Management Accounts Singapore | Monthly Financial Reports for Business Decisions

A business owner in Paya Lebar called me last year. He ran a logistics company with 15 trucks. Revenue was about $2 million annually. "I have no idea if I'm making money," he said. "My bank account has $80,000 in it, but I don't know if that's good or bad."

I asked when he last looked at his profit and loss statement. "Never," he admitted. "My accountant gives me financial statements once a year for tax filing. That's it."

He was flying blind. Making decisions about buying trucks, hiring drivers, and bidding for contracts with zero financial visibility. When we set up monthly management accounts for him, he discovered his profit margin was only 3%. Industry standard? Around 15%. He was busy, but barely profitable.

Management accounts are different from the financial statements you prepare once a year for IRAS and ACRA. Those are for compliance. Management accounts are for running your business. They tell you what's actually happening with your money right now, not six months ago.

This page explains what management accounts are, why Singapore businesses need them, and how to get monthly reports that actually help you make better decisions.

What Management Accounts Actually Are

Management accounts are internal financial reports prepared monthly or quarterly to help you run your business. They're not filed with any government agency. They're for you.

Typical management accounts include:

Monthly Profit & Loss: Shows revenue and expenses for the current month and year-to-date. You see if you're making money or losing money each month.

Balance Sheet: Shows what you own (assets) and what you owe (liabilities) as of month-end. Tracks if your company is getting stronger or weaker financially.

Cash Flow Statement: Shows where money came from and where it went. You can be profitable on paper but run out of cash. This report shows why.

KPI Dashboard: Key Performance Indicators specific to your business. Gross profit margin, revenue per employee, average transaction value, inventory turnover - whatever matters for your industry.

Variance Analysis: Compares actual numbers to budget or previous months. Shows what changed and why.

The logistics company owner? Once he had management accounts, he discovered one of his clients was unprofitable. The contract looked good on paper, but when you factored in fuel costs, driver overtime, and vehicle maintenance, they were losing money on every delivery. He renegotiated the contract. Profit margin jumped from 3% to 12%.

Why Your Year-End Accounts Aren't Enough

Most small businesses in Singapore only get financial statements once a year. Your accountant prepares them in January or February for the previous year ending December. You file your taxes in November. That's it.

Here's the problem with only having annual accounts:

They're Too Late: You're looking at last year's numbers in March. Can't change what happened 3-12 months ago. You need current information to make current decisions.

They're for Compliance, Not Management: Annual accounts follow strict SFRS formats required by ACRA and IRAS. The format is designed for regulators, not business owners trying to understand their numbers.

They Don't Show Trends: One year's numbers don't tell you if things are getting better or worse. You need monthly data to spot trends before they become problems.

They Don't Include KPIs: Your statutory accounts show profit, but they don't show metrics like customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, or gross margin by product line. You need these for real business decisions.

An F&B business in Changi Business Park was losing money for six months before they realized it. They only got annual accounts. By the time they saw the problem in their year-end statements, they'd burned through $120,000 in cash. Monthly management accounts would have flagged the issue in month two.

Accounting Firm Management Accounts vs DIY

Some business owners try to create management accounts themselves using Excel or accounting software reports. This rarely works well.

The Problem with DIY Management Accounts:

• Time-consuming. Takes 8-10 hours per month if you're doing it properly.
• Easy to make errors. One wrong formula in Excel, and all your numbers are wrong.
• Hard to interpret. You might produce numbers, but what do they mean? What should you do about them?
• Inconsistent. One month you format it one way, next month it's different. Can't compare.

When accounting firms prepare management accounts, you get:

Professional Formatting: Reports are clean, consistent, and easy to read. Same format every month so you can spot changes quickly.

Accurate Numbers: We reconcile everything. Bank accounts, credit cards, receivables, payables. Your numbers are right.

Meaningful Analysis: We don't just give you numbers. We explain what changed, why it matters, and what you should do about it.

Industry Benchmarks: We compare your numbers to industry standards. Is your gross margin good or bad? We know because we see dozens of businesses in your industry.

