CAC of Nigeria is The Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria that was launched in line with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), promulgated in 1990 and amended in 2020. They are responsibility for regulations on how companies are formulated and managed in Nigeria. As part of the effort of the federal government to create a sustainable economy for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, the CAMA was amended in 2020.
Also there are alot of benefits you get when you registeryour business name with CAC of Nigeria;
1. Government contracts
2. Continuity of business
3. Access to government loans
4. Online payment integration
5. Opening a corporate bank account
6. Customer trust
7. Social media account verification
8. Protecting your brand name
9. Protecting your legal liability
10. Preventing police harassment
While registering for CAC using a third party could be expensive, I would tell you that the process is not difficult and you can go through the process by yourself.
As stated on the CAC official website ;
Individual/Proprietors can register business names without the services of the legal practitioner, Chartered Accountant or Chartered Secretary.
Before you embark on the jorney, here are the things you need to know;
The Requirement for CAC Registration
- Name of business or company
- The goal of business
- Business memorandum and articles of association
- Document of authorized share capital
- Form CAC 1 and the reservation and availability of proposed name
- Names and addresses of directors incorporating the company
- Two passport photographs (must be recent), and valid IDs
- Name and address of company secretary
- Declaration of compliance by a legal practitioner
- Address of the company
- Filings with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and
- Any and all documents required by the commission
This post explore 4 steges involved in registering your business or company’s name, and the payable fees up to completion.
The first step to take is to first search for availabiliy of your business name and you can go further from there.
STAGE 1
Search Business Name Avaialbility
- To check your business name avaiality, visit website of the CAC to check if the name you want to register has not been incorporated by another person.
- Once you confirm that the name is available
- then you can proceed to the next step below
Steps to Register your Business with the CAC
- Once you confirm the name availability
- You can reserve your intended business name for a period of 60 days through the CAC’s name reservation practice.
STAGE 2
Name Reservation
- Visit the CAC website HERE
- Sign up, if it’s your first time going through the process or you could sign in if you have an account already.
- Proceed and reserve the business name you want by clicking on ‘Name Reservation’
- Fill the form accordingly and pay the required fees.
- After payment, the conformation might take 24 hours
- You should get successful confirmation message after, and you then print your ‘approval note’ from your mail.
Name Reservation Payment Process
- Reservation of the name cost N500, but check the list of fees here.
- you need to pay via Remita, by clicking the Remita button.
- You’ll be automatically redirected to the Remita payment platform to complete the payment.
- Click SUBMIT and follow as prompted.
- Once the payment is successfully done, your application for company or business name reservation would be submitted for approval.
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STAGE 3
Steps Before Incorporation
Access the Registration area and Complete the pre-registration form; – CAC-BNo1 and upload relevant registration documents via the – Company Registration Portal.
Here are the documents you need:
- Company’s details: type of business, registered office address, and email address of your company.
- Details of the first directors, at least 2 people above the age of 18 years: date of birth, name, phone number, gender, email address, identification documents (National ID, permanent voters card, driver’s license, or international passport).
- You’ll also need to disclose the percentage of shares to be held if the director is a shareholder in the company.
- Shareholders’ document and details should include the following: date of birth, name, phone number, gender, email address, identification documents (National ID, permanent voters card, driver’s license, or international passport) and the shares to be held.
- Documents and details of the company’s secretary (they must be either a corporate body or an individual). Details should include: date of birth, name, phone number, gender, email address, identification documents (National ID, permanent voters card, driver’s license, or international passport).
- A legal declaration of compliance supplied by a legal person or body, as provided by CAMA (should be signed by a legal practitioner and attested to by a notary public or a commissioner for oaths).
- Documents of the Articles of Memorandum of Association. To help, there is a ready-made template of the Articles of Memorandum of Association.
- After filling the form successfully, you will be prompted to make payments to facilitate the process. You will be asked to pay for CAC registration fees and stamp duty to the Federal Inland Revenue Service Fees (FIRS).
- After that is finished, you will need to take a print out a completely filled and electronically-stamped form CAC 1.1 and the Articles of Memorandum of Association.
- Notarize the attestation pages and scanned copies of the signed documents.
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STAGE 4
Uploading Documents for Incorporation
At this stage, you will need to print some required documents and sign then, then scan them
Below are the list of required documents you would needto upload:
- Approval note/Availability printout
- Registration form CAC 1.1
- Identification documents of shareholders and directors
- Receipt of payment of your CAC
- Stamp duty certificate (print this out after the required fee has been paid)
- Memorandum and Article of Association
- Certificate of incorporation of the company’s secretary (this is needed only when the secretary is a corporate organization)
Note: all documents need to be generated/converted to PDF format.
Your company will be registered incorporation within 48 hours, and you will need to go back and pick your registeration ciertificate.
