BizFile

Prior to 13 Jan 2003, if you wanted to register a business, you had to go down to the Registry of Companies and Businesses, fill up a form and wait in line to submit the application to register the business. You had to wait 24 hours for the business name to be approved, and then endure the queue in another line to pay the fee for business registration before you could collect the paper certificate.

That whole time consuming process is a thing of the past. Now, registering a company or business is a simple matter of point and click, online filing via BizFile (www.bizfile.gov.sg) either from the comfort of your own home or office or from a Self-Help kiosk at the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) office. The time and cost savings are substantial for the customers as there is now no need to join a long queue. As for ACRA, the savings from implementing the online system have been passed on to the customer in the form of a S$50 reduction in fees for new business registration and a S$5 reduction in renewal fees. The fee for incorporation of companies is now a flat fee of S$300 compared to the old charges that range between S$1,200 to S$35,000 depending on the size of the company. With BizFile, all you need is your ID No and SingPass and you can do one of the following:

• Incorporate a company or register a business
• Make changes to your company/business details e.g., change of owner, address, nature of business.
• Close your company or business
• Purchase information on registered companies and businesses

The above list is not exhaustive and there are plans to bring more value-added services online to the BizFile website. What's so convenient about BizFile is that you get instant approval for your company/business name so setting up a business or company is that much easier.

• Convenient - filing can be done at home or from the office.
• Simple - the website is user-friendly and easy-to-use.
• Available - the service is available 24/7 and is transaction based.
• Immediate - all changes, filing and information is updated immediately. Businesses and companies can also be registered immediately.
• Cost Savings - users could submit the transactions on their own without engaging the services of professional firms or the service bureau.

If the customer does not have a computer or Internet access in his home or office, he could approach include professional firms (lawyers, accountants, and chartered secretaries), or the service bureau to submit the transaction on his behalf. He could also call at ACRA and use the Self Help Kiosks to submit the transaction.