Your toolkit for starting a new business

Ideas and research

Starting your own business? Here’s what you need to know about the best business ideas and where to start.

woman sitting at a desk thinking about business ideas

Find the right business ideas

Delve into what makes a good small business idea, from brainstorming, to testing, to completing a viability checklist.

man pushing a trolley of baked goods baked in his bakery business

How to start a business

Starting your own business isn’t one big decision. It’s hundreds of small decisions. And if you want to succeed, you need to move through them systematically.

Business Registration

After making the exciting decision to become a business owner, now's the time to officially name and legally register your new business and potentially apply for other licenses and permits.

Setting up your business

We’ve shortlisted the top three corporate secretarial firms in Singapore who will help you with the ins and outs of getting your new business set up.

Ardent Outsourcing Pte Ltd (InCorp Global)

Ardent is one of the earliest Xero Certified partners in Singapore and has recently become one of Xero’s largest Platinum partners.

Optimising the latest cloud technologies on trend, Ardent provide SMEs with accounting services and solutions that simply ease their minds. With a highly qualified team of Chartered Accountants, they also extend their services in the areas of audit, tax, accounting, valuation, business advisory, transactions support, insolvency, restructuring, litigation support and business set-up consultancy.

Find out more

Osome

Imagine business without papers. No annual returns, no financial year ends, just creating, working, and getting things done.

If you ever wanted that, try Osome. Osome makes company Incorporation, Corporate Secretary and Accounting so seamless you might even enjoy it! No paper docs, just a thread in a secure chat and experts online 24/7.

Find out more

Sleek

Sleek makes the lives of entrepreneurs, investors and SMEs easier!

Sleek provide a 100% online platform for effortlessly incorporating and managing the regulatory, tax and accounting requirements for companies in Singapore and Hong Kong. To date, Sleek has assisted more than 2,000 companies with their projects from tiny consulting shops, to sub-divisions of MNCS, and prominent startups.

Find out more

Finding and selling to customers

The next crucial step is promoting your business and starting to sell your goods and services.

cafe owner on the phone ordering more stock

Manage your inventory

If your business has inventory you’ll need to understand the types of inventory, what inventory management is and how to account for it.

Download guide

Invoice templates

It’s easy to write an invoice with our downloadable template or learn the ins and outs of getting paid with the comprehensive Invoicing Survival Guide.

Use invoice template

Create a website

Your website is an online version of your storefront. Get the basics on how to create a business website, what to put on it, and how to turn it into a moneymaker.

Website 101

Getting paid and paying others

So you’ve sold your product or service, now how do you make sure you get paid so you can pay your bills?

man sitting at a desk using a payslip to manage staff pay

Payslip templates

Create a payslip for your employees in no time with our easy-to-use template. Make payroll time a little easier on yourself.

Use payslip template

Chase late payments

Xero research shows that only 39.45% of payments to Singapore SMEs are paid on time. See how payment terms affect when your invoice will be paid, and don’t be afraid to send payment reminders for outstanding invoices.

How to get paid

hand holding a phone displaying "pay now"

Pay yourself

You started your own business to do something you love and make money. But how much should you pay yourself? Too little and you may struggle to survive. Too much and your business might be at risk.

Find the balance

Business accounting 101

Got sales coming in the door? Congratulations! Here are resources to help you do basic accounting for your small business and track performance.

hand holding a phone doing mobile accounting

Accounting glossary

You’ve probably heard people mention bank reconciliation and net profit margins - find out what it means and other key accounting terms.

Read the glossary

Singapore GST guide

Owning a business means you need to know what GST is, when and how to register for GST and when to lodge GST F5 return.

Read GST guide

Create financial reports

Download templates for the two most important reports to have when running your business - the balance sheet and the profit & loss statement.

Download now

Get funding under the Digital Resilience Bonus with Xero

The Digital Resilience Bonus is a financial grant by the IMDA that encourages food services and retail businesses to use e-payments and digital solutions - including Xero - for running their business in the new environment today. Find out how you can get funding under the Bonus with Xero.

Learn more

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