ACCOUNTING GUIDE · UPDATED AUGUST 2026
Year-end closing for a 31 December FYE: the checklist
Most Singapore SMEs close their year on 31 December — which means the close is decided in October and November, not in January. Here is the whole close in order: what to finish before midnight on 31 December, what to do in the first weeks of January, and every IRAS and ACRA date that follows.
THE TIMELINE
The dates that follow from 31 December 2026.
Every one of these dates gets easier if the trial balance is trustworthy by mid-January. That is what the checklist below is for.
31 Jan 2027
GST F5 and payment for the Oct–Dec quarter, if the company is GST-registered. A nil return is still required.
1 Mar 2027
Employment income reporting — IR8A and applicable appendices, submitted electronically under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme.
31 Mar 2027
ECI, unless the waiver applies: annual revenue of S$5 million or less and ECI is nil.
30 Jun 2027
AGM — six months after FYE. Eligible private companies may be exempt or use written resolutions.
31 Jul 2027
ACRA Annual Return — seven months after FYE.
30 Nov 2027
Corporate income tax return — Form C-S, Form C-S (Lite) or Form C for YA 2027.
BEFORE 31 DECEMBER
The work only you can do.
Some closing work can be done later by whoever prepares the accounts. These items cannot — they involve decisions or physical facts that exist only at year end.
Chase debtors while the year can still absorb the answer
Review the receivables ageing now. An invoice you know is dead is better written off with a paper trail than carried as an asset the accounts have to unwind later.
Plan the stock count
If you carry inventory, count it at or close to 31 December. A year-end figure reconstructed in February from purchase invoices convinces nobody — not an auditor, and not you.
Clean the director's loan account
Whatever is outstanding at midnight on 31 December is what appears in the financial statements. If the plan was to clear it with a declared dividend or a voted fee, the paperwork has to exist before the year ends.
Decide director pay before the year ends, not after
Fees, bonuses and dividends carry different timing rules, and the start-up-exemption arithmetic changes what the right split is. This decision is cheap in November and expensive in March.
Verify the fixed asset register
Walk the list: what was scrapped, what was sold, what new purchases qualify for capital allowances. The register drives both depreciation and the tax computation.
Confirm your audit position
A private company is audit-exempt as a small company if it meets at least two of three criteria for the immediate past two consecutive financial years: revenue of S$10 million or less, total assets of S$10 million or less, and 50 or fewer full-time employees at FYE. If you are near a threshold, know before January — an audit changes the whole timeline.
Invoice the year's work in the year
Revenue cutoff starts with actually billing December's work in December. Unbilled work-in-progress is a conversation; a clean sales ledger is not.
JANUARY
The first weeks of January: the close itself.
Reconcile every money account
Every bank account, loan, PayNow, Stripe and marketplace balance, and petty cash — not just the main operating account. Unreconciled balances are where closes go to die.
Enforce cutoff on both sides
December expenses invoiced in January get accrued; January revenue invoiced early does not belong in December. Midnight on 31 December is the line.
Book accruals and prepayments
The December utilities bill that arrives in January, the insurance paid annually in July, the bonus decided but unpaid.
Run depreciation and check for impairment
The fixed asset register you verified in December makes this step mechanical rather than investigative.
Agree related-party balances both ways
Two companies, one owner, two different numbers for the same balance is the classic small-group time sink. Agree them while December is fresh.
File the Oct–Dec GST F5 by 31 January
Filing and payment are both due one month after the quarter ends, and a nil return is still required when there was no activity.
FEBRUARY ONWARDS
Hand-offs and filings.
IR8A / AIS by 1 March
Every employee's 2026 employment income, including director salary and fees, submitted under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme.
ECI by 31 March, or confirm the waiver
The waiver needs both limbs: revenue of S$5 million or less and ECI nil. A loss year still needs the revenue check — and the annual return is still due by 30 November regardless.
Prepare the financial statements
Unaudited if the small-company exemption holds, audited if not. This is also when the XBRL question — full, simplified, or exempt — gets settled ahead of the Annual Return.
AGM by 30 June, Annual Return by 31 July
The Annual Return late-lodgment penalty is S$300 up to three months late and S$600 beyond that.
Form C-S / C-S (Lite) / C by 30 November
The tax computation is built from the closed books. If the close happened on time, this is assembly, not archaeology.
Keep everything for at least five years
IRAS requires records — source documents, accounting records and schedules, bank statements — to be retained for at least five years from the relevant Year of Assessment.
PITFALLS
The three mistakes that cause March panic.
Treating the close as one event
It is three: decisions before 31 December, reconciliation in January, filings across the year. Compressing all three into tax season is how estimated assessments happen.
Closing only the main bank account
The forgotten platform balances — Stripe, marketplace wallets, a dormant second account — surface as differences months later, when nobody remembers what they were.
Leaving director pay to the AGM
By then the year is closed, the start-up-exemption arithmetic is fixed, and the only options left are the expensive ones.
Common questions.
When do I need to close my books for a 31 December financial year end?
The physical facts — stock count, invoicing, director-pay decisions — need to be settled by 31 December. The reconciliation work is best finished by mid-January, so the trial balance is ready for the GST F5 (31 January), IR8A (1 March) and ECI (31 March) that follow.
What are the filing deadlines after a 31 December 2026 year end?
GST F5 for the final quarter by 31 January 2027; IR8A employment income by 1 March 2027; ECI by 31 March 2027 unless the waiver applies; AGM by 30 June 2027; Annual Return by 31 July 2027; and the corporate income tax return for YA 2027 by 30 November 2027.
Does my company need an audit?
A private company is exempt as a small company if it meets at least two of three criteria for the immediate past two consecutive financial years: total annual revenue of S$10 million or less, total assets of S$10 million or less, and 50 or fewer full-time employees at the financial year end. Group companies are assessed at group level.
Do I need to file ECI if the company made a loss?
A loss usually means ECI is nil, but the waiver has a second limb: annual revenue must also be S$5 million or less. Check both before relying on it — and the annual tax return is still due by 30 November regardless.
Can I still declare a dividend or director's fee for 2026 after 31 December?
Fees can be voted at the AGM in 2027 for FY2026 service, but they become the director's taxable income in the year of approval, and the company-side arithmetic is already fixed once the year closes. Decisions made before 31 December give you the full set of options.
How long do I need to keep the records?
At least five years from the relevant Year of Assessment, per IRAS — source documents, accounting records and schedules, and bank statements included.
Official sources
IRAS and ACRA rules can change — ACRA is currently reviewing the audit exemption framework. These primary sources were checked on 19 August 2026.
This guide provides general information, not accounting or tax advice. Deadlines shown assume a 31 December 2026 financial year end and standard quarterly GST periods; audit and filing requirements depend on the company’s circumstances, and ACRA’s review of the audit exemption framework may change the criteria in future years.
WRITTEN BY
Jacqueline May
Principal Accountant · Chartered Accountant (Singapore), ISCA member
Jacqueline is a Chartered Accountant (Singapore) and ISCA member, and the Principal Accountant at Synergy Accounting, a Singapore practice established in 2013. She works on corporate tax, GST and ACRA compliance for small and medium businesses — the filings, deadlines and judgement calls most owners would rather hand over. These guides are written from what she sees in practice.