The document describes ACRA's Seamless Filing project which streamlines the process for Singapore companies to file statutory returns. It reduces preparation time from 9 hours to 35 minutes. Accounting software generates draft filings which companies can review and submit through a single authentication to both ACRA and IRAS. This promotes ease of transaction with government agencies and data quality by standardizing required data fields.

1. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited.
Seamless Filing
- Compliance made fuss-free and simple for
Singapore companies
Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority
31 Mar 2021
Eddy Edzwan
CRF Innovation Award Ceremony

2. AGENDA
 Project Details
• Problem Statement
• Development Journey
• Impact
 New Filing Process
• Filing of Financial Statement in simplified XBRL format
• Filing of Annual Return

3. 1
Project Details

4. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 4
Problem Statement
3
3
Companies taking up to 9 hours to manually prepare and file statutory
returns
Financial
Statement
Tax Filing
Use
BizFinx
Prep
tool to
prepare
XBRL
financial
data
Go to
BizFinx
Portal3 to
validate
& upload
XBRL
financial
data
Go to
BizFile+
Portal to
file
Annual
Returns
(AR)
 44,000 companies file statutory returns with ACRA and the tax authority in Singapore
 It can take up to 9 hours to prepare them

5. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited.
 Companies auto-generate the returns in and file
seamlessly through their ‘natural systems’
 Reduce compliance burden
5
Development Journey
Accounting software
generates financial
and corporate data
Conversion
Interface
Generates draft
submissions for
ACRA/ IRAS
2. Send draft
filings for
companies’
confirmation
1. Integrate filing
requirements into
accounting software

6. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 6
Development Journey
Creating ACRA’s first transactional APIs
Streamlining the number of data fields required to be filed
Co-creating with private sector on accounting software solutions
Taking a whole-of-government perspective in creating a
seamless filing experience for companies – Joint ACRA-IRAS
collaboration.
Apr
2019
Project
commenced

7. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 7
Impact
Aug
2020
Launch of Seamless Filing
Pilot for Filing of Annual
Return & Financial Statement
Extending seamless filing to more
statutory filings in partnership
with private sector
Increased
productivity for small
companies
Reduction in
preparation time from 9
hours to 35 minutes
“This is truly forward-
thinking, as it reduces
compliance burden and
increases the efficiency of
businesses to focus on
growth.” customer feedback
Promote ease of
transaction with
government agencies
Data harmonised between
agencies
Single, streamlined
authentication process
“Being able to submit the
necessary returns to both ACRA
and IRAS using one system
alleviates the hassle of having to
log in to two different systems.”
customer feedback
Increased data
quality by
streamlining data
fields required
Capture more common
data filed by SMEs
Enabling a more
complete comparison
of company’s financial
health
Next
steps

8. 2
New Filing Process

9. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 9
Filing of Financial Statement in
simplified XBRL format
A user interface will present
the data elements that have
been mapped and will be
filed with ACRA
1. Non-financial information

10. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 10
Filing of Financial Statement in
simplified XBRL format
2. Financial Information
A user interface will present
the data elements that have
been mapped and will be
filed with ACRA

11. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 11
Filing of Financial Statement in
simplified XBRL format
After the user has reviewed the
information, he/she can proceed
to perform the validation, upload
& submission
Once completed, the user will
proceed with filing of Annual
Return

12. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 12
Filing of Annual Return
A user will be able to trigger the
process of filing annual return via
the software

13. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 13
Filing of Annual Return
With proper authorisation through SingPass1
Singpass is a Singapore resident’s trusted digital identity providing access to perform secure transactions via digital services
1

14. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 14
Filing of Annual Return
Once authorised, the software will
prepare a draft annual return with
pre-populated information for the
user to use in lodgement
190800004G ARAPI XBRL TESTING10

15. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 15
Filing of Annual Return
After completing the preparation of the annual
return, the user will be able to trigger a filing
to ACRA

16. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 16
Filing of Annual Return
After verifying the
information regarding
declarations, the user
will confirm and
proceed with filing

17. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 17
Filing of Annual Return
The filing fee and a document
containing the information received and
to be filed will be displayed for user’s
confirmation
If user accepts, he/she may
proceed with payment

18. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 18
Filing of Annual Return
User will be brought to
ACRA’s payment portal to
make payment

19. Copyright © 2021 Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. 19
Filing of Annual Return
User will be brought to
ACRA’s payment portal to
make payment – Filing is
successful

20. www.facebook.com/SG.ACRA
Twitter.com/ACRA_SG
www.youtube.com
Search: Acra
Thank you
www.acra.gov.sg