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Anyone have any tips on how to get a company registration completed. I don't want to post the online registration service I am dealing with but they have been handling the regisration now for 5 months plus and dont even seem able to give me a decent status update (apart from they are waiting for the registration to be finalised).

Anything I can do to hurry things up?

Was it a mistake to deal with an online registration service in the first place?

Hi Keiran

It took me a good three months to get the paperwork for my CC's papers - and I had bought a shelf CC and only really needed to change ownership and register my "trading as" name.

I'd suggest that you find out when the paper work was submitted by this company and then contact CIPRO yourself. I must admit that it probably is going to take quite a few months to get it finalised.

Hope that is helpful in some way.

Things have become a little confusing since the new companies act came into effect (think it was around May).
Shelley Finch wrote:
CIPRO is no more, you will need to contact the new CIPC.

Are you trying to register a new Company, or do you have a shelf CC (remember that since May you can no longer register a new CC.

Then, what is the nature of the business? Can you not start up as a Sole Proprietor?

Thanks for the replies.

Its a small and simple business but there are a couple of people involved and we do have some plans to grow. So while I am running the business in my personal capacity right now we do want to get the company registration done just to formalise our relationship.

I guess I just need to be patient. I have heard everyone is waiting months but I just wondered if anyone had found a way to expedite the process....

Thanks again for the replies.

I am not sure why they are taking so long. I do company registrations under the new Companies Act with CIPC and at most it takes me 3 weeks to finalise the registration.

Hi Everyone

It is true since the new Companies Act in was introduced (1 May 2011) there has been massive changes especially at CIPC. The most notable one is that no more CC's can be registered. This means only a new (Pty) Ltd can be registered. The problem with this is that CIPC does not register the share holders nor issue the share certificates. This is especially problematic when you would like to open a bank account and apply for credit facilities as the bank's FICA requirements insist on shareholders certificates.

Please note that in terms of the Consumer Protection Act "trading As" is also not allowed anymore. I would therefore recommend a new (Pty) Ltd which includes the issuing of the share certificates.

Keiran Reilly wrote:
The only way to expedite the process is to purchase a shelf company instead of registering a new company.

It took me 4 months to have an external company registered; largely because CIPC had not updated their system to match the information required by the new CoR forms. This meant that CIPC rejected all external company registrations because their system required information that the Companies Act no longer provides for.

I would not recommend purchasing shelf companies. Firstly, because you can not "trade as" in terms of the Consumer Protection Act. This means you will eventually be forced to do a name change which is more costly and time-consuming than registering a new company in the first place. The banks will also not open the account until the CoR 39 (Director changes) have been completed. A further expense is the transfer of shares and increased company secretarial costs associated with shelf companies.

It is cheaper, quicker and easier to register a new company