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CAC Registration Fees
| S/N | SUBJECT | FEES (N) |
| 1 | Reservation of Name | N500 |
| 2 | Registration of private company with share capital of N1million or less | N10,000 |
| 3 | Registration of private company/Increase in Share Capital above N1million and up to N500million | N5,000 for every N1million share capital or part thereof |
| 4 | Registration of private company/Increase in share capital above N500million | N7,500 for every N1million share capital or part thereof |
| 5 | Registration of Public company/Increase in share capital | N20,000 for the first N1million share capital or part thereof |
| 6 | Registration of Public Company/Increase in share capital above N1million and up to N500million | N10,000 for every N1million share capital or part thereof |
| 7 | Registration of Public Company/increase in share capital above N500million | N15,000 for every N1million share capital or part thereof |
| 8 | Registration of Company not having a share capital | N20,000 |
| 9 | Filing of notice of exemption of foreign Companies from Registration | N30,000 |
| 10 | Re-instatement/Relisting of company name | N25,000 |
| 11 | Registration of charges for private company | N10,000 for every N1million or part thereof |
| 12 | Registration of charges for public company | N20,000 for every 1Million or part thereof |
| 13 | Filing of annual return for a small Company | N2,000 |
| 14 | Filing of annual return for Private company other than a small company | N3,000 |
| 15 | Filing of annual return for public company | N5,000 |
| 16 | Filing of annual return for company Limited by Guarantee | N5,000 |
| 17 | Filing of annual report by foreign companies | N5,000 |
| 18 | Filing of statement in form of schedule 14 under section 553 | N10,000 |
| 19 | Filing of notice of merger/acquisition | N50,000 |
| 20 | Filing of special resolution for merger | N20,000 |
| 21 | Filing of other documents relating to merger | N10,000 |
| 22 | Filing of statutory declaration of solvency | N5,000 |
| 23 | Registration of appointment of liquidator | N10,000 |
| 24 | Registration of resolution for winding up | N10,000 |
| 25 | Filing of return of final meeting and account of liquidation | N5,000 |
| 26 | Filing of notice of change of company name | N10,000 |
| 27 | Filing of notice of alteration of memorandum and articles of association | N5,000 |
| 28 | Filing of notice of changes in particulars of directors | N2,000 |
| 29 | Filing of return of allotment and or notice of change in shareholding | N2,000 |
| 30 | Filing of notice of change in registered address | N2,000 |
| 31 | Filing of notice of appointment of receiver | N10,000 |
| 32 | Filing of notice of discharge of receiver | N5,000 |
| 33 | Filing of notice of change of signature | N2,000 |
| 34 | Filing of notice of reduction in share capital by public company | N20,000 |
| 35 | Filing of notice of reduction in share capital by private company | N10,000 |
| 36 | Filing of deed of release by public company | N10,000 |
| 37 | Filing of deed of release by private company | N5,000 |
| 38 | Application for extension of time for holding of annual general meeting by public company | N10,000 |
| 39 | Application for extension of time for holding of annual general meeting by private company | N5,000 |
| 40 | Letter of Good Standing | N10,000 |
| 41 | Other filings (miscellaneous) | N2,000 |
| 42 | Certified true copy of certificate of registration | N10,000 |
| 43 | Certified true copies of memorandum and articles of association | N3,000 |
| 44 | Electronic Search | N1,000per company |
| 45 | Manual Search by customers | N2,000per company file |
| 46 | Manual Search Report prepared by officers of the Commission | N5,000 |
| 47 | Certified true copies of other documents | N2,000per document |
| 48 | Consent for Restricted Names | N5,000Business Name |
| 50 | Reservation of Name | 500 |
| 51 | Registration of business name | 10,000 |
| 52 | Filing of notice of change of business name | 5,000 |
| 53 | Filing of notice of change in business address | 1,000 |
| 54 | Filing of notice of change in proprietorship | 1,000 |
| 55 | Filing of annual return | 1,000 |
| 56 | Filing of notice of cessation of business | 1,000 |
| 57 | Filing of other documents (miscellaneous) | 1,000 |
| 58 | Search on business name file | 1,000 per business name file |
| 59 | Certified true copy of business name certificate of registration | 5,000 |
| 60 | Certified true copies of other documents | 2,000 per document Incorporated Trustee |
| 61 | Reservation of Name | 500 |
| 62 | Incorporation of trustees | 30,000 |
| 63 | Filing of notice of change of name | 10,000 |
| 64 | Filing of notice of change in trustees | 10,000 |
| 65 | Filing of notice of amendment of constitution | 6,000 |
| 66 | Filing of annual return | 5,000 |
| 67 | Filing of notice of court order for dissolution of incorporated trustees | 5,000 |
| 68 | Filing of other documents (miscellaneous) | 1,000 |
| 69 | Search on incorporated trustees file | 2,000 |
| 70 | Certified true copy of certificate of incorporation | 10,000 |
| 71 | Certified true copy of constitution | 5,000 |
| 72 | Certified true copy of incorporation form | 2,000 |
| 73 | Certified true copies of other documents | 2,000 per document |
I hope you find this guide useful.
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