Registering a business name on CAC's iCRP
What a Nigerian sole trader enters and uploads to register a business name on CAC's iCRP, how approval works, and the first steps in the books.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Nigeria
You have reserved the name, the customers are waiting and the bank wants to see a certificate before it opens the business account. The last step is the registration itself on the Corporate Affairs Commission's portal, the iCRP, and it is the step where small details trip people up: a photograph in the wrong format, a missing code, a signature scanned as a PDF.
The process is not complicated once you know what the portal expects. CAC's own help pages set out the sequence and the uploads, and for business names the approval itself is quicker than for other entity types. This guide walks through each stage, then the first things to set up in your books once the certificate is in hand.
Before you start: an account and a reserved name
CAC's iCRP home page says a user must have a registered account on the portal before registering or managing a business name or company. Create the account first, with an e-mail address you will keep, because the account is where your applications, queries and certificates live.
You also need the name reserved. The reservation gives you an AV Code, and that code is the first thing the registration form asks for. If you have not reserved the name yet, start with reserving a business name on CAC's iCRP.
Entering the AV Code and the business details
CAC's iCRP FAQ describes the order of the form. The AV Code from the name reservation is entered first. After it come the e-mail address, the business address, the date of commencement and the proprietor details.
Have these ready before you sit down:
- the AV Code from your reservation;
- an e-mail address for the business;
- the full business address;
- the date the business started, or will start, trading;
- each proprietor's personal details.
The date of commencement is worth thinking about. It should be the date the business actually began, or will begin, trading under the name, not simply the day you fill in the form.
Uploads for each proprietor
CAC's FAQ says that, to register a business name, a means of identification, a passport photograph and a signature must be uploaded for each proprietor, in image format only.
"Image format only" is the instruction people most often miss. A signature saved as a PDF, or an identity document scanned into a multi-page document, will not do. Before you start:
- Photograph or scan each proprietor's identity document and save it as an image.
- Take a clear passport-style photograph of each proprietor, also as an image.
- Have each proprietor sign on plain white paper, then photograph or scan the signature as an image.
- Name the files clearly, by proprietor, so the right file goes against the right person.
Submitting through the portal also settles the question of authentication. Under regulation 3 of the Companies Regulations 2021, documents submitted electronically through the entity's own account on CAC's portal, or through the account of an agent CAC recognises for the purpose, are deemed duly authenticated. If someone files on your behalf, make sure they use either your account or their own agent account on the portal. Regulation 4 adds that all documents delivered to the Commission must be in English, or translated and notarised.
Payment through Remita
CAC's FAQ says payment is completed via Remita. Before you pay, check that the name and amount on the payment page match your application. Keep the Remita confirmation with your registration records; it is your proof of payment if anything about the application is later queried. If a payment appears to fail, find out whether the money left your account before trying again, so you do not pay twice for one registration.
How approval works for business names
This is where business names differ from other registrations. CAC's iCRP FAQ says business name registrations on the new iCRP are AI-approved and processed straight away, while registrations of LLCs, incorporated trustees, LLPs and LPs still follow the manual approval review process.
If something is wrong, the application can be queried. CAC says a queried application is modified and re-submitted from the dashboard. Once approved, a certificate and a status report can be downloaded. Save both somewhere safe and send copies to your bank and your accountant.
CAC's iCRP frequently asked questions cover registration, uploads, payment and approval in CAC's own words, and are the page to check if the portal's steps have changed since this was written.
First steps in the books after registration
With the certificate in hand, set up the books before the first invoice goes out. A business can sign up to Achekam as a business, rather than as an accounting firm, choose its country, and get its own workspace, its own books and its own web address on the Achekam domain, with the person who signs up as administrator.
Choose Nigeria at sign-up and the workspace takes the Nigeria pack as its default. On activation it sets the naira and the Africa/Lagos time zone, unless they have already been set.
One setting to leave alone for now: the VAT registration number in Settings under Firm Profile. A business name registration is not a VAT registration. Achekam's documents print the VAT number and are titled Tax Invoice only when one is set, so enter it only once the business is actually registered for VAT.
Registration also starts a yearly obligation: a business name must file an annual return with CAC, covered in business name annual returns by 30 June. Diary it on the day your certificate arrives, then issue your first invoice.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
