Setting Up Xero in Singapore: The First-Week Checklist

Before you start: choose the plan and gather details

Xero's Singapore pricing page lists three plans in SGD, including GST, as of October 2026. Xero has also announced higher prices from 1 November 2026, shown below.

Organisation details: UEN, address and GST number

Go to your organisation settings and fill in the legal name, trading name, registered address and contact details. Xero Central's page on updating your organisation's details says that in Singapore you enter the UEN in the Business Registration Number field. It appears on PDF invoices and purchase orders if you tick Show registered address in your invoice template, and it feeds the IAF audit file Xero can export for IRAS.

If you are GST-registered, also enter your GST registration number. A GST tax invoice must show it; see our guide to GST tax invoice requirements in Singapore for the full list.

Financial settings and conversion date

In Xero, go to Accounting, then Accounting settings, then Financial settings. According to Xero Central, this is where you set the financial year end, sales tax (GST) settings, tax defaults, lock dates and time zone.

1. 1

   Set the financial year end

   Use the same year end as your company's ACRA and IRAS filings. Changing it later after you have used Xero for a year causes reporting problems.

2. 2

   Set the time zone to Singapore

   Payments and invoices dated close to midnight land on the wrong day otherwise.

3. 3

   Choose your conversion date

   Xero's conversion guide says the conversion date is always the first day of a month: the day you start recording transactions in Xero. Starting at the beginning of a GST quarter keeps your first return clean.

4. 4

   Enter conversion balances

   Enter the closing balances from your old system (or bank balances if you are new) as at the day before the conversion date. Xero lets you type them in or import them.

5. 5

   Add a lock date later

   Once your accountant closes a period, add a lock date so no one edits filed figures by accident.

GST settings and tax rates for Singapore

Xero's default tax rates for Singapore are loaded automatically for organisations with Singapore as their tax country. Since the rate rose to 9% on 1 January 2024, the older 8% rates carry "2023" in their name, so you can tell them apart.

• If you are not GST-registered, do not charge GST on sales. Use a no-GST rate on your sales accounts so invoices do not show tax you cannot charge.
• If you are registered, set the default tax rate on each sales and expense account, and set your GST return period (usually quarterly).
• Overseas software and ads bills often need a specific treatment. See GST on overseas software subscriptions.

Our Xero GST F5 return checklist covers tax rate mapping in detail before your first filing. Ask your accountant to review the tax defaults once; it takes them minutes and saves corrections later.

Invoice templates and branding

Xero has three kinds of invoice template: standard, standard (legacy) and advanced (a Word DOCX file you edit outside Xero). Xero Central recommends starting with a standard template.

A contact's own default template overrides the organisation default, which is useful if one large customer needs purchase order numbers on every invoice.

Payment services, users and bank feeds

Accept online payments

Xero Central's page on payment services explains that you add a service such as Stripe or PayPal and apply it to an invoice template, so emailed invoices get a Pay now button. When a customer pays, Xero marks the invoice as paid but does not send you an alert. Card fees need their own expense account so payouts reconcile.

Invite users with the right role

Xero Central says only Administrator and Standard users can change settings. Give your accountant the access they ask for, give staff who only raise invoices a narrower role, and do not share one login between people.

Connect your bank

Bank feeds bring transactions in daily so you reconcile instead of typing. DBS, OCBC and UOB each connect differently; our guide to Xero bank feeds for DBS, OCBC and UOB walks through each.

Do it yourself or get help?

A sole proprietor with one bank account and simple invoicing can do this setup in an afternoon using the steps above. Get your accountant to check the tax defaults and conversion balances before you start invoicing.

If you would rather hand it over, our Accounting Software Setup package (S$490, paid upfront) sets up Xero with your organisation details, chart of accounts, GST settings, invoice template, payment service and bank feeds. We do not do bookkeeping or tax filing; your accountant stays responsible for those. IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience.