Sofizo International was founded in 2002 as a corporate advisory and consulting firm specializes in risk management and investment evaluation. The company has consulted with many financial institutions in the Asia Pacific region. As the company grows and the addition of professionals to its team of experts, the company has also expanded its services into providing advisory services to non-residents in setting up companies in Singapore and supporting companies in complying with the regulatory requirements of maintaining a company.
Sofizo International is a boutique professional firm that focuses on understanding its clients’ needs and proposes solutions that are suitable to its clients just like a bespoke tailor does in tailoring a suit that not only fits its customer but also makes the customer feels extremely comfortable in the suit.
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Sofizo provides advisory services to non-residents and residents to setting up companies in egulatory ...
Read MoreEvery company registered in Singapore must keep proper books of accounts as stipulated by the ...
Read MoreBenjamin Graham, the father of security analysis, is attributed to saying that, "the essence of investment ...
Read MoreSofizo has conducted numerous courses for financial institutions and commercial entities that are engaged ...
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Sofizo provides non-residents and residents with advisory services to set up companies in Singapore and it supports companies in complying with the regulatory requirements of maintaining a going concern. Every company requires a Constitution to be incorporated, our team of specialists are able to guide business people who are unfamiliar with the company law in drafting the company constitution and putting up the necessary papers required for the formation a company.
We help customers to incorporate a Private limited company, or a Limited liability partnership, or a sole proprietorship, or a Representative office. Our experience and qualified team of company secretaries will assist customers who have incorporated private limited companies to comply with the Singapore government regulations effectively.
Though one may choose to form a business firm as a sole proprietorship or as a partnership, which may seem to have easier regulations with which to comply, The business firm may still require Sofizo’s help to maneuver in the regulatory regime that governs business firms. Business firms can be owned by either an Individual or a company (eg. Pte Ltd.). A company being a "legal person", may set up and own a business firm. However, a business firm, not being a legal entity, cannot register another business firm. A foreign company also cannot register a business firm unless it has registered itself first under the Companies Act as a branch of a foreign company.
It will take only a few hours to register a business venture as an incorporated company with limited liabilities. However, certain specific industry as stipulated in the relevant laws of Singapore, may require approval by a specific government department. The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ ACRA” ) of Singapore, the authority that governs the registration of corporates and businesses in Singapore, will be the regulator that decides if the incorporation application needs to be referred to another authority for approval or comments. For example, if you intend to carry out real estate agency activities, the application will be referred to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), the licensing agency, for review of the applicant’s qualification and approval. When an application has been referred to another authority, it may take about 14 days to 2 months.
The ACRA requires that every company appoint a qualified company secretary within 6 months from the date of its incorporation (section 171 Cap 50). Failure to appoint a qualified company secretary within 6 months from the date of its incorporation is an offence and the company directors might be subjected to penalties or prosecution according to the Companies Act. Every company is required to maintain proper records of important statutory documents, such as incorporation papers, registers of controllers and nominee directors, director’s and company secretaries’ consents to act, director’s resolutions, shareholders’ agreements and annual returns in the company registers and files. Failure to do so is an offence and the company directors might be subjected to penalties or prosecution according to the Companies Act.
Company secretary will prepare important statutory documents such as the annual return of a company, changes in the Memorandum & Articles of Associations, notices of allotment of shares, changes in the address of a company’s registered office. Company secretary will do the lodgment of these documents after changes have taken place to complete the necessary compliance with the company law. It is important to know that these filings have to be performed within a stipulated time. If there is any late submission, the directors of the company may be liable to pay late lodgment fees and/or fines. For example, if a company files its annual return late, the company is required to pay a fine for late filing before it is allowed to complete it's annual filing obligation. Other Companies Act offences may attract much heftier fines or in an unfortunate situation of an infringement that attracts criminal liability-imprisonment.
Closing down a company is also a complex and time consuming process, if the directors of the company do not have the experience in handling if, it will affect the directors directly or indirectly. There are pre-requisites to be fulfilled and procedures to which to adhere in order to strike a company off the company register maintained by the authority.
If the owner(s) of a company decides to sell his company to another person, Sofizo will assist the owner to look for a buyer and charge a nominal fee for the service.
We assure our clients that Sofizo shall always maintain a transparent communication of important information with them to help them take the right decisions in business administration; and to ensure our clients enjoy a hassle free compliance with the company law and tax code of Singapore.
Every company registered in Singapore must keep proper books of accounts as stipulated by the Singapore Companies Act (section 199 Cap 50), violation of this rule to keep proper accounts will subject the company to penalties. Keeping proper accounts enables a company to comply not only with the Companies Act’s requirements, it is also the very source of information to compute the tax liabilities of a company, which is under the purview of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”).
Accounting is an essential component of running a company, which is beyond the compliance with the Singapore company law and the ACRA’s regulations. The management and board of a company depend on accounting information to make business decisions is liken to pilots of a plane rely on the dashboard to maneuver the enormous sky. Start up and small companies who either do not have the expertise or are constrained by the availability of human resources may require to outsource their accounting function to specialists who can meet the obligation to keep timely and accurate accounts. Sofizo has a team of accounting specialists to meet customer’s varied needs to run an accounting operations. Customers may choose a package that costs a little more by having a dedicated team that updates the company’s accounts regularly and produces month end financial statements on a monthly basis; or in the case of a start-up which has few transactions and may choose a more affordable solution to keep transaction records by themselves and have the account books updated once a year together with the generation of its annual financial statements.
