The SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC) gives eligible Singapore employers a S$10,000 credit that offsets up to 90% of out-of-pocket spending on selected workforce-transformation and training programmes. SkillsFuture Singapore launched the scheme in 2020, extended the qualifying period through to the end of June 2026, and as of mid-2026 a large share of eligible SMEs still has unspent credit. This article explains how to check your balance, what counts as a claimable programme, and how to deploy the credit before it expires.
What SFEC actually is
SFEC is a one-off S$10,000 credit administered by Enterprise Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore. It does not pay cash up front. Instead, after the employer pays a qualifying provider for an eligible programme, the employer claims back up to 90% of their net out-of-pocket cost from SFEC, subject to the S$10,000 lifetime cap and the qualifying period deadline.
The credit is targeted at workforce transformation, not generic training. Qualifying programmes fall into two buckets: enterprise transformation (consultancy under the Enterprise Development Grant, productivity solutions under PSG, or specific EnterpriseSG schemes), and workforce transformation (job redesign under WSG’s Career Conversion Programme, SkillsFuture Workforce Skills Qualifications, and approved SSG courses).
Eligibility — the three-part test
To be SFEC-eligible an employer must satisfy three tests measured over a qualifying period:
One — SDL contributions. The employer must have contributed at least S$750 in Skills Development Levy across the qualifying period. SDL is paid by all employers in Singapore at 0.25% of total monthly wages (with a S$2 floor and S$11.25 cap per employee per month). For most companies with three or more employees on Singapore payroll, the S$750 threshold is easily met.
Two — local employee count. The employer must have employed at least three local employees (Singapore citizens or PRs) earning at least the qualifying gross wage for each of three months in the qualifying period. This is the test that frequently excludes very small or holding companies with mostly foreign or contractor headcount.
Three — no parent disqualification. Employers that are part of a group where the parent is a Singapore listed company, a foreign multinational, or a government-linked entity may be excluded depending on the specific scheme. The SFEC eligibility check at gobusiness.gov.sg returns a definitive answer based on the employer’s UEN.
Eligible employers were notified by SkillsFuture Singapore through the SFEC microsite and a notification letter to the registered office on record. If you are unsure whether your company qualifies, the GoBusiness eligibility check uses Corppass authentication and returns an immediate answer.
What you can spend SFEC on
The supported programmes change occasionally, but the categories have remained stable.
EnterpriseSG enterprise development grants and PSG. If you take up an EDG or PSG project, SFEC can be claimed against the employer’s 30 to 50% co-payment portion. We cover the underlying EDG and PSG schemes in our PSG SME guide and our multi-grant stacking guide.
SkillsFuture Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ). Any approved WSQ programme delivered by an approved training provider qualifies. The catalogue covers digital marketing, data analytics, financial accounting, leadership, customer experience and supply chain skills among hundreds of others.
Career Conversion Programmes (CCP). Run by Workforce Singapore (WSG), these programmes reskill mid-career workers into new roles. The employer’s salary support co-payment and training fees both qualify.
Job redesign initiatives. WSG’s Job Redesign initiative provides advisory and implementation support — the employer co-payment portion is claimable against SFEC.
Selected MAS-recognised programmes. Specific MAS-curated programmes for financial services workers also qualify, although the catalogue is narrower than the general WSG and SSG offerings.
What you cannot spend it on
Generic in-house training designed by an internal HR team without an approved training partner. Conferences, summits and short networking events. Software licences (separately, software is typically PSG territory; SFEC covers the human-capital side). Internal coaching by managers. Online courses bought directly from non-approved overseas providers. Programmes started before the employer was SFEC-eligible.
The rule of thumb is: if the programme is not in the approved catalogue at skillsfuture.gov.sg/sfec or the GoBusiness portal, the credit cannot be claimed against it.
How the claim process works
Step one — confirm SFEC eligibility on the GoBusiness portal using Corppass. The system shows the employer’s available balance.
Step two — register for and complete the qualifying programme. Pay the provider as usual.
Step three — once SkillsFuture Singapore receives confirmation from the programme partner that the employer participated, the SFEC claim is auto-generated. The employer reviews and confirms the claim through the SFEC portal.
Step four — SSG disburses up to 90% of the net out-of-pocket cost (after any other grant support) into the employer’s PayNow Corporate account or bank account on record. Disbursement typically takes 4 to 8 weeks from confirmation.
One thing to watch — many employers double up on grants. If a programme is already 70% funded by PSG, then SFEC can claim up to 90% of the remaining 30%, not 90% of the gross fee. This stacking-after-other-grants rule is why some employers find their SFEC balance moves slower than expected.
Deadlines and what happens to unspent credit
The SFEC qualifying period for the latest cohort runs to 30 June 2026 for claims submission. Credit not used by the deadline is forfeit. Programmes commenced before the deadline but completing after may still qualify, subject to the specific programme terms — confirm with SSG case-by-case.
The credit is non-transferable between employers (so it cannot be sold or assigned), non-refundable in cash, and cannot be carried over into a new SFEC tranche if one is announced later. There is currently no public commitment from the Ministry of Manpower or Ministry of Finance to extend the scheme beyond June 2026, although the Singapore Budget cycle each February is the usual venue for such announcements.
Practical deployment ideas for SMEs
For a typical 10 to 30 person SME, S$10,000 deployed well can support: a senior manager through a WSQ Diploma in Digital Marketing (~S$5,000 to S$7,000 nett of subsidies, of which 90% claimable); two mid-career colleagues through a CCP into data analyst roles (employer co-payment claimable); and an enterprise transformation engagement (PSG plus SFEC on the co-payment) to redesign one operational workflow.
For a holding company or family office, options are narrower because the local employee count test may not be met. Where eligible, deploy against the family office team’s regulatory compliance training (where MAS-recognised) and operational tooling deployment.
How Raffles Corporate Services helps
We assist clients with grant scoping across EDG, PSG, MRA and SFEC, including stacking strategy so a single transformation project draws on the full grant stack. For specific schemes, see our pieces on MRA grants, the post-approval claims process, and the Enterprise Financing Scheme.
The official SFEC microsite is at skillsfuture.gov.sg/sfec, and grants administration sits under enterprisesg.gov.sg.
— The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services