The Complete Guide to Managing Tax Risks in Singapore

 

Looking for help in managing your tax risks? Learn from this infographic on how you can manage your tax risks.  

Seek help from reliable accounting firms in Singapore like Corporate Services Singapore to identify opportunities and spot flaws within your company’s internal practices. The firm also offers services that includes Singapore company incorporation, company secretary services Singapore, payroll, accounting services, auditing & assurance and taxation.

Source:  https://www.corporateservicessingapore.com/the-complete-guide-to-managing-tax-risks-in-singapore/

5 Essential Characteristics that Make a Successful Corporate Secretary

 When running a business in Singapore, one of the mandatory requirements is to have a corporate secretary on board.

Whether in-house or outsourced, corporate secretaries play a crucial role in handling corporate tasks. They hold the responsibilities of managing day-to-day administration, scheduling meetings, and ensuring the company's smooth operation. That said, corporate secretaries require impeccable organizational and communication skills, initiative, drive, and professionalism. 

More specifically, a great corporate secretary should possess the following qualities:

Multi-tasker

Because of the demanding nature of the job, corporate secretaries should be able to multi-task with ease. Preparing meetings, complying with corporate governance, bridging communications, and filing documents are just a few of their required tasks. However, there will come a time when these tasks overlap one another. In such cases, a good corporate secretary should know how to cope with it and overcome the challenge with finesse.

Proper time management

Since most of their tasks must be delivered within a specific deadline, corporate secretaries need to have proper time management skills.

But aside from managing their tasks, directors also rely heavily on them to plan and schedule meetings, such as board meetings and annual general meetings. So, knowing how to balance their obligations within the set time frame is essential for office secretaries.

Detail-oriented

One of the significant roles of the corporate secretary is to manage company records.

Company records are usually confidential documents that contain vital information about the company's finances and strategies. Ensuring that all documents are accounted for is important to keeping the business on track. For this reason, corporate secretaries must be detail-oriented.

Not only do they have to collect documents, but they also have to assess the information presented. Is the information complete? Is there any error? Is it aligned with the business plans? As the first point of contact between shareholders and the rest of the company, corporate secretaries are responsible for circulating announcements and tracking business progress. As such, they must detect incomplete or inaccurate information and notify the directors immediately before sharing data.

Transparency

In relation to the previous point, corporate secretaries need to be honest and transparent, especially with regard to the information they hold. In other words, they need to share their insights on specific business matters. 

As educated and trained professionals, corporate secretaries can offer a different yet substantial perspective on many corporate concerns. As such, many leaders consider them as reliable advisers. So, when they have an opinion to share, they should take the initiative to be transparent. 

However, having an idea and communicating it clearly are two different skills. That’s why every corporate secretary must be clear communicators.

Clear communication

Corporate secretaries work closely with executives and senior stakeholders. Because of this, they need to learn how to be diplomatic, tactful, concise, and persuasive. Moreover, they must be good listeners as well as good negotiators. 

As advisors in the company, they need to build strong relationships with clients and decision-makers. Once the relationship is forged, they can become a voice of reason to offer assistance in navigating the company in the right direction. 

In addition, having excellent communication skills not only gives them the power to express their ideas but, more importantly, propose sound strategies to execute the plans to ensure the success of the company.

That said, there’s no doubt that being a corporate secretary is demanding. But they hold a pivotal role in the company. 

Finding individuals with these qualities can be challenging and time-consuming. Fortunately, companies have the option to hire company secretarial services from experienced firms. Corporate secretarial services Singapore offers expertise and convenience that every business can benefit from. So, rather than hiring in-house corporate secretaries, try outsourcing from reputable firms in Singapore.

4 Effective Tips to Improve Minutes of the Meeting

 

For every board discussion, company secretarial services in Singapore are required to take down the minutes of the meeting. Taking down the minutes is essential because this provides a synopsis for all meetings, which can therefore be used to document the company’s progress throughout time.

For this reason, the minutes of the meeting record is considered a legal document in Singapore, where all private and public companies are required to prepare and keep within one month of the meeting. They're especially important because they accomplish the following tasks:

●       Serve as a permanent record

●       Summarise entire proceedings

●       Measure progress

●       Aid in accountability

 

Due to its integral role in the company’s operations, it’s crucial to know how to prepare minutes with the highest efficiency possible. So, to improve the quality of the minutes of the meeting, here are some tips that can guide corporate secretarial services Singapore in preparing this important document in the future.

 

Plan beforehand

Like most aspects of business, a good minutes of the meeting requires planning ahead of time. That said, before starting a meeting, it's crucial to have a prior discussion with the company's president or another relevant party to clarify expectations and determine the perfect meeting minutes format to use.

 

Through this pre-meeting discussion, you can set a thorough agenda and prepare a template that can help you take down information much more conveniently.

 

Create a template using the meeting’s agenda

The template varies per meeting agenda. While some meetings require only a basic template, others require more elaborate ones. To know which one you’ll need for future meetings, here are the top four templates available:

●       Basic meeting template is a flexible and convenient template for different types of meetings. It contains organised headlines that are also easy to navigate. Because of its basic style, this template can display information completely and neatly.

 

●       Microsoft Word template has a built-in template you can use. You can browse different meeting minutes templates from the app itself. Once the template is loaded on the document, you’ll see different headlines and colour-coded titles to make it easy for you to fill in the details.

 

●       Google Docs template is similar to Microsoft word. The only difference is that Google Docs updates information in real-time. So, when others have access to the meeting minutes' file, they can get updated information instantly and even place notes and comments within the document.

 

●       Project template is specific to every project. Unlike the generic templates mentioned above, this template is customised to the company itself. It contains specific information regarding the project that no other templates have.

 

To ensure that your template suits the objective of every meeting, align its headlines with the meeting's agenda. Having a template on hand should make taking notes much easier and more convenient.

 

Know what details to capture

To know what details you need to capture, pay close attention to the headlines on the template. This should serve as your guide when taking down notes. Here's a list of some of the common details you need to be particular about when preparing your minutes of the meeting:

●       Organisation name

●       Purpose or objective/s of the meeting

●       Start and end time of the meeting

●       Date and place of the meeting

●       Number of members present along with their names and respective positions

●       Number of members absent along with their names and respective positions

●       Raised concerns

●       Action plan and resolution

●       Signature of the corporate secretary and organisation leader

 

Although it's ideal to have the complete meeting transcribed for the minutes, it's unnecessary. Some of the banter during the discussion may not hold importance in achieving the objective. As such, company secretary services Singapore need to know what specific information to focus on.

Make a final copy and distribute

After proofreading your notes and making sure that no information is left out, it's time to make a final copy and send it to your colleagues. Distributing this information is a great way to ensure that every employee is aligned and up-to-date with the latest company information.

 

For professional assistance, get corporate secretary services to record meeting minutes in the most efficient way possible.