XBRL filing in Singapore — what it is and who needs to file it

Most Singapore companies don't just file a PDF copy of their financial statements with ACRA — they must file them in XBRL format as well. It's a requirement that catches out first-time directors more often than almost any other ACRA obligation, mostly because it isn't well understood. Here's what XBRL actually is, who has to file it, which template applies to your company, and who is exempt.

What is XBRL?

XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It's a digital reporting format that breaks your financial statements down into individually tagged data elements — revenue, trade receivables, directors' remuneration, and so on — rather than presenting them as a static PDF document.

The point of tagging each figure is that it becomes machine-readable. ACRA, and anyone who purchases your company's filed financial statements from the public register, can extract and compare specific data points without having to read and re-key information from a PDF. It's the same underlying idea behind XBRL filing requirements used by regulators in many other markets, including the US SEC and the UK's Companies House.

In practice, for most Singapore SMEs, XBRL isn't a separate set of accounts — it's your existing financial statements, mapped onto ACRA's prescribed taxonomy and submitted through ACRA's filing tools alongside your Annual Return.

Why does ACRA require it?

ACRA's stated purpose for the XBRL requirement is to improve the quality, comparability and usability of financial information filed by Singapore companies. A structured, tagged format makes it possible for ACRA to run automated checks and analytics across the entire register, and makes financial data more useful to banks, credit agencies, researchers and other parties who purchase company filings.

For the company filing it, XBRL adds a layer of preparation that a simple PDF doesn't — which is exactly why so many directors find it more confusing, and more easily overlooked, than the Annual Return filing itself.

Who must file financial statements with ACRA?

As a starting point, all Singapore-incorporated companies must prepare financial statements and file them with ACRA, unless they fall into one of the exempted categories below. The Annual Return filing and the financial statements filing are submitted together, but they are two separate obligations under the Companies Act.

Whether your company files in XBRL, or simply files a PDF copy, depends on what kind of company you are — covered in the next two sections.

Who doesn't need to file at all?

Two categories of company are exempt from filing financial statements with ACRA altogether — not just exempt from XBRL, but exempt from filing financial statements in any format.

1. Dormant relevant companies

Your company does not need to prepare or file financial statements if it meets all the conditions under section 201A of the Companies Act:

• It has had no significant accounting transactions during the financial year (i.e. it is genuinely dormant)
• It passes the substantial assets test — total assets did not exceed S$500,000 at any point in the financial year (or, for a parent company, the group's consolidated total assets did not exceed S$500,000)
• It is not a listed company, and not a subsidiary of one

2. Solvent Exempt Private Companies (EPCs)

Your company does not need to file financial statements (though it may choose to, voluntarily) if it meets both of the following:

• It qualifies as an EPC — broadly, a private company with fewer than 20 members and no corporate shareholder holding a beneficial interest in its shares (or a private company wholly owned by the Government and gazetted as an EPC)
• It is solvent — able to meet its debts as and when they fall due. This is confirmed through an online solvency declaration made as part of the Annual Return

A large number of Singapore SMEs — closely-held family businesses and owner-operated Pte Ltds in particular — fall squarely into the solvent EPC category. If that's your company, the XBRL question may simply not apply to you, although it's still worth confirming your status each year rather than assuming it.

Which XBRL template applies to your company?

If your company does need to file financial statements and isn't one of the exempted categories above, the format depends on your company type and size:

What counts as a "smaller" company?

A company is "smaller" for this purpose if it meets both of the following, based on the financial statements it is required to prepare (using consolidated figures where the company has a subsidiary, associate or joint venture, unless exempt from consolidation):

• Revenue for the current financial year does not exceed S$500,000
• Total assets for the current financial year do not exceed S$500,000

What counts as "non-publicly accountable"?

Broadly, your company is non-publicly accountable if it is not listed, not a bank or payment system entity, not an insurer, not a capital markets infrastructure provider or intermediary, and not any other MAS-regulated entity. Most ordinary trading and services SMEs meet this description without needing to think too hard about it — the category mainly exists to capture financial institutions and listed groups.

The Full XBRL template captures roughly 210 data elements covering the primary financial statements and selected notes. Simplified XBRL captures around 120 — still a complete set of the performance and position statements, but with less granular note disclosure required.

When is the XBRL filing due?

The XBRL filing isn't a separate deadline from your Annual Return — it's filed as part of it. That means the same deadlines apply:

For a company with a 31 December financial year-end, that means financial statements — XBRL included — are typically due by 31 July of the following year, alongside the Annual Return. ACRA has signalled that it is enforcing these calendar deadlines strictly from 2026 onwards, with limited informal grace for late filers, so it pays to start the XBRL preparation process well before the deadline rather than in the final week.

Filing late, without an approved extension, attracts a penalty — typically in the range of S$300 to S$500 — on top of any late-filing consequences that apply to the Annual Return itself.

How is an XBRL filing prepared?

In practice, an XBRL filing is prepared in one of a few ways:

• Mapping software: Most accounting and corporate secretarial teams use ACRA-compatible tools (such as ACRA's own BizFinx Preparation Tool, or commercial XBRL conversion software) to map the figures in a set of financial statements onto the relevant ACRA taxonomy.
• Outsourced preparation: Many companies — particularly those without an in-house finance function — engage their accountant or corporate secretary to prepare and submit the XBRL filing as part of their year-end and Annual Return service.
• Direct submission via BizFile+: Once prepared, the XBRL file is submitted alongside the Annual Return through ACRA's BizFile+ portal.

ACRA updates its taxonomy and filing tools periodically — a new version of the BizFinx Preparation Tool and Multi-upload Tool was rolled out in February 2026, for instance — so it's worth confirming you're using current software each filing season rather than assuming last year's version still works.

One practical trap worth flagging: because XBRL mapping requires matching your specific account line items to ACRA's prescribed taxonomy elements, errors are easy to introduce if the mapping is rushed or done by someone unfamiliar with the taxonomy. A mis-tagged figure can pass the filing system's validation checks and still misrepresent your company's financial position on the public register.

The bottom line

XBRL filing is one of those obligations that's easy to underestimate because it rides alongside a deadline — the Annual Return — that directors already know about. The detail that catches people out is realising, often late, that a PDF of last year's accounts isn't enough on its own, and that which XBRL template applies depends on criteria (revenue, total assets, EPC status, solvency) that need to be checked every year, not assumed to be the same as last year.

For most Singapore SMEs, the cleanest way to manage this is to fold XBRL preparation into the same year-end process as your financial statements and Annual Return, rather than treating it as a separate task to remember later.

To learn more about how we handle statutory compliance for our clients, see our Corporate Secretary services. You may also find our article on Singapore's Annual Return and ACRA filing deadlines a useful companion read.