Time Saved: You get 8-10 hours per month back to focus on running your business instead of fighting with Excel.

A construction company in Woodlands tried doing management accounts in Excel for a year. The owner spent every Sunday updating spreadsheets. Numbers were often wrong because he'd miss transactions. When he switched to professional management accounts, he got better information in less time and stopped working Sundays.

Tax Preparation Service Benefits from Management Accounts

If you have monthly management accounts, your tax filing becomes faster and cheaper.

Your accountant needs accurate financial data to prepare your ECI (Estimated Chargeable Income) filing within 3 months of year-end. With management accounts, you already have 12 months of clean data. Your accountant just needs to make tax adjustments.

For Form C-S or Form C filing in November, same thing. Numbers are ready. Tax computation is quick.

Without management accounts? Your accountant needs to reconstruct the whole year in November. This takes longer and costs more.

Plus, with monthly management accounts, you spot tax planning opportunities during the year instead of after year-end when it's too late to do anything.

Examples of tax planning from management accounts:

• You see profit is higher than expected in October. You accelerate equipment purchases to claim capital allowances this year instead of next.
• You notice revenue is approaching $1 million in June. You plan for GST registration before hitting the threshold.
• Management accounts show you're paying directors via directors' fees. Your tax advisor suggests switching to dividends for tax efficiency.

A trading company in Jurong saw from their September management accounts that profit would be around $200,000 for the year. We advised buying the warehouse equipment they'd been planning for next year. Bought it in November, claimed capital allowances, reduced taxable income to $140,000. Saved $14,000 in tax. Only possible because they had monthly visibility.

Bookkeeping Service as Foundation for Management Accounts

You can't have good management accounts without good bookkeeping. Management accounts are only as accurate as the underlying bookkeeping data.

Good bookkeeping for management accounts means:

Timely Recording: Transactions recorded within days of happening, not months later. Management accounts for January should be ready by mid-February, not April.

Accurate Categorization: Expenses properly classified so you can see what you're actually spending money on. "Office expenses" of $50,000 tells you nothing. Breaking it down into rent, utilities, supplies, insurance tells you where money is going.

Bank Reconciliation: Every bank and credit card account reconciled monthly. This catches errors and missing transactions before they corrupt your management accounts.

Accrual Adjustments: Revenue and expenses recorded in the right month, not just when cash moves. Management accounts on cash basis are misleading.

If you're already doing monthly bookkeeping with us, adding management accounts is simple. We just format the reports and add analysis. If you're doing annual bookkeeping only, we need to move you to monthly bookkeeping first.

An e-commerce business in Toa Payoh wanted management accounts but their bookkeeping was a mess. We spent the first two months cleaning up and organizing their books. Month three onwards, management accounts were accurate and useful. They initially complained about the cleanup cost, but once they saw reliable numbers, they realized it was worth it.

Chartered Accountant Expertise in Management Accounts

Not all accountants are equally good at management accounts. This is where chartered accountant training makes a real difference.

At KPMG and Deloitte, I worked on management reporting for companies doing hundreds of millions in revenue. Management accounts were detailed, analyzed deeply, and used for major business decisions. I learned how to present financial information in ways that actually help managers make decisions.

What chartered accountants bring to management accounts:

We Understand Business Context: Numbers mean nothing without context. We know what good looks like in different industries. We can tell you if your numbers are strong, weak, or average for your business type.

We Spot Red Flags: Declining gross margin. Rising receivables. Shrinking cash. We know which trends signal trouble and alert you before small problems become big ones.

We Ask the Right Questions: Why did revenue drop 15% in March? Why are staff costs suddenly higher? We investigate anomalies instead of just reporting numbers.

We Speak Your Language: We explain financial concepts in plain English. No jargon. No assuming you have an accounting degree.

A professional services firm in CBD hired a bookkeeper who could produce monthly reports. But the reports were just numbers with no explanation. They switched to us. We review their management accounts with them monthly, explain what changed and why, and discuss what actions they should take. Same data, way more useful.

