- Verify Singapore incorporation documents on ACRA's trustBar portal, which authenticates the Business Profile and the Certificate Confirming Registration or Incorporation.
- Other ACRA products, including the CCFP, People Profiles, Extracts and Registers, are authenticated on the Bizfile product authentication page instead.
- Verification confirms the document is genuine, not that the company is solvent or actively trading; those need separate checks.
Knowing how to verify a certificate of incorporation in Singapore matters most when the document lands in your inbox from someone you have never met. A supplier, a prospective partner, or a new client sends over a polished PDF, and you have a decision waiting on whether the company behind it is real. Anyone can format a convincing-looking certificate. Only ACRA’s records can confirm one. The good news: you can check it yourself in minutes, from anywhere, without picking up the phone.
Handed a certificate you are not sure about, with a contract waiting on your signature?
Key takeaways
- Verify Singapore incorporation documents on ACRA’s trustBar portal, which authenticates the Business Profile and the Certificate Confirming Registration or Incorporation.
- Other ACRA products, including the CCFP, People Profiles, Extracts and Registers, are authenticated on the Bizfile product authentication page instead.
- Since December 2024, ACRA certifies electronically at S$1 per page, down from S$2, and no longer offers manual certification.
- Verification confirms the document is genuine, not that the company is solvent or actively trading; those need separate checks.
- For overseas use, ACRA’s certified products are recognised by the Singapore Academy of Law, which can legalise them for a fee.
How do I verify a Singapore certificate of incorporation?
Verify a Singapore certificate of incorporation on ACRA’s trustBar portal at acratrustbar.gov.sg/verify. trustBar authenticates the two products that carry incorporation details: the Business Profile and the Certificate Confirming Registration or Incorporation of an entity. If the document is genuine, the portal returns a match against ACRA’s live register. If it has been altered or invented, it will not match, and that is your answer.
Most people run this check mid-transaction, part-way through onboarding a counterparty or wrapping up their own setup. If you would rather have that whole review handled, corporate secretary services fold entity checks into onboarding. The four steps below get you a reliable answer on your own.
Step 1: Which ACRA product are you holding?
Before you verify anything, work out what is actually in front of you. ACRA issues several information products, and they authenticate through different routes. Getting this wrong is why some checks come back “not found” when the document is real.
Two products carry incorporation details and verify on trustBar: the Business Profile, which is the entity’s core registered record, and the Certificate Confirming Registration or Incorporation of an entity. Other products, including the Corporate Compliance and Financial Profile, People Profiles, Extracts and Registers, authenticate on a separate Bizfile page instead. If someone hands you a plain image or a scanned photocopy with no way to trace it back to ACRA, treat that as a warning sign in itself.
Step 2: Which portal verifies it, trustBar or Bizfile?
Once you know the product, send it to the right portal. For a Business Profile or a Certificate Confirming Registration or Incorporation, go to ACRA’s trustBar portal at acratrustbar.gov.sg/verify and follow the prompts to authenticate the file. For the other products listed above, use the Bizfile product authentication page, which is ACRA’s official records system for company information. A short primer on using Bizfile helps if you have not logged in before.
A genuine ACRA document authenticates cleanly. A doctored one fails. There is no third outcome and no benefit of the doubt, so if the portal cannot confirm it, do not accept the certificate as proof.
Step 3: Do the entity’s live details match?
Passing authentication tells you the file is a real ACRA product. The next step tells you whether it still describes the company as it stands today. Pull up the entity’s live Business Profile and compare it against the certificate line by line.
Check that the entity name and Unique Entity Number match exactly, that the incorporation date lines up, and that the registered address and entity status agree with the live record. If you want a wider view of the company, you can run an ACRA company search, and it helps to know what an ACRA Business Profile shows before you start. A mismatch on the company’s UEN is one of the clearest signs something is wrong.
Step 4: Does it pass or fail?
You now have everything you need to decide. A pass looks like this: the document authenticates on trustBar, the name and UEN match the live Business Profile, the incorporation date agrees, and the entity status reads “Live”. When all four line up, you can treat the certificate as genuine and move ahead.
A fail looks like any break in that chain. The file will not authenticate, the UEN does not match, the status is anything other than “Live”, or the address on the certificate does not match the live record. One clean break is enough to stop and ask questions before you commit.
TIPRed flags that should stop the transaction
Some signals mean you pause the deal until you have a proper explanation. Keep this short list to hand when a certificate arrives.
