Did you know that there are documents that have to be downloaded from the CAC portal when you register your Business Name/Venture/Enterprise?

It’s a good thing you want to get your business registered as a Business Name. But do you know what you’ll be getting at the end of the registration? As a business person you should do your own little research to confirm what you may have heard or known. There has to be something to show as proof of registration as issued by the CAC, and you should know exactly what they are. Recently, I had a case of a client who didn’t download the complete documents after registering online…, and I figured there will be people in a similar situation. The truth is that each document is as relevant as the other. Well, I’m here to put you through this level, so let’s get right in.

For a new Business Name registration there are 2 documents the CAC issues to be downloaded from the iCRP after the registration has been approved. iCRP means Intelligent Company Registration Portal recently deployed a CAC’s artificial intelligent portal for seamless registration process.

The documents as at today are:

1.) THE CERTIFICATE and

2.) THE STATUS REPORT

THE CERTIFICATE DOCUMENT

The certificate is as understandable as any certificate. This document is authorized by the Federal Government of Nigeria and empowered to be issued in the name of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as its Agent through the Registrar General.

THE STATUS REPORT DOCUMENT

Now the Status Report is the certified extract document that contains all the information of the business and its status…precisely the information you supplied during registration.

This document presents in one piece everything about the business: including the objects of the business as approved, the business' address, the proprietor’s details which includes his appointment date and his current position in the business, his role type as proprietor or partner. That’s why it’s called a status report. 

REGISTRATION DATE & RG’s SIGNATURE

At the end of each page of the Status Report - exactly at the bottom-left -  is the section that bears the signature and name of the current Registrar General and a QR code, just like that of the certificate. This gives it an authentic approval.

The number of pages of the Status Report depends on the amount of information supplied during registration. So for a partnership of 5 people for example, there’ll be over 2 pages.

DUE DATE OF FILING

One detail I’d like to emphasize on this document is the ‘due date of accounts’, which is the date the business would commence annual returns filing. This is a post incorporation activity, and it works as a pre-information about the business’ responsibility 1 year after its registration. It helps you remove any form of surprises in the future as regards business obligation. Yes, you’re still indebted to the CAC in filing annual returns.

So you have no reason not to know what documents you’ll be getting when you register a Business Name with the CAC.

Note that any other documents attached to a Business Name registration is simply for the purpose of convenience.

In any case, the authenticity of the documents and the fact that you’re one step ahead in business growth is what’s important.