Project Senso Forums

Hi,

As i just registered my business last month, i would like to know do our business have any default financial year ?  How we find out and change it ?

The financial year can be usually defined as starting on the first day of the month of which you were registered or if you were registered at the late part of the month, you would probably put it on the first day of the following month.

Either way, this is just to facilitate your book keeping and is not set in stone so just try to keep it simple (ie. Financial year starting at 01 January and ends 31 December).

So does it means new business will default at 31st Dec ?

As mentioned above, the financial year is defined by you; there is no default start/end date.

So if i did not define yet means its not set ?

Where do i get it done ?

You get it done by yourself or your accountant when you do your accounts.

Where to get it done ?

As I said, you get it done by yourself or your accountant. It is a Declaration in your accounts, not a filing or status to send to any government agency until tax day.

If you really don't understand, let me give you an example. You can say "I am the guru of comic!" <= This is a declaration.

You can declare "My financial year starts at 01 January and ends 31 December" even though your business was started on 27 July.

That's pretty much it.

Simply said it is just the accounting period of your company. 

I am asking WHERE to get it done, not HOW wor.

Is it the IRAS at novena ?

Ivan,

I already said, it is done (in exact words: Declared) by you and/or your accountant; there is no "WHERE".

This is purely a regulatory declaration without need for filing until you actually file your tax returns on tax day.

Oh i see,

So mean if my business start in 2nd feb 07, and i close my account and submit my income on 31 dec 07.  Thats alright ?

You can declare your financial year to start before your business start date, that is not a problem.

Please go and read the roles & responsibilities of a Company Director.

If you have started a company, I presume a Pte Ltd, you are now a Director of the company.  There are many roles & responsibilities under the Company Acts.  If you do not know the basic of Financial year, you would probably not be aware about the legall timeline for filing your returns and when to hold your AGM...etc.

As a Director of a company, you are responsible to ensure all these are done accordingly.  You need a company secretary who are suppose to know such things, it can be your girlfriend or family members,  if you don't anybody who is suitable to be your company secretary, you need to pay for the services. 

If you want to save money, just go down to ROC and pick up all the FREE booklets.  Read them, all info are there.

If you do not know and don't want to find out, then pay for the services.  If you have not learn the very basic of managing a company, you should not be name the director of your company.


Tips: For small company, make sure the ending of your financial year is not the same as most big companies.  You will realise you have to pay more for accoutning, audit and taxation services. 

Declaring it during a off-peak period may save you some money in the long run if you know how to negotiate for discount. 

Throwing in free for you. Accountant will charge you for the above tips. 

That's harsh, but I agree fully. Some fundamentals has to be put in place, else any Tom, Dick or Harry calling himself CEO is going to ruin the entrepreneur community image.


That's a new tip I learnt, any guides on when are the peak periods?

Ask Valerie the Expert for all accounting problems. and business startup.
Enjoy Gateway 21 services. Till date, no complaints.

I second that recommendation. But her website @ www.gateway21.com still down tho.

Aviod Dec to Apr. 

Jun to Aug is super off peak.

I decided to end out financial year in Nov.  The aim was to achieve all targets by Sep, collect all payments by Nov and close office for Dec.  It only happened twice...pre-911.

Working hard this year.  Posting this is a good reminder.

Thanks for the invaluable info, will sticky this thread as a "knowledgebase" topic here.

Ok thanks for the tips, my business is only an sole priopertor.

Haha i hope to save, so thought of asking around here.  Maybe i will make a trip to ACRA someday.

But according to my parents, the government would give you a certain date that you must  submit our finance reports. If we have any delay we would be fined.
Is it true?

sole p even easier. Just follow the calender year so you can align it with your IRAS filing.

what if it is registered as pte ltd?

for sole p, in fact if your turnover is less than a certain amount (think it's $500,000, pls double check), don't even need to submit your accounts to IRAS. Of course, you still have to keep the records.

Thats sound nice, i will check up on that.

How are you guys doing? its an interesting topic, i must say.
@Visionary
Do you happen to know any website to dig this information? I'm researching about HR and how Business Life Cycle would affect each other in terms of recruitment. Statistic would be nice.

Thank you in advance.

i am going to GST registration and would like to know whether there's any diff if we set our finanical year in diff period of the year.

is it better to avoid the end of the financial year in peak period of apr?

Register GST has nothing to do with  financial year.

The financial year usual refer to 12 mth period, count down from the mth of incorporation.

Only a GST  register firm can charge customer gst and also claim gst from the IRAS.