If your company has not looked at its Bizfile profile since incorporation, there is a good chance the business activity code sitting on the public register no longer describes what you actually do, and as of 9 May 2026, the code itself has changed underneath you. The Singapore Standard Industrial Classification 2025 (SSIC 2025) has replaced SSIC 2020, and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has already re-mapped every entity on Bizfile+ to a new five-digit code. The migration was automatic. Whether the code it landed on is still correct is not automatic at all, and that is the part directors, company secretaries and finance teams need to check now.
This article sets out what SSIC 2025 changed, how the migration actually worked, a step-by-step method for checking and updating your company’s code on Bizfile, and the practical consequences of leaving a mismatched code on the register. Note that this is distinct from a general primer on how SSIC codes work; our focus here is specifically the 2025 migration event, the auto-mapping mechanics, and the cross-check every company should now be running against grant, licensing and quota eligibility.
What SSIC 2025 Actually Changed
SSIC codes are the taxonomy Singapore uses to classify what a business does, maintained by the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) and recorded against every entity on ACRA’s Bizfile+ register. SSIC 2025 is the first full revision of that taxonomy since SSIC 2020, and it is a substantial one: over 1,500 business activity codes were reviewed, with a significant number renumbered, dropped, or newly created to capture activities that the old classification simply did not have a slot for, among them artificial intelligence services, renewable energy and green technology, digital platform businesses, and broader climate-related consultancy work.
The headline structural change
The most visible shift is the split of the former “Information and Communications” section into two separate sections: one covering publishing, broadcasting and content activities, and a second covering telecommunications, computer programming, IT consultancy, computing infrastructure and other information services. A software or data company that sat comfortably under a single section in SSIC 2020 may now find its primary activity sits under a different section entirely in SSIC 2025, even where nothing about the business itself has changed.
Who is most exposed
Companies in fast-moving or cross-cutting sectors, technology, fintech, sustainability, health technology and digital media, are the ones most likely to find that the nearest available correspondence between an old code and a new one is an imperfect fit. A company that was previously bundled into a generic “computer consultancy” or “engineering services” code may now have a far more precise SSIC 2025 code available that better reflects, and better evidences, what it actually does. Conventional, long-established trades (retail, F&B, construction, general professional services) tend to have mapped through cleanly with little practical impact.
How the Migration Was Handled: Automatic Re-Mapping, Not Automatic Correctness
ACRA did not ask companies to re-file their business activities from scratch. Instead, every entity registered on Bizfile+, companies, LLPs, partnerships and sole proprietorships alike, was automatically migrated from its existing SSIC 2020 code to the closest SSIC 2025 equivalent, using official correspondence tables published by SingStat that map each old code to its nearest new one. From 9 May 2026 onward, new entity registrations and any fresh business activity filings on Bizfile can only be made using SSIC 2025 codes; SSIC 2020 codes are no longer accepted for new filings.
The important nuance is that “automatic” describes the mechanism, not the accuracy of the outcome. A correspondence table maps categories, it does not know what your company specifically does. For a business whose activity sits neatly within one old code and one clear new equivalent, the auto-mapping will usually be fine. For a business whose activity has evolved since incorporation, or that operates in one of the sectors most affected by the reclassification (see above), the auto-assigned code may now be a poorer fit than the outdated code it replaced. This is precisely the gap directors and company secretaries need to check by hand; ACRA’s system will not flag a code as “wrong” if it is a technically valid, if imprecise, migration.
Step-by-Step: How a Director Checks and Updates the Company’s SSIC Code on Bizfile
The check itself takes a few minutes and costs nothing. Correcting a mismatched code, if needed, is a straightforward paid filing.
Step 1: Pull up your current entity profile
Log in to Bizfile+ using Singpass or Corppass and view your company’s business profile. Note the primary business activity code and, if registered, the secondary business activity code, together with their descriptions. This is the SSIC 2025 code your company was auto-migrated to.
Step 2: Ask whether the description still fits
Read the plain-English description attached to the code and compare it honestly against what the company primarily does and primarily earns revenue from today, not what it did when it was incorporated. If the business has pivoted, added a new revenue line, or was always operating in a niche that the old classification lumped in with something broader, this is where the mismatch usually surfaces.
Step 3: Search the SSIC 2025 directory for a better fit
If the current code looks approximate rather than accurate, search the full SSIC 2025 classification list on the SingStat website, which allows searching by keyword, activity description or sector, to identify the code that most precisely matches your actual activity. Where a company has more than one substantial revenue stream, consider whether the primary and secondary activity fields both need updating.
Step 4: Cross-check against anything that depends on the code
Before filing, check whether the company has a pending or planned grant application, a licence renewal, or a work pass quota calculation that references the current SSIC code. If your company relies on schemes such as the SME cash grant or is planning to draw on the Enterprise Financing Scheme, it is worth confirming your SSIC code sits within scope before, not after, submitting.
