Compare options
Three ways to keep Singapore books
Standalone software, a managed service, or software with a part-time bookkeeper.
Here is what each one asks of your time — not just your money.
Three ways to keep Singapore books
There is no single right answer here, and pretending otherwise would waste your time.
Singapore SMEs generally choose between doing it themselves in cloud accounting software, handing the whole function to a managed service, or running software with a part-time bookkeeper. Each row below sets out what that option actually costs you in time and attention, not just in dollars.
DIY: standalone cloud accounting software
Xero and QuickBooks Online are both capable platforms, and either can run a small Singapore business's books competently. You get full control, direct visibility, and a monthly subscription that is a fraction of a service fee. Many founders start here, and for a business with one bank account and thirty transactions a month, it is a reasonable place to stay.
What you are buying is the software. What you are not buying is judgement. Categorisation, GST treatment, year-end adjustments, and the reconciliation queue are yours to handle. That works until it does not, and it usually stops working at the point where the founder is also the sales team, the operations manager, and the person chasing a late payment.
Best fit
One bank account, around thirty transactions a month, and the discipline to keep it current.
Managed bookkeeping: software plus people
A managed service like LedgePoint combines the same class of cloud accounting software with a bookkeeping team that maintains it. Receipts come in by WhatsApp, email, or app upload. Bank feeds are reconciled continuously. GST-ready records are kept current, and management reports arrive monthly.
The trade is straightforward: you pay more than a software subscription and you stop doing the bookkeeping. For businesses with growing transaction volume, GST registration, or InvoiceNow counterparties, that trade usually pays for itself in recovered hours long before it pays for itself in accounting accuracy.
Best fit
GST-registered businesses, more than one bank account, or InvoiceNow counterparties.
ReconciledLocal service firms and Xero-based providers
Singapore has a well-established tier of accounting firms running on Xero, covering bookkeeping, GST filing, and financial statements for SMEs that want outsourced support. These firms are a real option and often a good one, particularly if you want a single relationship covering both routine bookkeeping and formal accounting work.
The differences tend to show up in workflow rather than in accounting quality. Not every firm runs a modern receipt capture flow, offers InvoiceNow connectivity, or produces monthly management reports as standard. Ask specifically about those before comparing fees, because they change the amount of admin that lands back on you.
Best fit
Businesses wanting one relationship across routine bookkeeping and formal accounting work.
What to compare beyond the monthly fee
Fee is the easiest number to compare and the least informative. Flip between the two to see what each one actually asks of you.
The monthly report
A management report is the part of bookkeeping you actually read. It summarises the month once the ledger is reconciled, so decisions rest on current numbers rather than last quarter's.
What the report contains
- Profit and loss
- Month against the same month last year.
- Balance sheet
- Assets, liabilities and equity at close.
- GST position
- Output tax, input tax and the net figure so far.
- Aged receivables
- Who owes you, and how long it has been outstanding.
- Notes from the bookkeeper
- Anything uncategorised, unusual or worth your attention.
Matching the choice to transaction volume
A rough guide rather than a rule. Under about fifty transactions a month with one account, standalone software is usually sufficient if you are disciplined.
Between fifty and a few hundred, or as soon as multiple accounts, cards, or GST enter the picture, managed support starts earning its fee. Above that, or with staff expense claims in the mix, DIY stops being realistic for most founders.
The signal to watch is not volume itself. It is how often bookkeeping slides to the following month, and how much of year-end is spent reconstructing rather than reviewing. A founder who reconciles on the first weekend of the month can stay on standalone software for years. A founder who is reconciling in March for the year just gone has already outgrown it, whatever the transaction count says.
- Under 50 a month
- One bank account, no GST, receipts entered the same week. Standalone cloud accounting software carries this comfortably.
- 50 to a few hundred
- Second account or card, staff claims appearing, GST registration likely. This is where managed support starts earning its fee.
- Above that, with staff claims
- DIY stops being realistic for most founders — not because the software fails, but because the queue does.
The month closes when the last line reconciles.
Nothing on this page changes that. Every option above is only a way of getting to the same place — a ledger that is current, and a founder who is not the one holding the pen at midnight.
Where LedgePoint sits in that list
LedgePoint is the managed option, built on cloud accounting software with a team behind it.
We are not the cheapest way to keep books, and we are not trying to be. We are the option for businesses that want the records current, GST-ready and reportable without being the person who maintains them. If that is not what you need, standalone software is a legitimate answer and we will say so. The comparison only has value if it is honest about where each option fits.
Still not sure which one you are
Tell us the month you are on and roughly how many transactions it carries. We will tell you honestly whether standalone software is enough for you right now — including when the answer is that you do not need us yet.
Can I start on standalone software and move to managed later?
Yes, and plenty of businesses do. The move is easier when the earlier file is tidy — chart of accounts kept to a sensible length, bank feeds actually reconciled, receipts attached rather than sitting in a drawer. Ask before you commit how the handover would work and whether the history comes with you.
Does GST registration change the answer?
Often, yes. GST treatment is where the difference between software and judgement shows up most clearly: which supplies are standard-rated, which are zero-rated or exempt, and how the records are held so a quarter-end return is a review rather than a reconstruction. Standalone platforms will record whatever you tell them. They will not tell you what to record.
Do I keep my data if I leave a managed service?
That is worth asking any provider, including us, before you sign rather than after. What you want to hear is that the ledger file, the transaction history and the audit trail are yours and exportable in a standard format. Clean data portability is worth more than a modest fee difference, and a provider who will not answer the question is answering it.
How do receipts actually reach the ledger?
On a managed service, WhatsApp, email or an app upload — and critically, someone on the other side chasing the ones that never arrive. The chasing is the part founders underestimate. A receipt that reaches the ledger three months late costs more attention than a receipt that reaches it the same week.
Talk it through with someone who keeps books
We work Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Ask about your month, your volume or your GST position — and we will tell you which of the three options above actually fits.
- Address
- 120 Robinson Road, #12-01,
Singapore 068913 - Phone
- +65 6224 3204
- [email protected]
LedgePoint keeps Singapore SME ledgers with cloud accounting software and a bookkeeping team behind them.
Compare plans and pricing