Unique Entity Number

UEN search

Every entity registered in Singapore carries one Unique Entity Number for its whole life. Search a UEN to find the entity behind it, or decode the number to see what it already tells you.

Sourced from ACRA filings

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Three formats, no others

nnnnnnnnX

9 characters · Sole proprietorships and partnerships

yyyynnnnnX

10 characters · Local companies, the most common format

TyyPQnnnnX

10 characters · LLPs, foreign branches, societies, public bodies

Decoder

Break a UEN into its parts

A UEN is not a serial number. It carries the year of registration, and in two of the three formats it carries the entity type as well. The final letter is a check character computed from everything before it, so a transposed digit shows up immediately.

Enter a UEN

Or try one

Enter a UEN or pick an example to see it broken down.

On the check letter. ACRA does not publish the algorithm that produces it, and Singapore's tax authority documentation notes that no official online checker exists. The validation here was derived from the complete public UEN register on data.gov.sg, covering 2,128,702 identifiers issued between 1881 and 2026, and it reproduces the check letter for every local company and every non-ACRA entity in that file. Treat it as a strong format check, not as confirmation that an entity exists. For that, search the register.

Reading it correctly

Two mistakes people make with the year

In the 10 digit company format, the first four digits are the year the entity was incorporated on the register. That is not always the year the business began trading. A business that ran as a sole proprietorship for a decade and later incorporated carries the incorporation year, and a re-registered entity can carry an older one.

In the letter-prefixed format, the two digits after the letter are the year the UEN was issued, which is a different thing again. The UEN system started in 2009. Entities that predate it were assigned a number at that point, so an embassy operating since the 1960s can carry a number issued decades later.

Neither field is a founding date, and neither should be presented to a client as company age. The incorporation date printed on a filed Business Profile is the field that answers that.

What each format encodes

Business nnnnnnnnX

Nothing. Eight sequential digits and a check letter.

No year, no entity type.

Local company yyyynnnnnX

Year of incorporation, then a running number.

Year is reliable for incorporation, not founding.

Other entity TyyPQnnnnX

Century, year of issuance, entity type, running number.

Entity type is the useful part.

Reference

Every entity type code, and who issues it

The two letters in the middle of a letter-prefixed UEN identify what kind of entity it is and which agency registered it. Nineteen agencies issue UENs, not just ACRA. These 39 codes are the ones that appear in the official register.

Ministry of Health

CM	Medical Clinic
CD	Dental Clinic
MD	Medical and Dental Clinic
CL	Clinical Laboratory
XL	Xray Laboratory
CX	Clinical and Xray Laboratory
HC	Healthcare Service Provider

ACRA

LL	Limited Liability Partnership
FC	Foreign Company Branch
LP	Limited Partnership
VC	Variable Capital Company (VCC)
PF	Public Accounting Firm

Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

CC	Charity
CS	Cooperative Society
MB	Mutual Benefit Organisation

MDDI

GA	Organ of State, Ministry or Department
GB	Statutory Board or Body Performing Public Duties
NB	News Bureau

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

DP	High Commission or Embassy
CP	Consulate
NR	International Organisation

Monetary Authority of Singapore

FB	Bank Representative Office
FN	Insurance Representative Office
FS	Other Financial Representative Office

Singapore Land Authority

MC	Management Corporation
SM	Subsidiary Management Corporation

MUIS

MQ	Mosque
MM	Madrasah

Ministry of Education

GS	Government or Government-Aided School
EC	International Education Language Centre

Ministry of Manpower

TU	Trade Union
PW	Platform Work Association

People's Association

PA	People's Association Service
PB	Grassroot Unit

Registry of Societies

Society

Enterprise Singapore

RF	Representative Office

Ministry of Law

RP	Foreign Law Practice Representative Office

Ministry of National Development

TC	Town Council

MINDEF

FM	Foreign Military Unit

UL and UF are not UEN codes. You will see both on this site and in filed extracts. They are abbreviations used in ACRA-sourced documents to mark a shareholder or related party that is not itself registered with ACRA: UL for a local entity, UF for a foreign one. Several third-party guides list UF as a UEN entity type for foreign companies. It is not one. Foreign company branches registered in Singapore use FC.

The limit

A valid UEN proves the number is well formed. Nothing more.

A correctly structured UEN does not mean the entity is live, that it has filed its returns, or that the person quoting it has any connection to it. Quoting a real UEN belonging to somebody else is trivially easy. The register is what confirms the link, and the filed report is what puts a date on it.

Is it live?

Status carries the date it took effect. A struck-off and restored company reads as live today.

Business Profile

Who runs it?

Officers with identification, nationality and appointment dates.

Who owns it?

Ownership traced upward through every intermediate holding company.

Ultimate Ownership Report

FAQ

Common questions

What is a UEN?

The Unique Entity Number is the single identifier a Singapore entity uses with every government agency. It is issued once, at registration, and does not change if the entity later changes its name. Sole proprietorships, companies, LLPs, societies, charities, statutory boards and embassies all have one.

How many characters is a UEN?

Nine or 10. Businesses registered with ACRA have nine characters. Local companies and all entities registered with other agencies have 10. Any other length is not a UEN.

Does the UEN tell me when the company was founded?

No, and this is a common misreading. In the 10 digit company format the first four digits are the year of incorporation on the register, which can be much later than when the business actually started trading. In the letter-prefixed format the digits are the year the UEN was issued, and entities predating the UEN system were assigned numbers in 2009 or later.

Can I verify a UEN is genuine?

You can verify it is well formed. The final character is a check letter computed from the rest of the identifier, so the decoder on this page catches transposed or mistyped digits. Confirming that a genuine UEN belongs to the party quoting it needs a register search, because quoting somebody else's valid UEN takes no effort at all.

What does UF mean in a UEN?

It is not a UEN entity type code, despite several guides saying otherwise. UF appears in ACRA-sourced documents as an abbreviation for a foreign entity that is not registered with ACRA, usually a foreign shareholder. Foreign company branches that are registered in Singapore use the code FC.

Is the UEN the same as a tax reference number?

For most entities the UEN is what IRAS uses as the tax reference. Individuals and certain unregistered bodies have separate identifiers, and some legacy tax identifiers issued before the UEN system are still visible on older documents.

Where can I find a company's UEN?

Search the company name here and the UEN appears alongside each match. It is also printed on invoices, contracts and letterheads, since registered entities are required to display it on business correspondence.

Start here

Found the UEN. Now find out what sits behind it.

Search returns the entity and its status at no cost. The filed reports are what tell you who runs it, who owns it, and whether the accounts carried a warning.

Cannot find an entity? Ask our team to check it against ACRA records.