Company Records
Guide

ACRA Business Profile: what it is and what it shows

An ACRA Business Profile is the standard extract of a Singapore entity's register entry, issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) through Bizfile, its online portal. It states the entity's Unique Entity Number, name, incorporation date, business activities, registered address, issued and paid-up share capital, and the particulars of its officers, shareholders and audit firm.

Last verified:

This page describes public registry practice and is not legal or compliance advice.

What the Business Profile contains

Singapore companies and business entities are registered with ACRA, the regulator for business registration, financial reporting, public accountants and corporate service providers. Registration, filing and information products all run through Bizfile; the current portal launched on 9 December 2024.

ACRA describes the Business Profile as the product for basic entity information, such as the UEN, the entity name, the date of registration, and information about position holders, business owners or partners. For a company, the register's standard extract carries the following:

  • the Unique Entity Number (UEN) and the registered name;
  • the incorporation date and the entity's status;
  • the business activities and the registered address;
  • the issued and paid-up share capital;
  • the particulars of officers, shareholders and the audit firm.

Business Profile versus the other ACRA information products

The Business Profile is one of six information products ACRA lists. Each answers a different question; the Business Profile is the current summary of the register entry. ACRA describes the others as follows:

  • Corporate Compliance and Financial Profile (CCFP): a company's financial health and compliance, through its Business Profile information, financial profile, financial ratios, audit opinion and directors' opinions;
  • People Profile: a person's involvement in different businesses;
  • Extracts: copies of past documents filed by businesses, such as annual returns or audited accounts;
  • Certificates: certified business information and/or the status of an entity;
  • Registers: official lists of key people involved in a company, such as members, directors, CEOs, secretaries or auditors.

What ACRA publishes about officers, shareholders and controllers

Officers and shareholders are on the public record: the Business Profile carries the particulars of officers and shareholders, and ACRA's Registers product lists members, directors, secretaries and auditors.

Beneficial ownership sits outside the public record. Registers of registrable controllers are lodged with ACRA's central register, which is available to law enforcement agencies only. Residential addresses are also restricted: ACRA releases them only to authorised information service providers and to the persons specified in section 30B of the ACRA Act 2004 and its Sixth Schedule.

ACRA also publishes some information free of charge. Its Bizfile search functions show basic information about a business, such as its status and registered address, whether an entity is a registered corporate service provider, and live entities by business activity. For entities that have ceased operations, ACRA does not display the registered address.

How to read and check a Business Profile

Start with the UEN. Local companies keep their ACRA registration number as their UEN, in the format yyyynnnnnX: ten characters beginning with the year of incorporation. Registered businesses use a nine-character number in the format nnnnnnnnX. The first four digits of a company's UEN are therefore its year of incorporation, which can be compared with the incorporation date on the same document.

Compare the name, status and registered address with the other documents in the KYC file, and the officers and shareholders with the ownership and control structure the customer has declared. The Business Profile describes the register entry at the moment it was issued, so the issue date matters: a change filed afterwards will not appear on it.

ACRA provides a free verification service, trustBar, launched in March 2023, on which the authenticity of a Business Profile can be verified and the document previewed. The same service covers the Certificate Confirming Registration or Incorporation of Entity. Since 9 December 2024 ACRA has certified applicable products, such as Extracts and Registers, electronically, and no longer offers manual certification. ACRA states that its certified products are recognised by the Singapore Academy of Law, which can legalise them for use overseas.

What it proves and what it does not prove

A Business Profile is evidence that the entity is on the Singapore register under the stated UEN and name, with the status, registered address, share capital, officers and shareholders the register held on the date of issue. It is the register's own statement of those particulars.

It does not identify beneficial owners, because the controllers register is not public. It is not a certificate of incorporation, which ACRA issues as a separate certified product. It does not show the company's financial position; financial statements are filed with ACRA separately, in full XBRL for most companies and in simplified XBRL for smaller companies that are not publicly accountable, and solvent exempt private companies and qualifying dormant companies are exempt from filing.

What a Company Record for Singapore contains

A Company Record from Know Your Customer Limited for a Singapore company is two things delivered together: a KYB report and the official Business Profile behind it, retrieved from the register at the moment of purchase.

The report returns the company data (entity name, type, status, registration number, address, activity type, registration date and other names), the controlling entities and individuals with their roles and appointment dates, and the shareholders with their share counts. Company Records resolves beneficial ownership by following the shareholders listed in the Business Profile up the ownership chain, entity by entity, so the closed controllers register does not prevent UBO identification. Further filings on the register, such as the Financial Statement Extract, are listed on the Singapore coverage page as available separately.

Where it comes from

Every Singapore Company Record is sourced from the official register, the Business Filing Portal of ACRA. It is registry-only, not aggregated.

Questions

ACRA Business Profile: what it is and what it shows: questions

Is the ACRA Business Profile the same as a certificate of incorporation?
No. The Business Profile is the current extract of the register entry: UEN, name, status, address, share capital, officers and shareholders on the date of issue. A certificate is a separate ACRA product that certifies business information or the status of an entity.
Are Singapore shareholders public?
Shareholders are: the Business Profile carries their particulars. Beneficial owners are not, because registers of registrable controllers are lodged with ACRA's central register, which is available to law enforcement agencies only.
How recent is the information in a Business Profile?
It reflects the register on the date the profile is issued. A change filed with ACRA after that date will not appear on it, so the issue date should be read alongside the particulars.

Sources

  • www.acra.gov.sghttps://www.acra.gov.sg/resources/buying-business-information/types-of-acra-information-products/
  • www.acra.gov.sghttps://www.acra.gov.sg/resources/buying-business-information/verifying-certifying/