It is against the law for any company in Singapore to not hire a company secretary within six months of being set up [1]. The Companies Act 2017, on the other hand, made a big change: private companies no longer need to have a secretary who is professionally qualified [2].
Because of this, many founders have asked, “Should I hire someone from within the company or just outsource the job?” [3].
It depends a lot on how big your business is, how much money you have, and how much risk you can handle. We break down the legal duties of the secretary below and give a clear cost-benefit analysis of in-house versus outsourced models.
What Are the Duties of a Corporate Secretary?
People often think that the job is just filling out paperwork. The company secretary is really the firm’s chief compliance officer [4]. Important tasks include:
- Statutory Filings: Sending ACRA your annual returns, changes in directorship, and share allotments on time [1].
- Board and Shareholder Meetings: Making the agenda, taking notes, and making sure that decisions are properly recorded [5].
- Keeping Records Up to Date: Updating the list of members, directors, and controllers (as required by the Companies Act) [2].
- XBRL Filing: Helping with the filing of financial statements in the right digital format.
- Advisory Role: Helping directors understand their responsibilities and avoid conflicts of interest [4].
Most importantly: If the secretary doesn’t file papers on time, the company and its directors could be fined and even face jail time [1]. You can’t just think of this role as an afterthought.
Option A: A Corporate Secretary Who Works for the Company (In-House)
✅ The Good Things
- Immediate Availability: The person is there and can deal with urgent board decisions right away.
- Institutional Knowledge: They learn a lot about the company’s ownership structure and past decisions over time.
- Two Roles: In smaller businesses, the secretary often also works as the HR manager or legal counsel, which helps the company work together.
❌ The Bad Things
- High Fixed Cost: In Singapore, a qualified company secretary makes S$4,000 to S$7,000+ per month, plus CPF contributions and vacation pay [6].
- Single Point of Failure: If the employee quits, you’ll have to rush to find a new one before the compliance deadlines.
- Qualification Gap: Not all employees who work in-house are trained to handle complicated transactions like share buybacks or mergers [4].
Best For: Big MNCs, listed companies, or companies that do a lot of business and need secretarial help every day [2].
Option B: Outsourced Corporate Secretarial Services
✅ The Good Things
- Predictable Costs: You pay a fixed annual retainer instead of a set monthly salary. For a private company, this is usually between S$800 and S$2,500 per year [6].
- Continuity & Redundancy: Providers of outsourced corporate secretarial services have a group of people. If your secretary is out of the office, another qualified person takes over. No gaps in compliance.
- Expertise Level: Outsourced providers work with hundreds of businesses. They see the same mistakes every day and let clients know about changes in the law before they happen [3].
- No CPF/Leave Liability: You pay for the service, not the number of people who use it.
❌ The Bad Things
- Time to Respond: Your SLA may not say that responses will be immediate. You usually wait a few hours instead of just a few minutes.
- Not as “personalized”: When you hire a reputable company, they will assign you a personal secretary, but you will still be sharing their time with other clients.
Best For: Startups, small and medium-sized businesses, foreign subsidiaries, and any company that wants to keep costs down while staying 100% compliant [3].
Cost Comparison (Estimates for 2026)
| Cost Component | In-House (Monthly) | Outsourced (Monthly) |
| Base Salary / Retainer | S$4,000 – S$7,000 | S$65 – S$200 |
| CPF / Employer Contributions | +17% | S$0 |
| Leave / Medical Benefits | +15% | S$0 |
| Software / Training | Variable | Included |
| Backup Coverage | Unpaid overtime / Temp staff | Included |
| Total Estimated Cost | S$5,000 – S$9,000 | S$65 – S$200 |
Note: The price of outsourcing depends on how many transactions there are and whether nominee secretary services are needed [6].
The Checklist for Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
Not all providers are the same if you decide to outsource. When looking for a top-tier corporate secretarial services singapore provider, here are some things to keep in mind [7]:
- Dedicated Contact: Do you have a specific qualified secretary, or do you just send an email to a general inbox?
- Access to Software: Do they give you a way to see your company’s records and filed documents in real time?
- Attendance at Meetings: Is attendance at board meetings included, or do you have to pay extra for it?
- ACRA Authorization: Are they allowed by ACRA to file on your behalf using BizFile+? [1]
- Response Time Guarantee: Is there a set amount of time that questions must be answered (for example, 24 hours)?
Questions to Ask Providers About SLAs
Before you sign an engagement letter, ask these questions [7]:
- “What is your team’s average response time during peak AGM season?”
- “If my dedicated secretary is sick, who takes care of my ECI filing deadline the next day?”
- “Do you only help with administrative filing, or do you also give advice on directors’ duties?” [4]
- “Is the annual retainer fee inclusive of lodgement fees, or are ACRA fees billed separately?”
Why PC Lee is the Best Outsourced Partner
We offer more than just an outsourced company secretary at PC Lee & Co. As Certified Public Accountants, our corporate secretarial division works closely with our tax and compliance teams [8].
What this means for you:
- Professionals who know how your transactions will affect your finances look over your secretarial filings.
- We offer Nominee Director services along with secretarial help, which is a simple solution for foreign owners [2].
- Fixed-fee transparency: You won’t get any surprise bills for your normal annual filings.
The result: You still own your business, but we take care of all the paperwork.
The Decision: Which Model Wins?
The outsourced model is the clear winner for 99% of SMEs and foreign-owned businesses [3]. It has better compliance protections, costs less, and has no HR risk.
You should only think about in-house if you need a lot of secretarial help (like daily share transfers) or if you have strict privacy rules about board meetings that don’t allow anyone else to see them [4].
Is your business in compliance? Don’t wait for ACRA’s notice of late filing. Business owners trust a reliable corporate secretary singapore provider like PC Lee to handle their filings with complete peace of mind. Contact our team today to talk about moving from in-house to outsourced work or to set up your secretarial framework from the start.
References
[1] Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Singapore. (2025). Appointing Company Officers.
[2] Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Singapore. (2024). Companies Act 1967 Legislation.
[3] Singapore Business Federation (SBF). (2025). National Business Survey: SME Outsourcing Trends.
[4] Singapore Institute of Directors (SID). (2024). Board Roles and Director Duties eGuide.
[5] ACRA. (2024). Amendments and Requirements for Virtual General Meetings.
[6] Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Singapore. (2025). Labour Market Statistics: Salary Benchmarking Data.
[7] Chartered Secretaries Institute of Singapore (CSIS). (2024). Code of Ethics and Professional Standards for Corporate Governance.
[8] PC Lee & Co. (2025). Corporate Secretarial and Accounting Services.