Every Singapore private limited company needs a Chart of Accounts — the master list of ledger accounts that the bookkeeper posts every transaction against. A good chart of accounts makes tax filing simpler, makes management reporting faster, and makes it easier to compare year-on-year performance. A messy chart makes the bookkeeper’s job painful and the auditor’s job expensive.
This 2026 guide sets out the chart of accounts we recommend for a typical Singapore SME — whether you run a services business, a trading company or an F&B outlet — with account numbering, tax mapping, and the small design decisions that make a big difference.
What is a Chart of Accounts?
A Chart of Accounts (CoA) is the structured list of all General Ledger accounts your company uses. Each account has a unique code (usually 4 or 5 digits) and belongs to one of five statement classifications: assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses. Every journal entry — a sale, a bank transfer, a payroll run — is posted to accounts on this list.
The Companies Act 1967 does not prescribe a specific CoA structure. You are free to design your own, provided the resulting financial statements comply with the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS) or SFRS for Small Entities.
Recommended numbering system for Singapore SMEs
We use a 4-digit block system that scales from a two-employee company to a fifty-employee group:
| Range | Class |
|---|---|
| 1000–1999 | Assets |
| 2000–2999 | Liabilities |
| 3000–3999 | Equity |
| 4000–4999 | Revenue |
| 5000–5999 | Cost of sales |
| 6000–7999 | Operating expenses |
| 8000–8999 | Other income |
| 9000–9999 | Tax and finance costs |
Sample CoA for a services company (illustrative)
Assets
- 1010 — DBS Current Account SGD
- 1020 — DBS Current Account USD
- 1030 — Petty Cash
- 1100 — Accounts Receivable (trade)
- 1105 — Allowance for Expected Credit Losses (ECL)
- 1200 — Prepayments
- 1210 — GST Input Tax Recoverable
- 1300 — Fixed Deposits
- 1500 — Furniture and Fittings
- 1501 — Furniture and Fittings — Accumulated Depreciation
- 1510 — Office Equipment
- 1511 — Office Equipment — Accumulated Depreciation
- 1520 — Computers
- 1521 — Computers — Accumulated Depreciation
- 1600 — Right-of-Use Asset (IFRS 16)
- 1601 — ROU Accumulated Depreciation
- 1700 — Intercompany Receivable
Liabilities
- 2010 — Accounts Payable (trade)
- 2050 — Accrued Expenses
- 2100 — GST Output Tax Payable
- 2110 — Withholding Tax Payable
- 2150 — Corporate Income Tax Payable
- 2200 — CPF Payable
- 2210 — SDL Payable
- 2220 — Salary Payable
- 2230 — Foreign Worker Levy Payable
- 2300 — Lease Liability – Current
- 2310 — Lease Liability – Non-current
- 2400 — Bank Loan – Current
- 2410 — Bank Loan – Non-current
- 2500 — Director’s Loan
- 2600 — Intercompany Payable
Equity
- 3000 — Share Capital
- 3100 — Retained Earnings
- 3200 — Dividends Paid
- 3300 — Treasury Shares
Revenue
- 4010 — Consulting Fees — Local
- 4020 — Consulting Fees — Overseas (zero-rated)
- 4030 — Recurring Retainer Income
- 4100 — Reimbursed Disbursements
Cost of sales
- 5010 — Direct Staff Cost
- 5020 — Subcontractor Fees
- 5030 — Direct Software / Cloud Licences
Operating expenses
- 6010 — Salaries and Bonuses
- 6020 — Directors’ Remuneration
- 6030 — CPF Employer Contributions
- 6040 — SDL Levy
- 6050 — Foreign Worker Levy
- 6060 — Medical / Insurance for Staff
- 6100 — Rent Expense (short-term leases)
- 6110 — Depreciation of ROU Asset (IFRS 16)
- 6120 — Interest on Lease Liability
- 6200 — Utilities
- 6210 — Telephone and Internet
- 6220 — Office Supplies
- 6300 — Marketing and Advertising
- 6310 — Website and Hosting
- 6400 — Professional Fees — Legal
- 6410 — Professional Fees — Corporate Secretarial
- 6420 — Professional Fees — Audit
- 6430 — Professional Fees — Tax
- 6500 — Travel — Local
- 6510 — Travel — Overseas
- 6520 — Entertainment (deductible portion only)
