We've had an enthusiastic response to our posts on the nitty gritty of running a start-up from readers. So we're developing it into a column for the Singapore Social Enterprise Association's inaugural newsletter. We're pleased to be able to contribute to this dynamic new organisation's worthy cause. Thanks for the invite, Amy and Mee Hong!

A few months ago we got a bunch of letters and e-mails from the government and our corporate secretary telling us it was time to get our accounts in order and submit our annual returns for the year. After a mad dash for our old receipts and phone calls to friends with acconting degrees, we thought it was all over.

But a coffee last night with another start-up-running pal revealed something shocking: We didn't need to submit our accounts at all! At least, that's what our friend told me.

When the issue first came up last year, we got conflicting answers to our questions from our corporate secretary, ACRA and online. So I started re-investigating the matter today.

The first page I hit at the ACRA site was this, which seems to state very clearly that we had to file our annual return and accounts:

All locally incorporated companies are required to hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) and file their annual returns under S175, S197 and S201 of the Companies Act.

At the AGM, directors shall present a true and fair view of the company’s accounts to their shareholders.

Then I scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the link to 'Filing Requirements'. This page talks about something called an EPC -- exempt private company. This sounds promising.

What is an Exempt Private Company (EPC)?

An Exempt Private Company (EPC) is defined as a company which has not more than 20 shareholders and its shares are not held by another company under Section 4(1) of the Companies Act. They can also be those that the Minister has gazetted to be known as EPC.

Then, the money graf:

Is an EPC required to file Annual Return?

An EPC is required to file  Annual Return via BizFile.

If the company is solvent, which we are, then we also have to complete a solvency declaration via BizFile.

What about audited accounts? We had a small scare when our secretarial firm told us we needed to get an audit done last year. It turned out to be a mistake, but we did look into the matter. We found out then that we were exempt from audit because we didn't make more than $5 million lin revenue ast year -- which kind of made us wish we qualified for an audit.

That $5 million figure is an important threshold because it means we are clasified as a 'small exempt private company', which in turn means that we do not have to attach our accounts to our annual return (see ACRA's Filing Requirements for the complete chart).

So in summary, we didn't need an audit, didn't have to attach our accounts, but did have to file our annual return to ACRA. In our case we did compile our accounts even though we didn't have to attach them to the ACRA filing, and it was a very useful exercise for us. It gave us a snapshot of the company's financial health (could be better!) and put in place a framework for recording our transactions efficiently in future.

But all that's just about ACRA. We still have the tax authority, IRAS, to take care of. We'll address that question in another post!

bloomerang has no office (for now), so we're always super curious to see what other start-ups are doing for workspace. In Singapore, there'sthe recently launched and super cool hackerspace.sg, but check out Silicon Alley Insider's start-up office tours. The latest one brings us to a shared space for three firms that include 'the new Twitter' Foursquare. Check it out, and try to imagine all those entrepreneurial juices just STEWING in that tiny space.

One of the things we'll be posting here will be our adventures at various conferences, seminars, launches and other businessy events. Here's our latest and most memorable one so far: A trip to the Istana for dinner with President SR Nathan.

The occasion was the President's Design Award 2009 awards ceremony. Four awards were given out for Designer of the Year and seven for Design of the Year (question for grammar geeks: if there are four designers of the year, shouldn't the award be designers of the year?).

We were invited for being Design of the Year finalists for our eco-hanger design, out of 123 entries this year. Of course, making clothes hangers out of cardboard isn't exactly the same as designing an educational institution, a state-of-the-art theatre, or a medical device that could improve millions of lives, but we're happy to have contributed in a small way. 

As you would expect with an event at the official residence of Singapore's head of state (and also where the prime minister's office is located), there was some protocol and security processes to follow. We had to be at UE Square (an office building about five minutes away) about half an hour before the event began. The building's atrium was swarming with police officers, and a metal detector and x-ray machine -- like the ones at airports -- was set up. We got through without incident and were soon approaching the Istana's main gates off Orchard Road.

Here's what we saw and did at the Istana that evening:

• Directly inside the Istana's gates is a golf course. Wikipedia says it's nine holes. I think I saw a stork (flamingo?) standing on one of fairways.
• Just before arriving at the main building, I saw an old-school gun. Wikipedia says it's called the Japanese Gun and it was presented to Lord Mountbatten after the Japanese surrendered in 1945.
• You can see clear across town to Raffles Place from the Istana main building's entrance. It's a spectactular view.
• The awards were held at the banquet hall of the Istana's main building.
• We saw loads of smartly uniformed men and women trailing the President. They are aides-de-camp and perform social functions like introductions, among other things
• The food at the buffet reception after the dinner was the best free meal we've ever had. Someone said it was catered by the Mandarin hotel on Orchard Rd. As I noted on Foursquare, go for the tempura prawn and Peking duck crepes!
• The President is highly adept at photo opportunities. In the photo with us below, I was about to withdraw my hand after shaking his when he deftly turned us -- still in handshaking pose -- to face the camera, resulting in my rather stunned expression. 
• Chris Lee of Asylum, who won for Designer of the Year is the man. He made his acceptance speech partly in Mandarin for his father's benefit, and was the first recipient to start bowing to the applause. The winners after him did the same. 
• There's a new park across the street from the Istana that just opened in October, our new friends from the URA told us. It's calld Dhoby Gaut Green

Unfortunately Posterous doesn't seem to have an 'after the jump' feature yet, so I can't say "more pictures after the jump". Instead, just check out the inline pics below!

The stage is set for the awards ceremony

Grazing delicately at the buffet

Photo op with the president

Our pal Ivonnn (yes, that's a lot of Ns for one name)

We attempt a serious pose

Steps of the Istana main building

More photos of the main building by night

A commemorative book published for this year's awards

Head over to AIDHA's office at 2 Nassim Road where they've set up an e-waste collection point. They told us they're working with one of the few e-waste processors in Singapore, so whatever you dump at AIDHA gets picked up and disposed with minimal impact on the environment and the workers.

Electronic goods that aren't disposed of properly help turn places like Guizhou in China into a prosperous but toxic wasteland of 'backyard recycling'. Residents there strip and burn unprocessed electronics and sell recovered metals and other material for a profit. But the impact on their health and the environment in Guizhou isn't factored into the costs.

The UN has an interesting program on a larger scale, with a pilot project in China. The Step initiative plans to build giant dissembly plants in China, employing workers on a producton line to dissemble, sort and dispose of e-waste safely.