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How to Check If the Company Name Is Available for Singapore Company Set-up?

How to Check If the Company Name Is Available for Singapore Company Set-up?

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How to check if the company name is available for Singapore Company Setup?

Choosing a company name is an essential step when registering a company in Singapore. A company name creates trust and integrity with your target customers. It also creates the right (or wrong) first impressions for your company.

Aside from these considerations, guaranteeing ACRA’s approval on a proposed company name is also important. Singapore implements stringent rules and regulations when it comes to company name registration. Company name registration safeguards the company name as no other company will be authorized to use it besides the owner.

Discover noteworthy considerations when choosing a company name and how to check its availability on ACRA in this guide.

How to check the Availability of a Company Name on ACRA?

To minimize the risk of future problems against your or your company name, it is best to perform a preliminary search for similar company names on ACRA before applying for a company name approval. ACRA ensures that a proposed company name is distinct, significant, and in compliance with its laws. You may also conduct a Google search if you wish.

Listed below is the step-by-step guide on how to check the availability of a company name on ACRA.

  • Go to www.bizfile.gov.sg.
  • Hover your cursor on Buy Information, then Business Profile.
  • In the search bar, type the proposed name for your company. There are two ways to search for a company name.
    • Type the entire company name that you would want for your company (e.g., Epica Employment Solutions).
      • This option will most likely provide you with no results.
      • If the company name is not yet being used, then it means that you can use it for your company.
    • Type only one word from your proposed company name (e.g., Epica).
      • This option will provide you with many results. These results may not only display companies containing that one word, but also words where it has been a part of.
      • It is considered as the easiest and most effective way of checking the availability of a company name.
  • You may also check the availability of a company name in the other search criteria, such as Entity Name Starting With, Entity Name Exact Match, and Entity Name Containing.

ACRA may take some time gathering all the list of companies with the name you have searched.

What Three Points Must Be Considered When Checking the Availability of a Company Name?

Singapore Company Name Availability - Three Points
  • Through its AI meters, BizFile can confirm the availability of a company name only when you try to actually buy the name. The AI decides whether you can use your proposed company name or not. The procedure given above is only approximate estimation of name availability. Whereas the real name is confirmed only when you try to book it.
    • For instance, your proposed company name contains a word synonymous to another word from an existing company name (e.g., a word synonymous to the word “consulting” in “Epica Consulting”). The system will then automatically flag your proposed company name as unavailable.
    • If you try to search prominent company names, such as Apple or Google, then the system will also automatically flag these names as unavailable as huge corporate brands are already using them.
    • The key point here is that the availability of company names on BizFile is kind of 70% to 80% confirmation, but the actual result occurs only when you book and pay for the name.
  • Single-word company names are quite difficult to acquire, unless they are unique or modified.
    • For instance, Epica Pte Ltd would be difficult to acquire compared to Epica Consulting Pte Ltd. On the other hand, acquiring Epica Consulting Solutions would be easy.
    • It is usually recommended to have at least a two-word company name.
  • Some corporate services providers (CSPs) use tools to check the availability of a company name. These tools basically purchase a list of company names from certain websites. However, these tools are not reliable as they usually obtain information from websites that are not updated. If a certain company name has only been registered recently, then it will not be displayed in these tools and might give you the wrong information that it is available for use.

The Bottom Line

A company name is an integral part of every business. Without it, a company cannot proceed with company incorporation procedures in Singapore. Choose your company name carefully by observing Singapore laws and checking identical names on ACRA.

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