Business Profile

Business Profile

Business Profile is an electronic document issued by Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority(“ACRA”) and business owners will need it often for business purposes.

This electronic document summarises basic information available in ACRA’s records about the Singapore-registered entity and bears no signature or stamp of ACRA. Basic information includes registration number, entity name, business activities, date of registration, ownership / directorship details and charge information about the entity as of the date of issuance of the Business Profile. This document is equivalent to the Certificate of Incumbency, Company house data, Master data etc. in other countries. It is also sometimes referred to as ACRA instant printout.

When would I need it?

The Business Profile is a useful document and comes in handy in the following situations (but not limited to):

• Bank account opening under your business entity’s name
• Application of business licenses and permits
• Performing checks on potential business partners
• Finding out more about a company, sole-proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited partnership or public accounting firm / corporation.

Information provided in a Business Profile

Depending on the entity type, the information provided in a Business Profile may differ. Below is the list of information provided in a Business Profile for each entity type:

• Sole-proprietorships / Partnerships
  • Name of sole-proprietorship / partnership firm and date of change of name (if applicable)
  • Registration number (UEN)
  • Commencement date, renewal date and expiry date
  • Place of business and date of change of address (if applicable)
  • Status of business and effective date of status
  • Principal activity(ies)
  • Particulars of authorised representative(s), existing owner(s) and withdrawn owner(s)
• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP)
  • Name of LLP and date of change of name (if applicable)
  • Registration number (UEN) and registration date
  • Status of LLP and effective date of status
  • Registered office address and date of change of address (if applicable)
  • Date of annual declaration
  • Principal activity(ies)
  • Particulars of manager(s), existing owner(s), withdrawn owner(s)
• Limited Partnerships (LP)
  • Name of LP and date of change of name (if applicable)
  • Registration number (UEN) and registration date
  • Status of LP and effective date of status
  • Commencement date, renewal date and expiry date
  • Registered office address and date of change of address (if applicable)
  • Principal activity(ies)
  • Particulars of existing, withdrawn general partner(s), and limited partner(s)
• Companies (e.g. Private Company / Public Company / Foreign Company)
  • Name of company
  • Registration number (UEN)
  • Company type, status, effective date of status and incorporation date
  • Principal activity(ies)
  • Registered office address and date of change of address (if applicable)
  • Capital amount, issued share capital, paid-up share capital
  • Date of last AGM, date of last annual return, date of account laid at last AGM
  • Date of lodgement annual return and account
  • Audit firm details
  • Particulars of officers, shareholders, liquidators, receivers and judicial managers
• Public Accounting Firms / Public Accounting Corporations
  • Name of public accounting firm / corporation and date of change of name (if applicable)
  • Registration number (UEN) and registration date
  • Status and effective date of status
  • Commencement date
  • Registered principal place of business and date of change of address
  • Principal activities
  • Particulars of existing, withdrawn sole-proprietors / partner(s), and managing partner(s)

Information not provided in a Business Profile

However, you may wish to note that the Business Profile does not contain the following information:

• Other Directorships/shareholding of parties involved
• Movement/changes in directorship/shareholding
• Historic details (including previous director/shareholder details)
• Financial information
• Commercial litigation of company or its directors/shareholders
• Other business intelligence information

Cost and how to obtain a Business Profile

The Business Profile costs $5.50 per report and can be purchased conveniently via ACRA BizFile+ portal. If you have a SingPass, you can login at ACRA BizFile+ portal with your SingPass to make the purchase and download the Business Profile from the link provided in the email available under “Messages”. Alternatively, if you do not own a SingPass, an email with a URL for downloading of the report will be sent to you. For more information on business profile, please refer to ACRA link here.

Business Profile with Certificate of Production

Another type of business profile is the Business Profile with Certificate of Production. This is an extended version from the earlier one; it consists of a business profile and a certificate of production certified by the Assistant Registrar of ACRA. It has an ACRA stamp, authentication number and an electronic scanned signature on the certificate. This electronic report can be produced in court and to other authorities as documentary proof.

It costs $16.50 per report and can be purchased in the same manner as the Business Profile. For more information on business profile with certificate of production, please refer to ACRA link here.