How Much Does a Company Secretary Cost in Malaysia (2026)? What the Retainer Should Cover, Official SSM Fees and the Per-Filing Charges That Change the Total

Ask three Malaysian firms what a company secretary costs and you will get three numbers that cannot be compared: a low monthly fee that excludes every filing, a higher annual package that includes some, and a "from" price that depends on questions nobody has asked yet. The law does not help, because no statute or SSM schedule sets what a secretary may charge. What the law does set is the official lodgement fee for each document, and those figures are public. This guide separates the two, shows what a retainer should cover, and gives you a way to work out the real yearly total for your company before you sign.

Quick answer (as at 2 November 2026): There is no official price for a company secretary in Malaysia. Providers' published guides commonly put the annual fee for a small Sdn Bhd at about RM600 to RM3,000, depending on what is included. On top of or inside that fee sit SSM's official charges: RM150 for the annual return and RM50 for audited financial statements (RM20 if unaudited). ONEKEY BIZ charges RM100 a month plus RM600 and RM400 for those two filings, which comes to RM2,200 a year for a company with no other changes.

Why company secretary prices are so hard to compare

Section 236(1) of the Companies Act 2016 says the board appoints the secretary and determines the terms and conditions of the appointment. That is the whole legal framework for price. There is no scale fee, so the market has settled on three different ways of quoting.

• Low monthly fee, filings priced separately. The headline is small, and the annual return, financial statements and every resolution are charged per item.
• Annual package with named inclusions. A higher single figure that usually covers the annual return work and a set number of routine resolutions.
• Bundled with incorporation or accounting. The secretary's share is hidden inside a larger fee, and it may rise in the second year when the incorporation discount falls away.

None of these is wrong. Each is simply a different way of dividing the same work, which is why a comparison of headline prices tells you very little. A published fee range is a useful sanity check, but those ranges come from firms selling the service. They are not official figures, and we have not audited them.

What the law requires you to buy

The secretary is not optional, which is why this cost exists even for a company that has not traded. The relevant rules are short:

In practice, that means a foreign director cannot fill the role, and a company cannot save money by asking a member of staff unless that person holds the qualification and certificate. Our company secretary service in Malaysia exists because most foreign-owned companies have nobody in-house who qualifies. You can check any candidate with the method in our guide to checking a practising certificate.

What a retainer should include

A retainer pays for two things: a qualified person accepting a statutory office in your company, and the ongoing recordkeeping that goes with it. Whatever the price, these items should be in writing.

The middle of that table is where quotes differ most. A retainer that looks expensive may include everything a quiet company needs. One that looks cheap may be perfectly fair if you only pay for what you use, as long as the per-item prices are written down before you need them.

The official SSM fees, and what they are not

SSM's fee schedule applies whichever secretary you use. Any amount above these figures is a professional fee, not a government charge. A clear invoice shows the two separately, or says plainly that the government fee is included.

These figures are from the Table of Fees on SSM's website. Check the current page or ask your secretary to confirm the amount at the time of lodgement, because SSM's portal, rather than this article, decides what is charged on the day. Stamp duty on a share transfer is separate again: it goes to LHDN, not SSM, at 0.3% (RM3 per RM1,000) of the higher of the consideration and the NTA-based value, and it is not part of the secretary's fee.

Worked example: the real annual total

Here is the calculation using the published prices for our licensed company secretary service, so you can run the same one against any other quote. Our annual return service and financial statements lodgement service both include the SSM fee.

Accounting and audit are not in either column. The secretary lodges the financial statements, but preparing and auditing them is separate work with a separate fee, and for many companies it is the larger bill. Our article on the financial statements calendar and sections 258 and 259 covers those steps, and the section 68 annual return guide explains the filing itself.

What is usually charged per event

One-off corporate actions take more drafting and carry more risk than routine upkeep, so most firms price them separately. Common examples are a change of director, change of registered address, share allotment, share transfer, dividend declaration, change of company name, constitution work and striking off. Here is what each involves, so you can judge whether a quote is reasonable:

• Director change: consent or resignation, directors' resolution, register update and a section 58 notification within 14 days.
• Share transfer: transfer form, pre-emption check against the constitution, stamping coordination, new share certificates and register update.
• Dividend: solvency test support, resolution and register entries, covered in our guide to declaring a dividend.
• Certified copies: a bank or licensing body may ask for several at a time, so a per-copy price matters more than it first appears.

The cost of paying too little

A cheap retainer only costs less if the deadlines are still met. SSM's Practice Directive 1/2017, as revised on 14 July 2026, sets these penalties for late lodgement by a private company:

Those amounts are modest, and the directive also gives the Registrar room to consider a late document where the omission was accidental or inadvertent. The larger exposure is the offence itself. Failing to circulate financial statements on time, for example, can bring a fine of up to RM50,000 on the company and every officer under section 258(3), plus up to RM500 a day for a continuing offence after conviction. Late filings also surface at awkward moments: during a bank application, a licence renewal, a due diligence review or an application to strike off.

Five questions to ask before signing

1. Who is the named secretary? Get the person's name, certificate number and expiry date. A company cannot appoint a firm as its secretary, because s.235 requires a natural person.
2. What is the 12-month total for my company? Use the scenario above, and ask for it in writing.
3. Which SSM fees are included? Ask for "included" or "charged at cost", and receipts for anything at cost.
4. What does leaving cost? Read the notice period and any termination or handover fee. Section 237 sets a default 30-day notice unless the terms say otherwise.
5. Who will I actually talk to? A foreign owner needs answers they can act on. Formal documents still go in English or Bahasa Malaysia for SSM, whatever language the conversation is in.

Should you switch to save money?

Switching is worthwhile when you are paying for work nobody is doing, or when the same work is available at a clearly lower 12-month total. It is less attractive right before an annual return is due, or if your records are incomplete and the handover will need rebuilding. Before you move, check the notice period, any fee owed to the current firm and the state of your registers. The process itself is a board decision: change of company secretary requires a directors' resolution, the new secretary's written consent and a section 58 notification. Our guide to changing your company secretary covers the handover steps.

Dormant companies have one more option. If the company will never trade again, compare the yearly cost with closing it. Our article on keeping or striking off a dormant company sets out that decision. Until the company is off the register, it still needs a secretary and must still file.

How to decide

Choose the provider with the lowest clear 12-month total among those who can show a valid certificate, give you your registers and tell you in writing what costs extra. If you would like a figure for your own company, send us your company number and the changes you expect next year through our contact page, and we will reply with an itemised quote before you commit.

This article is general information only, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Policies, thresholds and official fees are set by the relevant Malaysian authorities and may change. Talk to our consultants about your specific situation.