How Much Does a Statutory Audit Cost in Singapore? (2026 Fee Guide)
By Lucas Seah, Founder of Excellence Singapore Group | Last Updated: June 2026
A statutory audit in Singapore typically costs between S$1,000 and S$12,000 a year for most small and mid-sized companies, and more for complex or listed groups. A dormant company audit can be as low as S$1,000, a small company with simple operations usually pays S$2,500 to S$5,000, and a larger SME with revenue between S$5 million and S$10 million often pays S$5,000 to S$12,000. Fees are negotiated, not regulated, so the figure depends mostly on your size, complexity, and how clean your books are.
This guide breaks down what a statutory audit costs by company profile, what makes the fee go up, how to keep it down, and how to check whether you are exempt and can avoid the cost altogether.
Key Takeaways
- There is no fixed or regulated audit fee in Singapore. Auditors quote per engagement based on size, complexity, and risk.
- Typical ranges: dormant company S$1,000 to S$2,000, small company S$2,500 to S$5,000, larger SME S$5,000 to S$12,000, and complex, multi-entity or listed companies S$12,000 and above.
- The biggest fee drivers are revenue, the number of subsidiaries to consolidate, transaction volume, inventory, and the quality of your bookkeeping.
- A first-year audit or a change of auditor usually costs more than a recurring one.
- Many small private companies are exempt from audit entirely, which saves the whole fee. Check the small-company exemption before you pay for anything.
What a Statutory Audit Fee Pays For
A statutory audit is an independent examination of your financial statements by a Public Accountant registered with ACRA, ending in a formal opinion on whether the accounts give a true and fair view under the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards. The fee pays for the auditor’s time to plan the audit, test your transactions and balances, verify items such as bank balances and inventory, and prepare the auditor’s report. Because it is skilled professional work performed to the Singapore Standards on Auditing, it is priced on hours and risk, not on a fixed rate card. For the rules on whether your company needs an audit at all, see our guide on whether you need an audit and how to choose a firm.
Typical Statutory Audit Fees by Company Profile
The table below shows the market ranges most Singapore firms quote in 2026. They are a guide to budget with, not a quotation: every engagement is priced on its own facts.
| Company profile | Typical annual audit fee | What it reflects |
|---|---|---|
| Dormant company | S$1,000 to S$2,000 | Few or no transactions (and usually exempt anyway) |
| Small company, simple operations (revenue under S$5m) | S$2,500 to S$5,000 | Single entity, clean books, no inventory |
| Larger SME (revenue S$5m to S$10m) | S$5,000 to S$12,000 | Higher transaction volume, possibly inventory or one subsidiary |
| Complex or multi-entity company | S$12,000 to S$20,000 | Consolidation, inventory, or a higher-risk sector |
| Listed company or large group | S$20,000 and above | SGX listing or multinational group, often a Big 4 firm |
These ranges reflect the pricing audit providers publish for SME work, and they match what we see when clients compare quotes: small-company statutory audits are commonly advertised from around S$1,000 to S$5,000, while complex engagements run into the tens of thousands. The spread is wide because two companies of the same revenue can be very different to audit.
What Drives Your Audit Fee Up
Auditors price on time and risk. The same factors that make your accounts harder to verify are the ones that raise the fee. The main drivers are:
- Revenue and size. More transactions and bigger balances mean more testing.
- Subsidiaries and consolidation. A group audit that has to consolidate several entities costs far more than a single company.
- Inventory. Stock that must be counted and valued, especially across locations, adds audit work.
- Transaction volume. A high number of invoices, payments, and journal entries lengthens testing.
- Quality of your bookkeeping. Clean, reconciled, well-supported records are quick to audit. Messy or incomplete books are the single most common reason a quote comes in high.
- First-year or change of auditor. A new auditor has to understand your business and verify opening balances from scratch, so the first year usually costs more than later ones.
