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CSV with subscription and freelancer accounts mapped to QuickBooks GST codes. Import file and GST code list below.
Download chart of accounts (CSV)Also available
A Singapore agency on QuickBooks Online is a subscription-and-people business, and its GST risk sits in two places: the reverse charge on offshore services, and a short list of costs where input tax is permanently blocked. This is a Singapore agency chart of accounts for QuickBooks Online, mapping each account to its GST code. It ships as a readable reference (CSV) and a QuickBooks import CSV.
Setup, then the codes that matter
The QuickBooks import has no tax column, so you import the structure first and set each account’s GST code afterwards from the CSV. For an agency the codes to get right are TX (9%) on most costs, TX-RE (9%) on offshore services that fall under the reverse charge, BL (9%) on blocked club subscriptions, and OP (0%) on freelancer work done overseas.
Reverse charge only if partially exempt
Offshore design tools, hosting, and paid media are imported services. Since 2020, a GST-registered business that cannot claim full input tax (a partially exempt business) must self-account for GST on those imported services. A fully taxable agency that recovers all its input tax is generally outside it. The chart therefore maps software subscriptions, advertising and marketing, and stock media and licences to TX (9%) with TX-RE (9%) listed as the alternative. Decide your input-tax status once, and the right column follows.
Club subscriptions map to BL (9%)
The cost that catches agencies is the club membership. Input tax on club subscription fees is disallowed under Regulation 26, so club subscriptions maps to BL (9%), which holds the GST but bars the claim. The twist worth remembering: the membership is blocked, but the client entertainment meals you buy through it are claimable on TX (9%). Two similar-looking relationship costs, opposite GST outcomes, which is the whole reason the chart codes them to different accounts.
Freelancers, media, and where work happens
The chart splits the inputs an agency actually buys. Freelancer and contractor costs map to TX (9%) with OP (0%) for overseas work and a note on non-resident withholding tax. Stock media and licences map to TX (9%) with TX-RE (9%) for overseas suppliers. Home office costs and coworking and shared office cover the workspace, with home office apportioned to business use and residential rent itself exempt. Professional development and training completes the people side.
How to use it
- Open the CSV, which maps each account to its QuickBooks GST code, and adapt the names to the agency.
- In QuickBooks Online, go to Settings, then Import data, then Chart of Accounts, and upload the CSV for the structure.
- On the import wizard, confirm the Type and Detail Type for each account.
- After import, set the GST code on each account from the CSV, applying BL (9%) to clubs and TX-RE (9%) to reverse-charge subscriptions where they apply.
The recurring work is the subscription and contractor ledger:
- Dext pulls recurring SaaS receipts into the file.
- ExpenseFlow reads each receipt and supplier invoice, flags blocked input tax (a club subscription) and offshore purchases carrying no Singapore GST, and posts the transaction into QuickBooks Online against the right account, so the blocked and reverse-charge cases are surfaced at capture.
- Aspire and similar business accounts feed card spend through for coding.
The chart cannot decide whether the reverse charge or withholding tax applies to your business: those depend on your input-tax status and the contract, and stay with you or your accountant.
On Xero instead? See the Singapore agency chart of accounts for Xero, where the import sets the GST codes directly. For the full GST picture, see the Singapore agency expenses guide.