A company’s obligation to file for income tax return in every financial year is mandated in the Income Tax Act of Singapore (Cap 134) and if the companies are registered for Goods and Services Tax ("GST"), they are required to do quarterly reporting. As both the Income tax return and GST reporting require timely filing, the preparer of tax returns must possess the experience and expertise to complete the task not only within the reporting timeline but also with accuracy. Accuracy in tax reporting is important, as any mistakes made in the tax returns may attract penalties imposed by the tax authorities. Sofizo has a team of tax specialists, who are Accredited Tax Practitioners (“ATP”) to provide customers with a timely and accurate tax outsourcing service.
Sofizo offers the following accounting services to ensure that your company will always be prompt in producing accounting statements, filing for income tax and reporting GST;
Our specialists are able to assist the business people in preparing reports which include the statutory declarations (Twelfth Schedule of Cap 50) required by law to accompany the financial statements at the end of each financial year. The passing of necessary board resolutions to approve the financial report for circulation to shareholders and call the annual general meeting which is required by the Companies Act (section 175 Cap 50) and the recording of minutes of annual general meeting for submission to the ACRA in the filing of annual return.
The hassle of preparing company income tax return that most business people dread will also be off loaded to our specialists if our customers so wish. When a company’s revenue grows to a size that is required by tax law to register for goods and services tax, our qualified goods and services tax professionals, the ATPs, will be able to verify the input and output tax computation if they are prepared by our customers themselves; or outsource the quarterly goods and services tax reporting operation to our team of specialists if so required by our clients.
Benjamin Graham, the father of security analysis, is attributed to saying that, "the essence of investment management entails the management of risks, not the management of returns"
One of our specialized services is the evaluation of enterprise risks and providing advisory services to mitigate if not eliminate the inherent risks. Risks arise from various sources, both internal and external. Internal risks could arise from internal control procedures, information system and technology, operational processes, market exposure policy and measurement and credit control policy etc. External risks could come from the volatility of financial and commodities market, the macroeconomic environment and country specific political environment. Our team of experts recognize that clients have varying objectives and financial needs, and we aim to tailor our advice that are appropriate for the clients in accordance to their sizes, capabilities and resources.
Our team of experts also are proficient in evaluating business opportunities. In the course of clients' expansion of their businesses and market share, invariably they will have to make choices in their expansion process. Sofizo will be able to help our clients in examining the opportunities and their associated costs. In an expansion exercise that involves merger and acquisition, our experts would be the guiding hands in performing due diligence to ascertain the real value of the acquisition target. The most critical part of a merger and acquisition exercise lies in the final negotiation of acquisition price and the terms and conditions of the transactions. Our specialists will be able to help in negotiating, structuring, finalizing the deal and follow up with documentation of the transaction.
The succession planning of small and medium enterprises is the most pressing problem for these businesses which have been running for years as they concern the continuity of these businesses. Whether to go for listing, find a buyer in the same industry or setting up a trust to hold the business on behalf of family members are the few common choices that business owners have always been pondering. Our team of experts are capable of evaluating the possibility for a second board listing; or packaging the business to look more palatable to a market leader in the industry; or provide the advice in structuring a trust to hold the business for the intended beneficiaries.
Shareholders and partners of businesses may not agree with the managing directors or managing partners at all times. There may be situations where the various parties running the business together cannot resolve contending issue by themselves and are seeking disputes resolution. Our team of experts are able to provide expert opinions for a fair and just resolution of disputes; or mediation among the parties to arrive at an amicable resolution; and in the extreme situation provide consulting to clients in seeking resolution through arbitration.
Our team of experts will readily provide our clients advice in managing their business affairs. Sofizo welcomes our clients to seek our help whenever they encounter problems in carrying out their business and operational goals, or found themselves powerless and directionless in growing their business. We assure our clients that we will be the most attentive listeners to their problems and issues and will hold the hands of our client to construct an appropriate solution. We would be most happy to see our clients resolved their problems and move on happily in their business.
Sofizo has conducted numerous courses for financial institutions and commercial entities that are engaged in trading of financial instruments and commodities. Among the various courses conducted, the most popular topics are risk management and control, securities and derivatives valuation and trading strategies using derivatives.
We also help train our clients in setting up their risk management unit. The service includes drafting their enterprise wide risk policy and perform evaluation on their risk processes. Sofizo also offers specialized courses which help clients understand the documentation of over-the Counter derivative transactions and the compliance with the relevant laws and regulations for derivatives trading in different jurisdictions.
Sofizo also has in store a series of courses catered to small and medium enterprises. Among others, there are courses which help train the entrepreneurs and their key staff on business management, which include basic knowledge in accounting, finance, company and contract law as well as income tax and GST. We can tailor these courses to suit the specific needs of a particular enterprise and we are able to conduct the courses in both English and Mandarin.