- Industry and deadline pressure. Higher-risk sectors and tight reporting deadlines both push fees up.
This is why audit-fee research has long modelled fees on three determinants: size, complexity, and risk. Everything on the list above is one of those three in practice.
How to Pay Less for Your Audit
The cheapest lever is the quality of your records. An auditor who receives a clean trial balance, reconciled bank accounts, and tidy supporting documents spends far fewer hours than one who has to fix the books first. In our experience, handing an auditor a reconciled trial balance and tidy support is what brings a quote in at the lower end of these bands. Keeping accurate records all year, rather than scrambling at year-end, is the most reliable way to keep the fee down. That is the core benefit of good outsourced accounting and of understanding the difference between bookkeeping and accounting, and it is worth comparing against the broader cost of accounting services so you budget for the year as a whole.
Two more levers help. First, choose a firm that fits your size: a boutique or mid-tier firm will quote far less than a Big 4 firm for a straightforward SME, as our guide to the best audit firms in Singapore explains. Second, give your auditor a complete handover early; rushing a year-end audit into a tight deadline invites a premium.
Do You Even Need to Pay for an Audit?
Many small companies pay for an audit they are not required to have. A private company is exempt from a statutory audit if it qualifies as a small company, meaning it meets at least two of three tests (revenue of S$10 million or less, total assets of S$10 million or less, 50 employees or fewer) across its last two financial years. A dormant company is also exempt. If you qualify, you skip the audit fee entirely and simply prepare unaudited financial statements. Before you accept any audit quote, confirm your position with our guide to the small company audit exemption. Note that ACRA opened a consultation in early 2026 on raising these thresholds, but the S$10 million limits still apply as of mid-2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a statutory audit cost in Singapore?
For most SMEs a statutory audit costs between S$1,000 and S$12,000 a year. A dormant company can be S$1,000 to S$2,000, a small company with simple operations S$2,500 to S$5,000, and a larger SME with revenue of S$5 million to S$10 million around S$5,000 to S$12,000. Complex, multi-entity or listed companies pay from S$12,000 to well above S$20,000. There is no fixed fee, so always get a written quote.
What is a reasonable audit fee for a small company?
For a small private company with simple operations and clean books, a fee in the region of S$2,500 to S$5,000 is reasonable in 2026. If a quote is much higher, it usually reflects messy records, inventory, subsidiaries, or a first-year audit. If it is much lower, check that a registered Public Accountant will actually sign the report.
Why are audit fees so high?
An audit is skilled work performed to the Singapore Standards on Auditing and signed off by a registered Public Accountant who carries professional liability. The fee reflects the hours needed to test your transactions and balances and the risk involved. Bigger, more complex, or poorly documented companies take more hours, which is why their fees are higher.
How can I reduce my audit fee?
Keep clean, reconciled records all year so the auditor has less to fix, hand over a complete year-end package early, and choose a firm that fits your size rather than defaulting to a Big 4 firm. Good ongoing bookkeeping is the single biggest saving, because a tidy set of books can cut audit hours substantially.
Is there a fixed or regulated audit fee in Singapore?
No. Audit fees are negotiated between the company and the firm, and there is no statutory or regulated rate. This is why quotes for the same company can vary, and why it is worth getting two or three written quotes and comparing the scope, not just the price.
How much does it cost to audit a dormant company?
A dormant company is usually exempt from audit altogether, so most pay nothing for one. Where an audit is still required by a lender or shareholder, a dormant company is the cheapest to audit, often around S$1,000 to S$2,000, because there are few or no transactions to test.
Talk to Us
The fastest way to control your audit cost is to keep audit-ready books and to know whether you are exempt in the first place. Excellence Singapore confirms whether your company qualifies for audit exemption, keeps your accounting and financial statements audit-ready, and liaises with your appointed auditor so the engagement runs lean. We are a corporate services firm, not a statutory auditor, so we work in your interest on cost. Talk to us before you accept an audit quote.
