Every Singapore-incorporated company that is required to lodge audited or directors-approved financial statements with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) must, in most cases, do so in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format. XBRL is the global standard for the digital exchange of business reporting data, and ACRA’s adoption of it means that financial information disclosed by Singapore companies is searchable, comparable, and machine-readable.
For directors and finance teams, however, XBRL is also one of the more technical aspects of Singapore’s corporate compliance regime. Misclassified line items, tagging errors, and missed exemption thresholds frequently cause filing delays, ACRA queries, and even penalty notices. This guide walks through everything a Singapore company needs to know in 2026 — who must file, who is exempt, the difference between Full and Simplified XBRL, the step-by-step BizFinx process, and how to avoid the most common errors.
If you would like to outsource XBRL preparation entirely, our team at Raffles Corporate Services can prepare and lodge your XBRL financial statements as part of our broader corporate secretarial and accounting service.
What Is XBRL?
XBRL is an open, royalty-free international standard developed by XBRL International. It replaces flat PDF financial statements with structured, machine-readable data that uses standardised tags for each line item — revenue, cost of sales, plant & equipment, deferred tax, and so on. The “tags” are drawn from the ACRA Taxonomy, which closely follows the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS).
The benefits are not just for ACRA. Lenders, investors, and government agencies can analyse XBRL filings at scale; companies benefit from a single source of truth for filed financials; and the public can search company performance through ACRA’s BizFile+ portal. ACRA introduced revised XBRL filing requirements in 2020, and a new version of the BizFinx Preparation Tool was rolled out from 25 February 2026 — finance teams should ensure they are using the latest version.
Who Must File in XBRL?
The starting position under the Companies Act 1967 is that all Singapore-incorporated companies that are required to file financial statements with ACRA must do so in XBRL format. Whether your company is required to file at all depends on its category — most active limited companies are required to file alongside their Annual Return.
For background on a company’s broader annual filings, see our guide to Singapore company compliance and our overview of AGM requirements, which dictate the timing of the financials’ approval.
Exemptions from XBRL Filing
The following categories of company are exempt from XBRL filing in 2026:
(a) Solvent Exempt Private Companies (EPCs) — an EPC is a private company with no more than 20 members, none of which is a corporation. A solvent EPC is exempt from filing financial statements altogether (and therefore exempt from XBRL). An insolvent EPC must file financial statements, and these must be in XBRL.
(b) Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs) — these file PDF financial statements rather than XBRL.
(c) Foreign company branches registered with ACRA — file PDF only.
(d) Companies preparing financial statements under non-SFRS / non-IFRS frameworks — for example, US GAAP. These companies file PDF, but should obtain ACRA pre-approval where required.
If your company falls outside the standard exemption categories but you believe XBRL filing is impracticable, you may apply to ACRA for a specific exemption. Approvals are at the registrar’s discretion and granted only in narrow circumstances.
Full XBRL vs Simplified XBRL
The level of detail required in your XBRL filing depends on the size and accountability of the company.
| Filing Type | Who It Applies To | What Is Filed |
|---|---|---|
| Full XBRL | All companies not eligible for Simplified XBRL or specific FSH variants | Full set of financial statements in XBRL (≈ 210+ data elements) |
| Simplified XBRL | Small, non-publicly accountable companies meeting the small company criteria | Simplified set of financial statements (≈ 120 data elements) |
| XBRL FSH for Banks | Banks regulated by MAS | Banking-specific Financial Statements Highlights template |
| XBRL FSH for Insurance | Insurance companies regulated by MAS | Insurance-specific FSH template |
The “small company” criteria for Simplified XBRL eligibility mirror the Section 205C Companies Act small company audit exemption: the company must satisfy at least two of three thresholds — annual revenue not exceeding S$10 million, total assets not exceeding S$10 million, and headcount of 50 or fewer — and must not be publicly accountable. A company is “publicly accountable” if it is listed, in the process of issuing securities, or holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for a broad group of outsiders (a bank, insurer, or licensed CMS holder, for example).
Step-by-Step: How to Prepare and File XBRL Using BizFinx
Step 1 — Approve the financial statements
Before any XBRL preparation begins, the directors must approve the financial statements (typically by directors’ resolution) and, where audit is required, the auditor’s report must be signed. Save the approved statements as a clean PDF — this PDF will be embedded into your XBRL filing.
Step 2 — Download the BizFinx Preparation Tool
Download the latest BizFinx Preparation Tool free of charge from ACRA’s XBRL Filing and Resources page. Uninstall any earlier version. The tool runs locally on Windows.
Step 3 — Choose the correct template
Open the tool and select the appropriate template — Full XBRL, Simplified XBRL, FSH (Banks), or FSH (Insurance) — based on your company’s category determined above.
Step 4 — Enter or import the financial data
Enter financial figures from the audited PDF or import them via the tool’s Excel import. Each figure must be tagged to the correct ACRA Taxonomy element. Tagging accuracy is the single biggest determinant of whether the filing passes ACRA validation.
Step 5 — Validate
Use the tool’s built-in validation function to identify errors and warnings. Errors must be fixed before submission; warnings should be reviewed and corrected where appropriate.
Step 6 — Generate the filing file
Save the validated XBRL file (.zip) ready for upload via BizFile+.
Step 7 — File via BizFile+
Log into BizFile+ with Singpass / Corppass, attach the XBRL file along with the PDF financial statements, and submit. The XBRL filing is typically lodged together with the Annual Return (AR) under Section 197 of the Companies Act.
Timing — When Must XBRL Be Filed?
XBRL financial statements are filed together with the Annual Return. The deadline for AR lodgement is within seven months after the financial year end for non-listed companies (and within five months for listed companies), and the AR can only be filed after the AGM has been held — or in the case of private companies that have dispensed with AGMs under Section 175A, within six months after the FYE. Missing these deadlines triggers ACRA’s late lodgement penalties, which currently start at S$300 per offence.
For a refresher on penalties and remedies, see our guide on Singapore late filing penalties.
Common XBRL Mistakes
The most frequent issues we see in client files include using the wrong template (Full vs Simplified), mistagging revenue or cost of sales lines (especially in companies with mixed business activities), misclassifying intercompany balances, omitting comparative period data, and uploading an outdated PDF that does not match the XBRL data. ACRA’s validation engine catches many of these, but tagging logic errors can pass validation and then cause downstream issues with banks, regulators, or other users of the data.
For directors signing off on the AR, two practical safeguards help. First, ask your accountant or corporate secretary to provide a “tagging map” — a spreadsheet that shows each line of the audited PDF mapped to the corresponding ACRA Taxonomy element. Second, before filing, run a quick sanity check on the published BizFile+ preview to confirm that the figures are sensible and consistent with the PDF.
Conclusion
XBRL filing is one of the more technical pieces of Singapore’s corporate compliance machinery, but it is also one of the most consequential. A well-prepared filing reflects well on the company’s governance and gives ACRA, regulators, and counterparties accurate and comparable data; a sloppy or late filing can trigger penalties, regulatory queries, and director-level scrutiny.
If you would prefer to leave XBRL preparation to an experienced corporate services team — alongside your annual statutory accounts, tax filings, and annual return — please contact Raffles Corporate Services. We handle XBRL conversion, validation, and filing for hundreds of Singapore companies each year.
— The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services