All you need to know about company registration in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). We would give you the portal details, requirements, types of companies, different types of registration, and the cost.
CAC Company Registration Information
Corporate Affairs Commission came on board in 1990 through the company and allied matter act and is popularly referred to as CAC. It is a body that is accountable for the conduct, governance, and supervision of companies in Nigeria. It is headed by Hon Ademola Seriki as the chairman.
It performs its functions through some accredited boards such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Association of National Accountants, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Nigerian Bar Association, Federal Ministry of Finance and Federal Ministry of Justice. They render the following services:
- Registration of business names
- Issuance of company certificate
- Incorporation of public and private companies
- Management of liquidating companies
- Making sure companies comply with CAMA
- Sale of statutory form
To register your company with the CAC, you don’t need to physically visit their headquarters Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja. Nigeria, you can get everything done online, and KikioTolu Solutions can also help you with the online processing, making things easier and seamless.
How can I get a CAC number in Nigeria?
RC is different from BN, hold this knowledge close to your heart. Many often confuse the two and end up getting far less than expected after registering a business name rather than the company itself.
If you want to fully register your company as a legal entity to conduct a business in Nigeria, then you should go for Company incorporation which would get you an RC number.
Once your company is fully registered, you will have the ability to attract investors, and raising money for your business will be easier. Investors are likely to invest in a registered company rather than an unregistered business that has no formal structure in place. Also, investors like to invest in Registered companies rather than unregistered companies mainly because they know that there is a formal structure in place to accept their investment. A registered company gets easy access to loans and boundless opportunities.
If you register a Business Name, your level of ownership, stake, investment, or interest will not be publicly recorded. If for any reason you prefer to register a Business Name and you want the extent of your ownership, stake, investment, or interest to be clearly spelled out, you can do this by preparing a Memorandum of Understanding between you and your partners.
Uses of CAC Certificate?
It is not the best decision to run a brand without proper registration with the CAC. This can lead to many issues in the future that many entrepreneurs should look to avoid.
Below are some of the benefits of having your company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission;
- Trust and confidence from potential clients and partners
- You can open a corporate/branded bank account, this surely builds trust
- You can apply for loans and grants
- You can get interns from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
- Longevity of business is more assured as a structure is set in place
- You have better access to investors with a registered business as investors look at the business structure first before investing.
- With a registered business, you can easily obtain a visa and travel to any country for business purposes and conferences.
- Registering your company enhances the reputation and perception of your business to prospective clients.
Requirements for CAC registration
To get your business fully incorporated and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, you would need to get the below requirements ready;
- Form CAC 1, reservation and availability of name
- Industries you will serve
- Objectives of the business
- A notice of the registered address of your business
- Memorandum and Articles of Association (MAA)
- Receipt of payment of your stamp duties
- Names and addresses of the parties (Directors) incorporating the company
- Consent of the first directors of your company
- Passport and means of identification of directors
- All other documents or fees that may be required by the commission to satisfy any law or condition
After the documents have been duly prepared, you are required to fill out a form by the CAC, mentioning all the necessary details, and submit it to the CAC again, together with all the required documents. You will also have a company secretary for your business who can act as a lawyer or an accountant and be completely responsible for filing the documentation with the CAC after the company is registered.
CAC Registration Portal?
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has upgraded to world-class heights over the years, and you don’t need to visit their offices for your company registration. The complete process is now online. All you need to make sure of is the proper filing of necessary documents on their online portal.
A lot of issues people face today are due to the improper filing of their documents, leading to ‘queries’ by the database. If you want to handle the registration process yourself, then you would need to research the requirements well, or rather seek advice from someone who had done likewise previously. The reason is, you can get stuck and not make headway for months, in a process that should have taken way less time.
To begin the process, you will need to visit; https://pre.cac.gov.ng/register/new
Any member of the public can create an account, kindly note you will be a director, trustee, or a proprietor/partner during the registration process.
What is CAC Name Reservation?
CAC company registration is done in steps and stages, and you sure can’t skip one of it for any reason. The name reservation process is one of the most important stages when incorporating your company.
This stage can be said to mean a promise to save up a space for a business name before the registration period. It entails temporarily registering the name of a business with the commission to reserve that name for a business owner.
Names reserved on the portal cannot be the exact names of other businesses or a duplicate of already existing business names in Nigeria. The process has to do with searching the availability of the intended name or company. The importance of this stage includes;
- Protection of your intended business/company name from being registered by another person.
- Reservation on the portal.
- Ensures you can reserve the name even when you don’t intend to finish up the registration right away because it is part of the registration process, it’s a step you can finish before completing the entire registration process.
To do this, you just need to visit the CAC portal, then create an account with your government-approved ID card.
Please note that before filling out the CAC name reservation form, you must have first searched for the availability of the intended business name or company name to avoid rejection. Failure to do this would see you to incur extra costs on the platform.
Availability code is requested by the Corporate Affairs Commission to prove that you have successfully reserved your business name and access is granted only when your code has been approved by CAC.
Name reservation is valid for 60 days, the promoters need to file the incorporation form within that period once the government verifies and approves the name.
CAC objects of memorandum sample template Nigeria
The Memorandum of Association is the document that contains the fundamental conditions upon which a company is allowed to operate. This document contains the name of the company, the purpose for which the company was created in the company is limited by shares, the total amount of money that has been raised by the company in exchange for shares, and the particulars of shareholders of the company.
The purpose of this document is to enable members, creditors, and anyone who deals with the company to know what the company is allowed to operate in. It informs all persons about the type of company it is, the members of the company at formation, the shareholding structure of the company (if it is a company limited by shares), and the objects of the company.
The most important clause is the object of the company. This clause states the nature of the business of the company. All the businesses the company intends to engage in must be stated in the object clause because a company can not engage in any activity that is completely different from what was stated in the object clause.
Cost for CAC Company Registration Nigeria
KikioTolu Solutions will help get your company properly registered with the appropriate authorities. Whether it is a company registration or a business name registration or a trademark registration we got you covered!
We help persons and organizations to register legitimate companies/businesses in Nigeria. We will advise and guild you on other legitimate regulation documents that you may need to run your business efficiently without troubles from government (Federal State and Local) host communities.
We all give you all the support till you find your feet. Your location is not a problem to serve you. Irrespective of your location, we can work with you on your incorporation requests and deliver them on time. Whether you are a Foreigner or Nigerian, staying in Nigeria or outside Nigeria.
Business names are registered with just N25,000 while your company will be incorporated and you get your RC Number at N65,000.
