MBRS (Malaysian Business Reporting System) is SSM's XBRL-based platform for lodging financial statements, annual returns and exemption applications. You prepare the filing in the Excel-based MBRS Preparation Tool (mTool), tag it against the SSM Taxonomy, validate it, then lodge the generated XBRL file through the MBRS Portal (mPortal). Since MBRS 2.0 Phase 3 took effect on 1 June 2025, digital XBRL lodgement of audited financial statements is mandatory for all companies under the Companies Act 2016.
- MBRS has three core components: the SSM Taxonomy (SSMxT), the MBRS Preparation Tool (mTool) for building the XBRL file, and the MBRS Portal (mPortal) for lodgement — mPortal is reached through SSM4U and requires a Digital Certificate (PKI) for lodgers.
- It handles three submission types: Annual Return (AR), Financial Statements and Reports (FS), and Exemption Applications (EA).
- SSM announced mandatory MBRS 2.0 on 26 November 2024 in three phases: 1 December 2024, 1 March 2025 and 1 June 2025.
- From 1 June 2025 filing is fully mandatory, and financial institutions regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia — previously exempted — are now included.
- The 1 June to 30 September 2025 waiver removed late-lodgement fees only; it did NOT extend the statutory deadlines under the Companies Act 2016.
Who this applies to: Malaysian private and public companies, and the company secretaries and agents who prepare and lodge their statutory financial statements, annual returns and exemption applications with SSM.
On this page
If your company still thinks it “files accounts with SSM” by handing over a signed PDF, that era has ended. The Malaysian Business Reporting System (MBRS) is SSM’s submission platform built on the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format, and since 1 June 2025 lodging audited financial statements through it is mandatory for companies under the Companies Act 2016. Through MBRS a company lodges three submission types: the Annual Return (AR), Financial Statements and Reports (FS), and Exemption Applications (EA).
MBRS is not new — SSM introduced it in 2018 as a digital XBRL platform that was initially voluntary before it became compulsory. What changed is the upgrade to MBRS 2.0, built on the latest Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS), the Malaysian Private Entities Reporting Standard (MPERS) and the revised Companies Act 2016, while retaining taxonomy for legacy Companies Act 1965 submissions.
What are the three components of MBRS?
MBRS runs on three parts that work in sequence:
| Component | What it is | Role in filing |
|---|---|---|
| SSMxT | The SSM Taxonomy | The dictionary of reporting elements your data is tagged against |
| mTool | MBRS Preparation Tool | An Excel-based application to enter data and generate the XBRL file using the latest taxonomy |
| mPortal | MBRS Portal | The web platform, accessed through SSM4U, where the file is uploaded and lodged |
To lodge through mPortal, a lodger must hold a Digital Certificate (PKI) registered with SSM.
When are the MBRS 2.0 phases mandatory?
On 26 November 2024 SSM announced the mandatory implementation of MBRS 2.0 in three phases:
| Phase | Commences | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 1 December 2024 | Annual Return / Annual Statement, unaudited financial statements, and the Certificate for Exempt Private Company (CA 2016) |
| Phase 2 | 1 March 2025 | Audited financial statements under the Companies Act 1965 |
| Phase 3 | 1 June 2025 | Audited financial statements for all companies under the Companies Act 2016 |
From Phase 3, digital filing is fully mandatory — and financial institutions regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), previously exempted, are now included.
What is the deadline, and did the 2025 waiver change it?
MBRS changes the format of lodgement, not the deadline. Under Section 259(1) of the Companies Act 2016, a company lodges its financial statements and reports with the Registrar:
- Private company: within 30 days from the date the financial statements are circulated to members.
- Public company: within 30 days from the date of its AGM.
To ease the transition, SSM applied a late-lodgement-fee waiver from 1 June to 30 September 2025. Read the fine print: the waiver removed late-lodgement fees only. It did not extend the statutory deadlines under the Companies Act 2016. A company that lodged late during the window avoided the fee but was still late in law.
How do you actually file?
The workflow is the same every cycle:
- Prepare the statutory financial statements.
- Enter and tag the data in mTool against the SSM Taxonomy (SSMxT).
- Run validation and clear all errors.
- Generate the XBRL file.
- Lodge it via mPortal, where submission status is tracked on a dashboard until accepted.
What’s next
Confirm your financial year end and circulation or AGM date, then count 30 days from there — that is your real deadline, waiver or not. Make sure your company secretary holds a valid Digital Certificate, and prepare the XBRL set in the current mTool well before the date so validation errors do not push you past it. Download the latest mTool and taxonomy from ssm.com.my.
When must a company lodge its financial statements?
Under Section 259(1) of the Companies Act 2016, a private company lodges within 30 days from the date its financial statements are circulated to members, and a public company within 30 days from its AGM.
Did the 2025 late-lodgement fee waiver push back my deadline?
No. The waiver ran from 1 June to 30 September 2025 and removed late-lodgement fees only. It did not extend any statutory lodgement deadline under the Companies Act 2016.
The following are deliberately unstated or described only qualitatively until confirmed by a subject-matter expert:
- Exact statutory basis for the requirement that a lodger hold a practising certificate under Section 241 Companies Act 2016 — sources conflicted; confirm the exact section and wording before stating it.
- Precise definition/threshold of an 'exempt private company' (EPC) under the Companies Act 2016 and exactly what an EPC lodges (an EPC certificate) instead of full XBRL financial statements — confirm on a primary SSM source before detailing.
- Exact current mTool and mPortal version numbers — these change over time; verify the live version on ssm.com.my or omit.
- Section 68 annual-return lodgement timing (commonly within 30 days of the incorporation anniversary) — confirm against AGC statute text or SSM before stating.
- Exact scope of Phase 2 (audited FS under Companies Act 1965) vs Phase 1/3 — confirm the CA 1965 vs CA 2016 split against the original 26 November 2024 SSM circular, not secondary summaries.
- Whether foreign companies registered in Malaysia have a distinct MBRS filing template or deadline — confirm specifics on SSM.
Sources
- Pages - MBRS — Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM)
- What is MBRS? The Malaysian Business Reporting System Explained — MBRS.com.my
- SSM - Mandatory Implementation of MBRS 2.0 in Stages (Technical Announcement) — Chartered Secretaries Malaysia (MAICSA)
- MBRS 2.0 Malaysia: Mandatory Filing Guide for Companies — InCorp Malaysia
- SSM Mandates MBRS 2.0 XBRL in Malaysia Starting 1st Dec 2024 — DataTracks
- SSM Waives Late Lodgement Fees for MBRS 2.0: What Malaysian Companies Need to Know — InCorp Malaysia
- Companies Act 2016: Practice Note No. 3/2018 (EOT for circulation and lodgement of financial statements) — Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM)
- How to Prepare MBRS XBRL Financial Statements for Filing with SSM? — DataTracks
- Malaysian Business Reporting System (MBRS) 2.0 — BDO Malaysia
- How to File XBRL with SSM MBRS Malaysia Guide — Xberra Tagger
Change history
| Version | Date | Change | By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.00 | 14 Aug 2026 | Approved and published. | — |