At a glance
Deliberating whether to move overseas for career advancement is both exciting and daunting. On one hand, it promises professional growth, cultural exposure and the chance to step outside your comfort zone. On the other, it demands sacrifices including distance from loved ones and navigating unfamiliar systems.
What is at stake is more than a job — it is a lifestyle, identity and career trajectory.
Could Singapore be the next stop on your career journey? Here is a snapshot of what it can offer.
This article is part of a spotlight series featuring information for accounting and finance professionals looking to expand their career by working in popular APAC destinations.
Spotlight on Singapore
Population: 6.04 million
Land area: 735.7km²
Time zone: GMT +8
Currency: Singapore dollar
Official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil
A small island state and economic heavyweight, Singapore is a hotspot for expats, thanks in part to its business-friendly environment, relatively low taxes, modern amenities and well-developed infrastructure.
Singapore hosts the regional headquarters of 4200 multinational firms including FedEx, Microsoft, Google, Rolls-Royce and General Motors, and its government is investing heavily to strengthen Singapore’s position as a global business and innovation hub.
What industries are thriving in Singapore?
Singapore is a South-East Asian commercial centre for financial services, investment, trading, logistics, shipping, the digital economy, technology and green services. Its government has developed strategic plans across a number of sectors to help businesses compete and succeed globally.
The Singapore Green Plan 2030, for example, includes a vision for the city-state to become a leading global centre for green finance.
Last year, the Singaporean Government launched the Sustainable Finance Jobs Transformation Map and has set aside S$35 million (A$41.8 million) in the Financial Sector Development Fund to support upskilling and reskilling, and develop specialists in sustainable finance over 2024–2027.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is also seeking to create a Smart Financial Centre through fintech and innovation. The city-state is already home to more than 1300 fintech firms.
What skills are in demand in Singapore?
Singapore’s dynamic economy demands highly skilled professionals. Singapore’s Skills Demand for the Future Economy Report 2025 shows the three biggest skill clusters across job roles are:
- Business and financial management
- Operational excellence
- Organisational and people management.
For accounting and finance professionals, audit and assurance skills are also in demand, with related services remaining a key source of revenue for accounting firms.
Audit and assurance accounts for 48 per cent of the sector’s operating receipts and contributed more than S$1.2 billion (A$1.4 billion) in revenue in 2022.
Randstad Singapore’s 2025 market outlook & salary guide for accounting & finance shows the following technical and soft skills remain paramount for communicating business outcomes and managing key stakeholder relationships:
- Expertise in IFRS standards
- Control governance
- Financial planning analysis
- Business development
- Storytelling.
Randstad’s report also shows significant growth opportunities for accountants in areas such as renewable energy and fintech, as well as a growing emphasis on analytics and decision-making roles that drive business growth and cost reduction.
A report from Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) also shows that technology and soft skills are increasingly in demand. Some of these technology skills include cloud computing, the ability to apply artificial intelligence, data analysis and interpretation, as well as robotics and automation.
What roles are in demand in Singapore?
As of 2022, there were more than 100,000 accountants working in Singapore according to estimates from ACRA’s Job Transformation Maps. This included 80,000 employees across in-house finance and accounting functions, and about 20,000 workers in accounting practices.
ACRA also expects demand for accountants to grow as client needs become more sophisticated, and companies continue to expand throughout the region.
ACRA identify 11 job roles emerging over the next two to five years. They include IT auditors, finance transformation leads, finance automation leads and ESG specialists.
What are the salary expectations for accountants in Singapore?
While accountant salaries vary depending on experience and role type, data from Michael Page puts the average accountant salary in Singapore at S$80,000 (A$95,600).
Singapore’s individual tax rate also impacts pay packets — and it is one of the most attractive in the world. Tax residents in Singapore are taxed at a progressive rate of up to 24 per cent. For example, an accountant earning S$150,000 (A$179,000) in Singapore would be taxed at a rate of 15 per cent.
Expats working in Singapore are generally treated as tax residents by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore if they have stayed or worked in the region for at least 183 days in the previous calendar year. Employment income of a non-resident is taxed at the flat rate of 15 per cent or the progressive resident tax rate — whichever is higher.
It is also worth knowing that residents of Singapore are generally not subject to tax on foreign-sourced income, such as dividends from foreign companies or rent from overseas properties.
What might life look like living in Singapore?
While the cost of living has recently surged in many cities across the globe, Singapore has long been a less affordable place for expats. The latest Worldwide Cost of Living survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit, designed to help companies calculate cost of living allowances for expats and business travellers, ranks Singapore as the world’s most expensive city for the ninth time in the past eleven years, tying with Zurich.
As an example, renting an apartment in Singapore’s city centre neighbourhoods like Tanglin and Marina Bay can cost from US$3718 (A$5715) to US$11,155 (A$17,148) per month. Renting in mid-tier and city-fringe neighbourhoods is cheaper.
Despite the cost of living, Singapore’s expat population has steadily grown over the past five years, supported by its status as a major financial centre, tech hub and gateway to the Asia-Pacific region.
The city’s modern amenities, diverse culture and orderly society make it a desirable place to live and work. It offers excellent healthcare, education and housing, and has a lively creative arts scene and vibrant local food culture, including its world famous, budget-friendly hawker centres that serve mainly local Chinese, Indian and Malay cuisine.
Getting around Singapore is easy and inexpensive, with an extensive bus and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network that is among the most efficient in the world. MRT fares depend on the distance travelled and vary between S$1.50 (A$1.79) and S$2.50 (A$3) per trip.
While the 2024 Expat Insider survey shows 69 per cent of expats say moving to Singapore has improved their career prospects, some may need to adjust their work-life balance expectations.
A 2022 survey from Randstad shows 70 per cent of Singapore’s employees have poor work-life balance due to an overwhelming workload. However, this may be set to improve, as from 1 December 2024, all employers in Singapore must now fairly consider formal requests from employees for flexible work arrangements, which may add to the appeal of working in the Lion City.
One expat’s advice
Chin Mei Wong FCPA, who works as a deal lead at Shell, moved from Perth, Australia to Singapore in 2023. She shares her thoughts on making the move.
“I assumed that it would be a modern, convenient, safe and efficient country and that the working environment would be professional and leading-edge. That’s proved to be true.
“Flexibility is key — you need to adapt your working style to develop effective relationships with colleagues. For instance, Western cultures may favour direct communication, while Asian cultures like Singapore often emphasise relationship-building before discussing work.
“I also suggest weighing career growth opportunities against the financial aspects of living in Singapore. Remember that rent, children’s education costs and car ownership costs are substantially higher in Singapore when compared to countries like Australia.”
