizfile.
- Forgetting that notices go to the old place. ACRA, IRAS and the courts send formal letters to the registered office. Letters sent before the update reaches them can land at an address you no longer control, so ask the previous landlord or provider to forward post for a few months.
- Leaving the registers behind. If your records and registers stayed with a previous provider, collect them and change the registers address, or keep them at the new office.
- Mixing up the director's own address. A director's residential address is filed on their personal record, not the company's. See Bizfile for the separate update page.
When is a provider useful?
If you are switching to a virtual or serviced address, the provider usually fits the address to the opening hours rule and may file the Bizfile change on your behalf. If you already own the premises and a director can log in with Corppass, the filing takes a few minutes and costs nothing at ACRA. Weigh the provider's fee against the time you save. Ask any provider for its price in writing and ask who keeps the company's registers after the move.
Is a business address the same as a registered office?
Not always. A shop, a warehouse and a home can be where you trade, and you can still register a different place as the official office. People searching for this topic often land on ICA pages about personal NRIC addresses. Those are a different filing for a different record and are not a company matter.
Independent guide
SingaporeCompanySetupGuide.com is an independent guide. We are not ACRA and we do not rent addresses. If you want a provider to supply an address and file the change, use the quote form on this page. We pass your request to suitable providers, who reply with their own prices.
Sources
- ACRA, Updating an entity's information, https://www.acra.gov.sg/resources/guides-forms/updating-entitys-information (fee, steps, 14 and 30 day deadlines, registers address)
- ACRA, Submitting your application to ACRA, https://www.acra.gov.sg/how-to-guides/setting-up-a-local-company/submitting-your-application-to-acra (three hour opening rule, S$5,000 fine)
- ACRA, Registered office address, https://www.acra.gov.sg/how-to-guides/setting-up-a-local-company/registered-office-address (office need not be the business location)
- ACRA, Late lodgement penalty, https://www.acra.gov.sg/how-to-guides/offences-prosecutions-and-penalties-for-companies/late-lodgement-fees-other-than-for-late-lodgement-of-annual-return (penalty amounts)
