Short version: a Singapore private company is exempt from statutory audit if it qualifies as a "small company" — meaning it meets at least two of three size criteria for the immediate past two consecutive financial years. Here's the whole picture, including the group rules that catch people out.
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The 20-second exemption check
Uses the current S$10M / S$10M / 50-employee thresholds; the test looks at the immediate past two consecutive financial years. A general guide, not professional advice.
The two-of-three test
To qualify as a small company, your company must be a private company throughout the financial year, and meet at least two of these 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
- 50 or fewer employees
Note the "two of three": a company with S$14 million in revenue can still be exempt if its assets are under S$10 million and it has fewer than 50 staff. These thresholds have applied since 1 July 2015 and remain in force in 2026 — though ACRA announced targeted consultations in March 2026 on whether to raise them, so watch this space (we'll update this guide if the law changes).
In a group? Read this twice.
This is the part that catches growing businesses. If your company is part of a group — it has a holding company or subsidiaries — then exemption requires both:
- the company itself qualifies as a small company, and
- the entire group qualifies as a "small group" — two of the three criteria met on a consolidated basis for the past two consecutive financial years.
So a tiny Singapore subsidiary of a large foreign parent generally still needs an audit, even if the local entity is well under every threshold.
New companies
A newly incorporated private company without two years of history qualifies if it meets the criteria in its first financial year (and, for year two, in that year as well).
Crossing the line — and coming back
Once a company qualifies as a small company, it keeps that status until it either ceases to be a private company or fails the two-of-three test for two consecutive financial years. One unusual year doesn't immediately cost you the exemption — a sustained change in size does.
Exempt doesn't mean audit-proof
Three things the exemption does not do:
- Shareholders can still demand an audit — holders of at least 5% of voting shares can require one, and ACRA can direct one.
- Banks, investors and acquirers still ask. An exemption is a legal permission, not a market one. Fundraising and M&A processes routinely require audited statements.
- You must still keep proper accounting records and prepare financial statements that comply with the Companies Act and SFRS. The exemption removes the audit, not the accounting.
What should you do?
If you're near a threshold, get the assessment done properly — it takes minutes with a trial balance in hand, and the consequences of getting it wrong (an unlawfully unaudited year, or an audit you didn't need) are expensive in both directions. Ask us — the assessment is part of the free consultation.
This guide summarises the small-company audit exemption under the Companies Act 1967 as at July 2026. It's general information, not professional advice on your specific circumstances — that's what the free consultation is for.