Tax Advisor Insights from Management Accounts

Monthly management accounts let tax advisors do proactive tax planning instead of reactive tax filing.

When we prepare your management accounts, we're constantly thinking about tax implications:

• Is your business structure tax-efficient? Should you set up a holding company?
• Are you claiming all available deductions? Did you miss any?
• Can you restructure director compensation for better tax outcomes?
• Should you accelerate or defer certain expenses?
• When should you pay out dividends?

These conversations happen naturally when we review management accounts monthly. Year-end tax filing? We just execute the strategy we've been discussing all year.

A retail business discovered from their management accounts that they were paying part-time staff as contractors. Tax advisor flagged that IRAS might view them as employees. We switched to proper employment + CPF. Avoided a huge tax assessment when IRAS eventually audited them.

What Should Be in Your Management Accounts

Every business is different, but most Singapore SMEs need these reports monthly:

1. Profit & Loss Statement

• Current month and year-to-date
• Comparison to previous month and same month last year
• Budget vs actual if you have a budget

2. Balance Sheet

• What you own and what you owe as of month-end
• Working capital calculation
• Comparison to previous month

3. Cash Flow Summary

• Opening cash, cash in, cash out, closing cash
• Explanation of major cash movements
• Cash runway projection

4. Accounts Receivable Aging

• Who owes you money
• How long they've owed it
• Which customers are overdue

5. Key Performance Indicators

• Gross profit margin
• Revenue per employee
• Average transaction value
• Customer acquisition cost
• Whatever KPIs matter for your specific business

We customize the KPI dashboard for each client. A law firm tracks billable hours and realization rate. An F&B business tracks food cost percentage and table turnover. A logistics company tracks revenue per vehicle and cost per delivery.

How Often Should You Get Management Accounts

Monthly: Best for most businesses. You catch problems early, spot trends, make informed decisions.

Quarterly: Works if your business is very stable and seasonal. Better than annual but you're still looking at 1-3 month old data when making decisions.

Weekly: Some businesses with high cash flow or tight margins need weekly dashboards. We do this for a few high-volume retail clients.

For most Singapore SMEs, monthly is right. Quarterly is too slow. Weekly is overkill unless you're doing $10 million+ in revenue.

What Management Accounts Actually Cost

• Basic Package: $400-$600/month
• Standard Package: $800-$1,200/month
• Premium Package: $1,500-$2,500/month

What determines cost:

• Number of transactions per month
• Number of bank accounts and credit cards
• Complexity of your business
• Level of detail you need
• How many KPIs you want tracked

Management accounts include monthly bookkeeping. You're not paying separately for bookkeeping plus management accounts. It's one bundled service.

Is it worth it? That logistics company I mentioned at the start? He's paying $800/month for management accounts. He increased profit margin from 3% to 12% on $2 million revenue. That's $180,000 more profit per year. The management accounts paid for themselves in the first month.

Getting Your Management Accounts Started

Here's how we set up management accounts:

Month 1: Setup

• Connect your Xero or accounting software
• Review your chart of accounts and fix any issues
• Set up bank feeds
• Identify the KPIs you want to track
• Design your management accounts template

Month 2: First Report

• Prepare your first management accounts
• Walk you through every section
• Explain what the numbers mean
• Discuss what you should focus on

Month 3+: Regular Rhythm

• Management accounts delivered by 15th of following month
• 30-minute monthly review call
• Discuss trends, concerns, opportunities
• Adjust reporting as your needs change

Why Businesses Choose Us for Management Accounts

"First time I actually understood my own financial statements. You explained everything in words I could understand."

"You caught that my best customer was actually losing me money. Saved the business."

"Management accounts are ready by the 10th every month. Never late. I can plan the rest of my month knowing where I stand."

"The monthly review calls are more valuable than the reports. You help me think through decisions, not just give me numbers."

We're a team of ACCA and SQP top graduates, ex-Big 4 audit managers, and Singapore Chartered Accountants. We've prepared management accounts for companies from $200K to $20 million in revenue. We respond within 1 hour. We deliver reports on time every month.