Certificate red flags and what to doWhat does a genuine Singapore certificate of incorporation contain?
A real Singapore incorporation record is unglamorous, and that is the point. It carries the registered entity name, its Unique Entity Number, the entity type (for a private limited company, Private Company Limited by Shares, commonly written Pte Ltd), and the date of incorporation. It is issued electronically by ACRA and can be traced back to ACRA’s records, which is exactly what trustBar checks.
If you need the background on the document itself rather than how to verify it, what a certificate of incorporation is covers the definition in full. This guide stays on verification, so you can keep your attention on the check in front of you.
How do I get a certified copy of my own certificate?
The other side of this coin is proving your own company exists. Banks opening an account, landlords signing a lease, auditors, and overseas registries often ask for a certified copy of your incorporation record rather than a printout you produced yourself.
You buy these products from ACRA through Bizfile. A certificate showing certified business information starts from S$11, and ACRA certifies documents electronically at S$1 per page. Since December 2024, certification is electronic only; ACRA no longer offers a manually stamped copy, so any advice telling you to request a manual certification at S$2 is now out of date. If you are still getting set up, the wider basics of starting a company in Singapore sit alongside this.
Using a Singapore certificate overseas: Certification and legalisation
Sending your incorporation record to a foreign bank, embassy, or registry usually means one extra step. ACRA’s certified products are recognised by the Singapore Academy of Law. Where a document has to be submitted to embassies or foreign commissions for use abroad, the Singapore Academy of Law can legalise it for a fee, through its legalisation service at legalisation.sal.sg.
For a foreign founder who cannot fly in to sort paperwork, this is the practical route: buy the certified product from ACRA, then have the Singapore Academy of Law legalise it for the destination country. Build in a few extra days, because legalisation is a separate process with its own timeline.
How Sleek helps you verify and stay verifiable
Verifying someone else’s certificate is a two-minute job once you know the portal. Staying verifiable yourself is the part that pays off later, when a bank or partner runs the same check on you. Sleek handles both sides: entity checks as part of corporate secretary onboarding, and clean, current records that hold up when someone else looks. If you are setting up now, Sleek can incorporate a Singapore company and issue your certificate and Business Profile the same day your company is registered.
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FAQs: How to Verify a Singapore Certificate of Incorporation
Is a Singapore certificate of incorporation public information?
Yes. Company registration details in Singapore are part of ACRA’s public register, and anyone can buy a Business Profile or a certificate confirming registration or incorporation for an entity. You do not need to own or be connected to the company to purchase its Business Profile. That is what makes independent verification possible before you sign anything.
How can I tell if a certificate of incorporation is fake?
Authenticate it on ACRA’s trustBar portal at acratrustbar.gov.sg/verify. A genuine Business Profile or certificate confirming registration or incorporation returns a match against ACRA’s live records; a doctored or invented one does not. Then cross-check the entity name, UEN, incorporation date, and status against the live Business Profile. If anything fails to authenticate or does not match, treat the document as unverified.
How much does ACRA charge for a certified copy?
A certificate showing certified business information starts from S$11 when you buy it through Bizfile. Certification itself is charged at S$1 per page, reduced from S$2. Prices are set by ACRA and can change, so confirm the current fee on ACRA’s website before you order.
Can I still get a manually certified copy from ACRA?
No. Since December 2024, ACRA has provided electronic certification only for applicable products, and manual certification services have been discontinued. If a guide or template still tells you to request a manually stamped certificate, it is out of date. The electronic certified product is the current standard and is accepted in its place.
What documents do I need to prove my company exists to a bank?
Most Singapore banks accept a current Business Profile from ACRA, and some ask for a certified copy of your incorporation record. Buy these through Bizfile, and use certification where the bank specifically asks for a certified document. Check the bank’s own checklist first, since requirements vary between banks and between local and overseas account opening.
How do I use my Singapore certificate in another country?
Buy the certified product from ACRA, then have it legalised for overseas use. ACRA’s certified products are recognised by the Singapore Academy of Law, which can legalise documents for submission to embassies or foreign commissions for a fee, through legalisation.sal.sg. Allow extra time, because legalisation is a separate step from buying the certificate.
What if the company status shows something other than "Live"?
Stop and investigate before you transact. A status such as struck off, dissolved, or in liquidation means the company may no longer legally exist or trade, even if its certificate was genuine when it was issued. Ask the counterparty to explain, and confirm the current position on the live Business Profile before you commit to anything.
