If you’re looking to learn about the difference between a registered office and a corporate office, you’re in the right place. In this blog, we explain the difference between the two types of offices, whether you need a registered office for your business and where you can find a registered office address.
What is a Corporate Office?
A corporate office, also commonly known as the headquarters, is the main office of a corporation. The leaders of the corporation such as the CEO, supervisors, shareholders, corporate personnel and the board of directors all work from and are based at corporate offices. Corporate offices are usually the hub of the company and often serve as the central location where top decisions are made.
A corporation might have other offices across the country or the world that report to the corporate office, however, these additional offices generally apply company policy and practices from the decisions made at the corporate office.
What is a Registered Office?
A registered office is the legal headquarters and the physical office of the corporation. A registered office can also be known as a registered office address. Registered offices are used to store your company’s statutory registers for inspection, and acts as your company’s official address for receiving statutory mail and legal documents from ACRA, and various other government entities.
The address of a registered office in Singapore must be an actual address (and can be a virtual office). If someone were to take legal action against a corporation, legal papers should be submitted to the registered office (and not the corporate office). In most cases, employees of the corporation do not do business from the registered offices.
When Do I Need a Registered Office?
Legally, when registering a company or LLP with ACRA in Singapore, it is a requirement to have a registered office address.
Can I Use My Home Address as a Registered Office?
Yes, you can use your home address as a registered office, however, this is strongly not recommended, as your home address will be available for public view and furthermore, you might need to request government approval before you can use a residential address as your registered office address.
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Can You Change Your Registered Office Address?
Yes, you can change your registered office address at any time. It is common that businesses change structure, move around or even get sold to a third party. If you would like to explore alternatives to your current registered office address.
Using a Virtual Office as a Registered Office
In order to use a address as a registered office, there are some requirements from ACRA that need to be met:
- The office must be open and accessible to all for at least five hours during ordinary business hours on each business day
- The office address should be a physical office address located in Singapore.
- The address cannot be a P.O. Box
Using a virtual office as a registered office is a convenient solution for many companies that can offer a variety of benefits including:
- providing the opportunity to establish a reputable corporate image
- allow you to keep home address details off the public record
- practical and cost-effective solution
- meet the ever-changing needs of a small business
If you decide to use a virtual office as your company’s registered office, you are legally required to register the address with ACRA. Any statutory mail and legal documents from ACRA and other government entities will be delivered to the registered office with the address publicly available. Your registered address should also be included on your company stationary, such as emails, letters, your company’s website and even advertising material.
To learn more about virtual offices and how they can benefit you, visit us here
