Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Fees & Payments
No. There is no application or registration fee to be paid in order to submit an application.
No. Winners accorded under the special categories are selected based on factors including but not limited to merits and performance which are judged among all finalist of the Singapore SME 500 Award.
No payment, independent submission or request is accepted under the special category.
No. There is no renewal, annual or subscription fee to be paid.
The one-time cost for the Award Winner's Exclusive is S$ 2,616.00 (inclusive of 9% GST).
The Award Winner's Exclusive is a comprehensive award package that covers the listed entitlements that an awarded applicant will receive and is applicable strictly only for approved and awarded applicants. [Refer to Award Winner's Benefits for the detailed information]
As majority of ATC's programmes are provided complimentary for businesses or on pro-bono basis for individuals, the cost for the Award Winner's Exclusive helps ATC offset related costs involved for the Singapore SME 500 Award programme. Such costs includes ceremonial, event, assessment, etc.
No. There isn't any additional cost other than the one-time cost of S$ 2,616.00 (inclusive of 9% GST) for the Award Winner's Exclusive.
The withdrawal administrative fee is imposed when the assessment for the application has been concluded, and the applicant has been notified of the application's approval but have decided to withdraw the application.
The withdrawal administrative fee is imposed to offset relating assessment cost and resources consumed for the application.
In the event where the application has failed its assessment, has been rejected or the applicant has not been notified of his/her application's outcome, the withdrawal administrative fee will not be applicable.
The withdrawal administrative fee is S$ 392.40 (inclusive of 9% GST).
Payment can be made directly through your BizPortal account. You may access your billing page through "My Billings" and select your preferred payment mode.
Pre-submission of Application
We do not commission any third parties to act on behalf and/or to perform consultation service(s) for applicants.
To assist applicants in the provision of supporting documents, ATC has introduced a series of automated assisted functions which is available through your BizPortal account upon successful submission of application. You may consolidate the referencing document(s) and submit it directly through your BizPortal account.
In the event where you require further assistance, please contact our Community Office at 6304 3145 for assistance. An officer will be assigned to assist you throughout your application journey.
No. You do not need to be a member to apply for the Singapore SME 500 Award.
No. Your business is not required to have a BizPortal account to submit an application. If you are new to ATC, a BizPortal account will be created automatically upon successful submission of your application.
If you currently have a BizPortal account, you can skip the form filling process as information will be auto-populated from your account information.
There are the Main and Special Categories only. [Refer to: Singapore SME 500 Award Categories for more information]
Yes, you can! Past award winners and nominees are strongly encouraged to participate in the current year's award again. This will enable recipients to understand their competitive position through concluded assessments.
Upon Submission of Application
Submission of supporting documents are optional. Any supporting documents submitted will be used strictly for referencing purposes only.
Documents submission are optional as assessment will be conducted with ATC's information partner, respective agencies and/or boards by the assessment unit.
In an event where additional information or clarification statements are required, the assessment officer will schedule a site audit at your business premise to conduct an interview and/or to review the necessary clarifications documents.
All submitted applications are evaluated and assessed on desktop basis by default upon submission, with an assessing officer assigned to the application.
Assessment Stage 1: Desktop Assessment
After submission of application, an assessment officer will be assigned to conduct the assessments and evaluation of your application. This stage involves the evaluation of the application with the SME 500 assessment methodology that assesses the applicant in both quantitative and qualitative aspects, that includes, but is not limited to:
- financial performance
- business and operational practices
- evidence of innovation, digitalisation, sustainability practices
- CSR contributions and workforce-related policies
- ability for the business to expand and scale abroad.
This involves a review of data and supporting evidence drawn on verified information supplied by ATC's information partners and agencies, which ensures that the process is independent, evidence-drive and aligned with national business standards.
Assessment Stage 2: Compiling of Assessment Findings
Upon completion of the desktop review, the assessment officer will compile the findings of each assessed component and present it into a final and formal report. This report includes:
- Individual components scoring
- Final assessment percentile points (based on total computation of all individual components)
- Comparisons against industry peers
- Notes on strengths, weaknesses and potential concerns.
Assessment Stage 3: Verification and Clarification (for borderline applicants)
Applicants who are close to the benchmark rate (compiled grading of 60 - 75%), or where inconsistencies are detected will be asked to provide clarifications, additional supporting documents and a mandatory business site verification.
The clarifications and site verification is mandatory to ensure:
- Accuracy of assessed information that was obtained
- Provision of additional supporting documents in support of the SME 500 application
- Official site verification of declared business operating premise and operations
Assessment Stage 4: Conclusion of Assessment
All compiled findings are reviewed and finalised at this stage where the final percentile grading would be accorded to the applicant based on the earlier 3 stages of assessments. An applicant must achieve at least 75% of the overall compiled grading in order to be approved and awarded.
Assessment Stage 5: Notification of Assessment Results
Applicants will receive an official email and SMS informing of the assessment results. This notification applies to both successful and unsuccessful applicants of the SME 500.
No. A site visit or interview session will be raised by your assigned assessment officer if your application requires further clarification(s) or additional information / documents are required. The site visit will consists of official business premise and site verification by our assessment officer, together with the verification of additional supporting documents raised.
Information, materials and supporting documents are kept strictly private and confidential and will only be used by the Association of Trade and Commerce (ATC), assessment unit, sponsors and respective affiliates under the Singapore SME 500 Award.
The assessment process takes approximately 21 working days.
You may check your application's status by logging in to your BizPortal account. Alternatively, you may contact our Accreditation Division at 6491 1027 or email accreditation@atc.sg for assistance.
You will be notified of your assessment result through email and SMS (as per records in your BizPortal account).
Post Assessments
Congratulations! With your application's approval, this indicates that you have passed all assessment and judging criteria and has obtained an overall grade that is above the minimal passing percentile to be awarded under the Singapore SME 500 Award.
You can now proceed to login to your BizPortal account and follow through the next steps for your application.
Your digital welcome kit is part of the Award Winner's Exclusive and is available through your BizPortal account. [Refer to: Award Winner's Benefits for the list of inclusion in the digital welcome kit]
Unfortunately, if your application has been rejected, this indicates that you may not have passed one or more of the assessment and judging criteria or your overall grade has fall below the minimal percentile to be awarded the Singapore SME 500 Award.
You may wish to review your business or trading policies and try again the following year.
No. The assessment results are final and binding. It is strongly recommended for you to review your internal and external policies and/or practices before submitting an application.
Yes. However, a withdrawal administrative fee of S$ 392.40 (inclusive of 9% GST) will be imposed for application withdrawal after the assessments have been concluded and the applicant has been notified of the application's approval status.