Step 5: File the update on Bizfile
If a correction is needed, the filing is made through Bizfile+ under the entity’s “update business activity” function: search for and select the correct SSIC 2025 code, and submit. A government filing fee applies, and approval is typically processed within a few business days. Once approved, the updated code is reflected on the public register and on your company’s business profile.
Step 6: Update everything downstream
The Bizfile filing is not the end of the exercise. Update your accounting system, any bank KYC declarations, and internal compliance records so they match the new code. Many banks run periodic KYC reviews that cross-check a company’s stated activities against its registered SSIC code, and a lingering mismatch between what you told the bank and what is on the public register is exactly the kind of discrepancy that triggers a query.
Consequences of Getting It Wrong
An SSIC code looks like a bureaucratic footnote, but a surprising number of downstream processes key off it directly.
Grant eligibility. Government grant schemes use SSIC codes to determine sector eligibility and, in some cases, funding tiers. A company sitting under the wrong code risks being excluded from a scheme it genuinely qualifies for, or worse, being approved under a scheme it should not have been eligible for in the first place, which creates its own compliance exposure later.
Work pass quotas. The Ministry of Manpower uses SSIC classification to assign companies to sectors for the purpose of Dependency Ratio Ceiling calculations. A misclassified company may face tighter foreign worker quota constraints than its actual sector would attract, or the reverse, which is its own problem if it is later queried.
Licensing and regulatory approvals. A number of sector-specific licences require the licensed activity to correspond with the entity’s registered SSIC code. A mismatch can delay a renewal application or invite a compliance query from the licensing authority.
Tax and statistical profiling. IRAS and SingStat both use SSIC codes as part of sector-based analysis. An inaccurate code can generate anomalies when a company’s figures are benchmarked against its stated sector, inviting questions that a correctly classified company would never face.
Registered office and good standing. None of this touches your company’s standing directly, but companies that let basic registrable information drift out of date tend to be the same companies that let other statutory filings slip. If matters do escalate to the point of a strike-off notice, our guide on objecting to an ACRA strike-off explains the process, and if a company has already been struck off and needs its registers and records restored, see our guide on company reinstatement in Singapore.
Worked Example
Consider a Singapore-incorporated software company originally registered in 2018 under an SSIC 2020 code for general computer consultancy activities. Over time, the company pivoted to building and licensing an AI-driven analytics platform, a shift in emphasis from bespoke consulting to productised software, but nobody updated the Bizfile entry because nothing forced the issue.
On 9 May 2026, ACRA’s auto-migration mapped the old computer consultancy code to its nearest SSIC 2025 equivalent, which, given the Section J and K split described above, landed the company under a general information technology services code rather than anything specific to AI or software product development. The company applies for a grant under a scheme that carries a sector enhancement for artificial intelligence and data-driven businesses. The application stalls because the registered SSIC code does not, on its face, support the claim that the company operates in that space.
Had the director checked the Bizfile entry against the new SSIC 2025 directory before applying, they would have found a more precise code covering AI services and development, filed the update, and had a registered SSIC code that matched the substance of the grant application from the outset. Instead, the grant application needed to be paused while the correction was filed and processed, costing time the company did not need to lose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to do anything if my company was incorporated before 9 May 2026?
Not automatically. ACRA has already migrated your company’s SSIC 2020 code to its nearest SSIC 2025 equivalent using SingStat’s correspondence tables. You do not need to re-file simply because the migration occurred, but you should log in to Bizfile+ and confirm the new code still accurately describes your business activity, and correct it if it does not.
How much does it cost to correct an SSIC code, and how long does it take?
Correcting a business activity code is a paid filing made through Bizfile+, and approval is typically processed within a few business days once submitted. It is a modest cost against the risk of an incorrect code affecting a grant application, a licence renewal or a bank KYC review.
Can I still use my old SSIC 2020 code for a new filing?
No. From 9 May 2026, all new entity registrations and all fresh business activity filings on Bizfile must use SSIC 2025 codes. SSIC 2020 codes are no longer accepted for new filings, even though they remain visible in historical records.
My company has more than one significant business activity. Do I need more than one code?
Bizfile allows a primary business activity code and, where applicable, a secondary business activity code. If your company genuinely operates across two distinct, substantial activities, it is worth reviewing whether both fields under SSIC 2025 still capture the business accurately, rather than leaving a secondary activity blank or outdated.
Conclusion
SSIC 2025 is now the only classification Bizfile recognises, and every existing company has already been carried across to it. That is the easy part. The part that actually requires a director’s attention is confirming the auto-assigned code is a genuinely accurate description of the business, not merely a technically valid one, and correcting it where it is not, particularly if the company touches grant schemes, work pass quotas, or licensed activities where the code is more than a formality. A short check on Bizfile+ today is considerably cheaper than untangling a stalled grant application, a quota dispute, or a KYC query later. For a deeper walkthrough of the migration and sector-specific risk areas, see our sister site’s SSIC 2025 migration guide.
If your company needs help reviewing its SSIC classification, filing a correction, or checking eligibility for a grant or financing scheme against your registered activity, the team at Raffles Corporate Services can assist.
The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services.