Going Full time - To register or not?

[artfakeme]

As the headline says, any advantage and disadvantage if I were to register my business?

[wenghong]

you need to top up your medi save yearly, and accountant to do your income tax. the good thing is you can buy a diesel powered van. good and cheap.

[artfakeme]

Originally Posted by wenghong you need to top up your medi save yearly, and accountant to do your income tax. the good thing is you can buy a diesel powered van. good and cheap.

Ya man.. so far thats the only thing that I can think of. But let say for me to get contract in corporate shots, would it be of any advantage? And what other advantage in terms of my chance in securing a good deal?

[Splutter]

Well for one thing you'll look more professional if you can represent a legal entity rather than an alias.

[canturn]

If you want to deal with the bigger clients, registered biz is mandatory. Even invoices that are issued by you need to have your biz reg number

Even in wedding photography, clients are savvy enough to check out your background even b4 they make appointment to meet up with you and frankly, having a registered biz is more important than an office/shop front.

The biggest assurance to your client is that you're not some fly-by-night business

[eugeneceh]

A registered biz is a must for GE biz...

[artfakeme]

Originally Posted by eugeneceh A registered biz is a must for GE biz...

Wats GE?

[eastwest]

Originally Posted by wenghong you need to top up your medi save yearly, and accountant to do your income tax. the good thing is you can buy a diesel powered van. good and cheap.

You don't need an accountant to do your business accounts. When it comes to Income Tax time, you need to provide a two-line account, Gross Income and Net Profit. Of course, you should keep all your receipts etc... in case you are checked.

[jamesong]

All your equipment investments, keep the receipts and you can depreciate them either in one or stretch to three years, offset with your profits.


I forgot to mention, you must open a bank account under your registered company's name and the minimum amount is S$1,500. When you shoot for corporate clients, they will give you a cheque for your services under your company's name.

[jOhO]

Originally Posted by eastwest You don't need an accountant to do your business accounts. When it comes to Income Tax time, you need to provide a two-line account, Gross Income and Net Profit. Of course, you should keep all your receipts etc... in case you are checked.

u need to if u register pte ltd. and need to audit if turnover is above $5m. if i remember correctly.

[creampuff]

Originally Posted by jOhO u need to if u register pte ltd. and need to audit if turnover is above $5m. if i remember correctly.

If TS is just starting out, he ought to just register as a business. There is little need to register as a company just yet. Clarification between a business and a company can be found here: http://www.acra.gov.sg/

Registering as a business is easier now as one can use a HDB address as a business address. For a business, any financial liability rests on the business owners, whereas for a company, any liabilities are limited to the company, not the individual. Besides, registering as a company entails more than just audited accounts as one needs to have a company secretary, minutes of meetings, paid up capital, etc. It costs much more to set up a company compared to a business. As a business, you can choose to be GST registered or not. However you need to work out and submit quarterly GST returns. Once you register as a business, Medisave contributions must be kept up to date as well. Finally, whether operating as a freelancer, business or company, income tax for all income has to be considered as well.

[JRC]

By law, you must...even part-time. And it is very easy & cheap to register a business firm.
Registering a Company is different and requires more regulation and cost.

"All businesses, whether it’s a one-owner business or a multinational company, must register with the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). However, certain individuals, professionals and organisations are exempted from registration.

Individuals Who Are Exempted
Individuals who do not need to register with ACRA include:

licensed hawkers
domestic craftsmen
taxi drivers
trishaw riders
sampan men
farmers
private fish and prawn pond keepers
Professionals Who Are Exempted
Professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants do not need to register with ACRA as they are managed by their respective professional bodies.

Organisations Who Are Exempted
Organisations such as statutory boards, societies, mutual benefits co-operatives and charitable institutions that are set up by law also need not register. "

[enivre]

Registering can allow you access to some higher-end clients who might otherwise not deal with freelancers as the business itself gives you more credibility.

Some orgnisations will also not issue cheques to individuals. As such you might need to start a business account (OCBC's goes for $5k initial deposit and min $10k average per month balance in order to waive the $15/mth fee).

Overall it's not necessary, but if you ask me if you are sure of going into it full time then just register and cover your own rear end.

One point is, try to make sure you give A LOT of thought to your business name before registering, coz changing it will be very problematic.

Good luck!

[stonefish35]

If I'm not wrong, Director can file company's income tax, provided he/she knows how to compute and fill up Form C.

[creampuff]

First do a business name search on the ACRA website to check that the business name has not been used by someone else. Register online, state business activity. Once you get the business extract, you can then open a bank account (current). Lowest opening deposit if I am not mistaken is UOB. For most banks, you'll need to maintain a certain monthly balance, if not a fall below fee will be charged. Do up your name cards, company stamp, create a template for you quotations, invoices, delivery order, model release, accounts, etc. and you're ready to do business. With a business registration, you can later buy a goods vehicle to shuttle you and your equipment around for your assignments.

[eugeneceh]

You won't need an accountant if you know how to calculate your business receipts and expenses correctly. The parts on accruals (revenue recognition) and prepayments has to be done correctly and depreciation has to be done in accordance to IRAS' new guidelines - 1 or 3 years. This is important as depreciation policy and revenue statement will affect your trade income.

Producing receipts is only to back up your base figures. Expense incurred for each financial year has to be justified with the treatment of the above.

[artfakeme]

Thanks all for the info, keep them coming. Hope it will benefit those who also wants to know.