- 6600 — Bank Charges
- 6610 — FX Losses (realised)
- 6620 — FX Losses (unrealised)
- 6700 — Depreciation of PPE
- 6710 — Loss on Disposal of PPE
- 6800 — Bad Debts Written Off
- 6810 — Movement in ECL Allowance
- 6900 — Sundry Expenses
Other income
- 8010 — Interest Income
- 8020 — FX Gains (realised)
- 8030 — Government Grants Received
- 8040 — Gain on Disposal of PPE
Tax and finance costs
- 9010 — Interest Expense on Bank Loans
- 9100 — Corporate Income Tax Expense
- 9110 — Deferred Tax Expense
Design principles for a Singapore SME chart of accounts
1. Separate local, zero-rated and exempt revenue
GST reporting requires you to break out revenue by rating. Design the revenue block with sub-accounts by rating (Standard / Zero / Exempt / Out-of-Scope) from day one. This alone saves hours during the quarterly F5 filing.
2. Keep depreciation as a contra account to each PPE class
Do not lump depreciation into a single account. Match each accumulated depreciation account to its cost account — it makes the fixed asset register reconciliation straightforward.
3. Segregate CPF, SDL, WP levy and salary
Each has its own IRAS or MOM reporting obligation. If you combine them under “Staff Costs”, you will spend an afternoon during tax season disentangling them.
4. Isolate entertainment for tax deductibility
Entertainment is only partially deductible for corporate income tax and requires supporting evidence. Keep it in its own account with a clear description convention (client name, purpose).
5. Split realised and unrealised FX
Unrealised FX arising from year-end revaluation is normally not deductible for tax; realised FX is. Splitting the accounts makes the tax computation easier.
6. Add tracking dimensions rather than exploding the CoA
If you run multiple projects or cost centres, use tracking categories (Xero) or classes (QuickBooks) rather than proliferating 6100–A, 6100–B, 6100–C. A CoA with 500 accounts is a signal something has gone wrong.
Mapping to Singapore Financial Reporting Standards
When it is time to prepare the annual financial statements, the CoA maps to SFRS line items:
- 1500–1521 series maps to Property, plant and equipment.
- 1600–1601 maps to Right-of-use assets under SFRS(I) 16.
- 1100/1105 maps to Trade and other receivables, with 1105 the ECL allowance under SFRS(I) 9.
- 2300/2310 maps to Lease liabilities under SFRS(I) 16.
- 4010–4030 aggregate to Revenue in the income statement.
Mapping to Singapore corporate tax computation
For IRAS Form C or C-S, the CoA should feed the tax computation via a standard mapping:
- Revenue accounts feed Gross revenue.
- Depreciation accounts (6110, 6700) are added back and replaced with Section 19/19A capital allowances.
- Entertainment (6520) is reviewed for the personal-versus-business split.
- Unrealised FX (6620) is added back.
- Bad debts (6800) require supporting evidence of specific write-off.
- Government grants (8030) may be taxable or exempt depending on the grant — each grant should have a sub-account or memo note.
Common CoA mistakes we see
The three most common CoA errors in Singapore SMEs are: (1) a “Miscellaneous” account with hundreds of transactions no one can classify, (2) posting director’s personal expenses through 6520 Entertainment instead of Director’s Current Account, and (3) using a single “Sales” account for local, overseas and exempt revenue — which turns GST F5 preparation into a scavenger hunt.
Final word
A Chart of Accounts is a strategic asset, not a bookkeeping formality. Design it once with the tax computation, GST return and management report in mind, and every subsequent close, audit and tax filing becomes faster and cheaper. Raffles Corporate Services sets up client charts of accounts as part of our bookkeeping onboarding — if you need one, get in touch.
— The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services